Daniel Barber has the cycling world at his feet and has added Dubbo’s 2019 Young Sportsperson of the Year to his growing list of accolades.
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The 15-year old travels to every cycling event he can and 2018 saw him compete in Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Wollongong, Goulburn, Newcastle, Bathurst and Port Macquarie.
He currently leads the National Junior Track series which is a national competition that brings him in contact with elite riders from across Australia.
Barber said he was happy to be named Young Sportsperson of the Year but was keen to point out the hard work others have done to help his fledgeling career.
“I feel I am still a work in progress and a lot of hard work has gone into what I’ve done from my coaches and other people, so it was good to win it because I felt it recognised their efforts too,” he said.
“The award means a lot to me because the other people who were nominated have put in just as much work as I have.”
Local cycling experts say Barber has good endurance but also has a handy turn of speed.
He claimed the Australian sprint title in February 2018 and was selected in the NSW Track Cycling team and the NSW Road Cycling team.
Last year Barber was the Australian U17 Sprint Champion, U17 Team Sprint Champion and U17 Road Championship Silver medallist. He was also the NSW –U17 Sprint Champion, U17 Kieran Champion, U17 Scratch Champion and National Junior Track Series U17 Champion.
Barber hopes the award will inspire younger cyclists to give the sport a go. Recently he donated prizes he won at a Sydney event to Dubbo Junior Riders to encourage them to apply themselves.
“I hope younger cyclists at my club will see this award and of course last year Kurt Eather won, so hopefully more people will want to participate,” he said
“I think with this award that I’ve won and awards other Dubbo cyclists have won, the profile of our sport has lifted rapidly over the last couple of years.
“I’ll aim to get some medals at the track nationals and then I’ll head to the road nationals and hopefully get a gold medal or two there. But longer term I hope to work my way up the rankings and make it to the cycling Australia podium potential team because I am striving to get to a proper world level.”
Dubbo Regional Council mayor Ben Shields said Barber had trained with great determination over the past couple of years with an Australian title in his sights, and he has achieved amazing results due to this determination.