Cycling star Jess Roberts battles back to claim Euro silver

Resilient Jess Roberts battled back from hitting ‘rock-bottom’ and nearly quitting cycling to win surprise European Championship silver. The Camarthen star, 23, has endured a torrid time over the last two years and was close to pursuing a different career after a barrage of injuries and personal struggles. Ad Roberts told British Cycling she needed five months out and after returning to the saddle last year, capped a remarkable recovery by climbing on to the 10km scratch race podium in Munich.

CyclingCycling ace Jack Carlin insists ending major medal drought provides no motivation for European push23 MINUTES AGO The Welsh star came into the competition with minimal expectations and now feels like a different person after finishing second behind Polish ace Anita Yvonne Stenberg. She said: «I’ve had a bit of a rough two years. »I took five months off last year because of numerous things and nearly quit the sport.

«I’m really happy I took that break and reset and since I’ve come back, I’ve just tried to enjoy the process and not put too much pressure on myself. »I’ve been working hard to get back to this level and hopefully I can build momentum from here. «I had an injury that went on for two years and we didn’t know what it was, and that brought me down mentally and I was in quite a bad place.

»It got to April last year and I had to take a break – I wasn’t getting anywhere. «I said to British Cycling that I need to take a break and ended up having five months off. »But it was honestly the best thing I could have done – I did loads of psychology stuff, rehab work on my injury and I’ve come back in a really strong place.