Para-cyclist Fin Graham targets Road World Championships success

Graham was the youngest member of the GB cycling team at the Tokyo Paralympics

Double Paralympic silver medallist Fin Graham hopes his happy memories of Canada can yield success at this week's Para-cycling Road World Championships.

The 22-year-old won two golds when the Quebec city of Baie-Comeau hosted a World Cup series in 2020.

And the same venue will host the Worlds, which run from Thursday to Sunday.

"It will be good going back to where I know I have done well before," Graham told BBC Sport.

"I've got a 100% record there at the minute and am hoping that continues, but I am under no illusions. It's a World Championship and is the hardest race every year.

"Everyone wants to win that rainbow jersey but I'm not going to let that pressure get to me. I'm going to go in and enjoy it like I always do and hopefully I can come away with the results."

Graham made his Paralympic debut in Tokyo last year, winning silver on the track in the C3 individual pursuit, breaking the world record only for team-mate Jaco van Gass to surpass it and snatch gold.

He then claimed a second silver in the C1-3 road race behind another GB rider Ben Watson and is now hoping to upgrade his road race bronze from last year's Worlds on Sunday after opening his championships with Friday's time trial.

The Scot is part of a 14-strong GB team, which also includes 17-time Paralympic champion Sarah Storey who will be hoping to add to her 11 road world titles, and fellow Tokyo medallists Watson, George Peasgood and tandem pair Sophie Unwin and Jenny Holl.

Born with bilateral talipes, which has left him with no calf muscle and little to no movement in his ankles, Graham started out mountain biking in his native Strathpeffer, north of Inverness.

"When I was growing up, my parents would encourage me to do and try everything," he says. "They didn't let me use my disability as an excuse.

"My mother told me that when I was in primary school and taking part in a running race, my teacher wanted to give me a head-start because of my disability. I would have been well up for that because I would have won easily but my mum was fuming and told them I didn't need any special treatment."

Watching the 2016 Rio Olympics and Paralympics proved to be a gamechanger for Graham and he approached British Cycling to find out whether he could be classified for Para-sport.

Five years later, he enjoyed what he describes as a "phenomenal experience" in Tokyo where each member of the GB cycling team won at least one medal either in the velodrome or on the road.

Graham (left) and Van Gass shared the podium at the Izu Velodrome

And his progress has continued this season with golds in both the time trial and road race at the World Cup events in Germany and Belgium in May.

"To go and win the World Cups was something I wasn't expecting, but has given me a lot of confidence," he says.

"I was probably in better form there than I was in Tokyo and it shows I am still improving as an athlete. It also shows I can challenge and compete and be at the top end of these races."

As well as managing his impairment, Graham was diagnosed with the auto-immune condition lupus when he had just turned 18, which means he has to take daily medication.

A bout of Covid in July has hampered his preparations for Canada but with Track World Championships to come in France at the end of October and a World Championship on home soil in Scotland next year, he has more high-profile medal chances on the horizon.

"Having Covid hasn't been ideal, but I had done well to avoid it for too long. Lupus means I pick up colds and bugs a lot easier and they last longer," he explains.

"I didn't test positive for long and, prior to that, training was going well. I'm still probably not 100% but I am improving each day.

"But things like this happen - I will still give it my best shot. It might not be the best timing but it is worth fighting for and if the results come, it will make it sweeter."