Ed Lowe and Lord Burghley are two Stamford athletes to have competed at the Paris Olympics

Cyclist Ed Lowe is aiming to follow in the footsteps of Stamford's most famous Olympian.

Lowe will be representing Great Britain in France in the men's elite team sprint event which gets underway today (Monday).

He is the second Stamford athlete to compete at a Paris Olympics after Lord David Burghley first raced in the 110m hurdles in 1924.

Lord Burghley went to also compete at both the 1928 and 1932 Olympics, winning gold in the former in the 400m hurdles event.

Although comparisons between these two different Stamford athletes in different eras are very hard to make, it is exactly 100 years since they both made their Olympic debuts in Paris.

Lowe will be going out as 'man one' in the velodrome track sprinting competition and will ride one of the new Lotus-Hope track bikes which retail at £55,000.

The 20-year-old grew up in the area and spent his early years with the Bourne Wheelers Cycling Club before progressing through the ranks.

Since he was announced in the Olympic squad in June, Lowe has been totally focused on the Paris event.

He has been busy continuing his training with his team in Manchester before they moved to a Great Britain cycling team holding camp in Newport, Wales, to complete their final preparations.

The team sprint competition is often viewed as 'the blue ribbon event' in velodrome track cycling and the former Great Britain sprinting greats who have competed in this event include Sir Chris Hoy and his Lowe's coach Sir Jason Kenny.

The team sprint is a very fast three-rider time trial over three laps and the 'man one' role is pivotal in getting the team cleanly out of the starting gate and swiftly up to speed (about 45 mph) while providing aerodynamic-cover by parting the air for the second and third riders and saving their energy.

At the handover, 'man one' also provides the cover and opportunity for a 'gap rush' by 'man two' and the chance of a critical secondary acceleration.

Lowe will lead out the team on Monday night with the top eight counties then competing in the semi-finals on Tuesday.

The top four teams will ride again on Tuesday night with a 'ride for bronze' and then a 'gold final.'