Stow’s Ruaridh Cunningham, as part of the British team, found himself racing in front of huge crowds and the world’s sports media.

Unfazed, the 18-year-old Gala Cycling Club member fearlessly stormed down the 3km downhill course, to win the World Junior Downhill title.

Ruaridh crossed the line to the sounds of cheers, air horns and cow bells from the massed crowd as he took gold.

His achievement cannot be underestimated.

In cycling circles, the coveted rainbow jersey of a world champion ranks alongside, if not a greater achievement than, that of Olympic gold.

Speaking to TheSouthern this week, Ruaridh, who was still trying to take in his fantastic achievement, said: “It still seems pretty unreal.

“The whole thing was like a dream. I got to the top and it was fairly windy, but I had a good week training and managed to get a decent night’s sleep the night before, so I was fairly confident and was raring to go.

“All I heard from top to bottom was the crowd cheering.

“I clipped a photographer – who had leaned out to take a photo – on the way down, and thought that may have hampered my speed, but I managed to stay focused.

“I still didn’t think I had won when I got to the bottom, but when I looked at the clock and heard the crowd, it just hit me.”

Around 10,000 spectators watched as the local youngster became the first British cyclist ever to win a World Championship gold medal title in the junior downhill class at the UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships at the Nevis Range and Forestry Commission’s Leanachan Forest.

Ruaridh was last man to go in the title race, having recorded the fastest time in Thursday’s seeding run. The crowd went mad as he hit the finish line ahead of closest rival and silver medal-winner John Swanguen (USA) and Matthew Scoles (NZ) in third place.

Among the throng of mountain bike followers, a huge Border contingent was lending support to Ruaridh’s run. Among them, parents Ray and Linda, who could barely watch as their son careered down the hillside in pursuit of a place.

Linda told us: “I have never experienced anything like that in my life. The crowd willed him to win.

“The noise was tremendous as he reached the finish line and there were grown men crying into their Saltires. It was amazing.”

Ruaridh, a former scrum-half for Gala Red Triangle, has been hitting the headlines in TheSouthern over the past few years and has never looked back since Selkirk’s Brian Linton first introduced him to mountain biking on a trip to Fort William in 2003.

Since then, he has become a ‘weel-kent face’ around the local courses at Glentress and Innerleithen, as well as receiving help and support from the local bike enthusiasts, including SBC sports development officer John McBay, who added his congratulations this week.

“What Ruaridh has achieved is tremendous,” he said.