DANNY Taylor went above and beyond the call of duty for his country after interrupting a family holiday to ride for Great Britain.

The Bury Comets junior made a cross-country sprint from Anglesey to Leicester to represent Team GB's junior squad against Australia.

The 15-year-old put in a fabulous performance, despite his last-minute dash, to bring home 16 points after recording two wins, two second places and a third place.

It came in the middle of a hectic week for Taylor which started with races in Poole in the World Junior qualifying rounds and Exeter in the repechage of the same competition and ended with a World semi-final in Birmingham.

After returning to finish off his holiday in Wales, Taylor headed down to East Park for his shot at qualification for the World Junior final.

After three races he only needed two more second places to qualify for the final, but a clash with a Polish rider destroyed his front wheel and meant he finished last, meaning only a win in his last race could get him through.

Unfortunately, the young Comet fell while challenging hard for the lead and finished on 10 points, three short of qualification.

James Elston, aged 16, competed in the second junior semi-final and while he rode extremely well against world-class opposition the tension of the day proved just too much for him.

Despite a spirited and mature approach, Elston missed out on qualification, also scoring 10 points.

A spokesman for Bury Comets said: "We are very proud and pleased that our young members reached the semi-finals of a world-class event.

"To do that aged just 15 and 16 is quite an achievement and these two will undoubtedly go on to greater success in future years, including at the junior British championship in Ipswich in three weeks time."