BOURTON'S former national road race and time trial champion Sharon Laws faces her biggest challenge yet after being diagnosed with cervical cancer.

The 42-year-old Olympian had retired from pro cycling only in August after helping Dame Sarah Storey's Podium Ambition team in their first season as a fully fledged professional team on the UCI circuit.

It is a testament to Laws' fitness and determination that she brought her career to a close in August when winning her third national title at the Women's Mountain Bike Marathon Championships held in Wales.

Girona-based Laws, whose mother Joy still lives in Bourton-on-the-Water, enjoyed a lucrative career as an environmentalist before her career switch. She has an MSc in conservation and her employers have included the UN, the British Government and Rio Tinto Zinc.

She gave all that up to follow her dream to become a professional cyclist at the age of 33, winning the national time trial championship in her first season and competing for Team GB at the Beijing Olympics in the same year (2008) when she helped Nicole Cooke claim the gold medal.

She was overlooked by Team GB for the London Olympic Games in 2012 but cocked a snook at the selectors by winning the British Road Race Championship later the same year.

Sharon would never talk about it in those terms, though, being one of the nicest women in sport.

"At the end of July, following a standard check-up with the (Podium Ambition) team doctor, I was advised to have a biopsy on some swollen lymph nodes in my neck," said Laws in a prepared statement.

"I assumed these were just due to a series of colds I seemed to have had continually during the season. I was shocked to be told they contained secondary cancer tumours.

"Over the last six weeks I have had all the tests possible as the medics tried to find the primary tumour. Following a scan, more infected lymph nodes were found in the pelvis and a further two biopsies confirmed I have cervical cancer.

"The extensive spread means I require chemotherapy. At this stage it is treatable but not curable. I started treatment on October 7 and it will last for six months.

"Obviously, I am trying to come to terms with what is happening. Up until starting the chemotherapy I could still ride my bike and, apart from recovering from the operations I had recently, felt normal.

"I am grateful to my family, my friends and teammates who have been incredibly supportive during this difficult time and especially to my mum, whose life has also been turned upside down.

"I am also very thankful to Dr Mark Ridgewell and the team’s sponsor, HMT, without them I probably would not have bothered even getting the lymph nodes checked."

Laws extended her career by one final season in 2016 to help the fledging Podium Ambition team. Under the PA banner Storey won three paralympic gold medals in Rio while the team secured 26 wins domestically and competed at UCI (international) level.

But Storey, who with husband Barney part-funded the team, announced last week that Podium Ambition would step back from UCI racing in 2017 having failed to attract sufficient sponsorship. Podium Ambition will continue at a lower level.

Laws said: "When I took a sabbatical from work in 2008 to race with the GB national team I never imagined I would continue to race professionally for the following eight years.

"My last season with Podium Ambition has given me the opportunity to use my European experience to help the team in its first professional year. I have enjoyed working with the younger riders and the flexibility to race mountain bike marathon stage races culminating with the National Mountain Bike Marathon Champion title at the end of August.

"I had exciting retirement plans – learning Spanish and doing volunteer work in South America, bike guiding and environmental consultancy. These will now have to be put on hold.

"As a professional cyclist I’ve had my share of setbacks, in particular the horrific crash I had in 2013, which put me in hospital for two weeks with serious injuries. I have come back each time.

"I hope that these experiences and my life as a professional athlete have prepared me for what will be my biggest challenge so far."