SCHOOLGIRL Joanne Wilman pedalled her way to victory in a championship race -- smashing her own national record in the process.

Joanne, aged 11, from Westhoughton, set a new 15.53 seconds record for Under-12s in a 200-metre time trial earlier this year.

But the Bolton School pupil was determined to become even faster and trained hard all summer before competing against older girls in the National Championships Under-16 cycling sprint, where she set an impressive new record of 14.6 seconds.

Joanne, who gained the new record at Manchester Velodrome, received special dispensation from the British Cycling Federation to compete in the Under-16s event.

She was bitten by the cycling bug as a youngster. Her father Graham, aged 41, has always competed in races.

Graham, a maths teacher, said: "Joanne was absolutely over the moon. It will be difficult for anyone of her age to go any faster than that."