EVERGREEN cyclist David Le Grys defied the odds to win gold at the National Masters Track Championships - just months after undergoing two major operations.

The Little Horkesley racer claimed a fine victory in the 500 metres time trial event in the 60-65 age group, after battling back to fitness.

Le Grys had back surgery last year, just months after undergoing open heart surgery little more than 18 months ago.

But the 62-year-old battled back to enjoy a superb triumph at the National Championships, staged in Newport in South Wales.

Le Grys said: "I entered just to give it go and to see where his fitness was.

"I was hoping to make the top three, so winning was a good boost to my confidence.

"However, my time was a second off the time I need to win the World Championships, in October."

After years of wrongly diagnosed with breathing and fatigued problems, Le Grys underwent major open heart surgery.

The 24-time former World Masters champion was spotted by a friend and cardiologist, Dr Nigel Stevens having breathing problems after winning a race.

Dr Stevens saw Le Grys the next day and after many tests, he found that one of his heart valves was failing.

Le Grys was told that he was very close to suffering heart failure each time he raced or trained.

Le Grys said: "It affects your emotions, your ability to think and the worst of all was it completely deconditioned me.

"It would take me ten minutes to climb a flight of stairs, stopping each step to catch my breath.

"Day by day, week by week, I gradually started to gain some basic fitness, a far cry from the level of fitness I once knew. "It was the toughest battle of my life to recover and get back to racing.

"My wife Tracy would ride away from me on every hill and I could not keep up with her."

Le Grys returned to racing after just five months, clinching a third-place finish at a track race at the Olympic Velodrome in Stratford.

But soon after, Le Grys was diagnosed with a cyst in his spine which was causing him discomfort, along with nerve damage in one of his legs.

After another major operation, which included the removal of the cyst and two disc decompressions, he was back in rehabilitation.

It meant that all of his fitness was lost again and he spent the next nine months getting back in to shape again.

He said: "There were many setbacks and as soon as I was gaining strength, I would go backwards because I was over doing it or my leg was playing up because of the nerve damage caused by the cyst.

"My physio assured me that my leg would eventually regain full strength and movement but that it could take weeks, months or maybe years to recover, so it was a struggle to get back to the fitness and form I once had."

Le Grys' win in South Wales was a big boost though ahead of his next big event, the European Masters Championships.

The Colchester cyclist will ride the 500m time trial, 1,000m Sprint and Team Sprint at the event, which takes place in Roubaix, France in September.

Le Grys will then take part in the World Masters Track Championships in Los Angeles, USA, in October.