From next month, Shane Leadley will be racing full-time in France as he bids to turn professional.

Shane (20) will be competing two to three times a week in some of France's top amateur and professional races and is currently fitting in more than 20 hours of training each week around his work commitments.

"I will follow my aspirations to become a professional cyclist and hopefully represent my country one day in the future," he said.

Although his team, Elite Division 2 Team VS de Scaerois, will help with kit, transport, accommodation and coaching, Shane needs to raise £2,800 for a bike he can compete on.

Whitby Seafoods and BFC Ltd have got the ball rolling by pledging £1,656 for the bike frame and forks and groupset, which incorporates the gears and brakes.

"Although I am lucky enough to have been given a place on a well-organised team with a fantastic race calendar, I am lacking a race bike and am going to struggle to buy one before the start of the season in February," said Shane.

"Rather than finding someone to help with the whole bike, I have broken down the cost parts of the bike and required maintenance parts for during the season."

In return, sponsors will be promoted on race clothes and at presentations and will get a mention on his blogspot online.

"Cycle racing in France is very popular with most of the races bringing in good crowds of hundreds or even thousands at the bigger races at the finish area," said Shane.

If you can help shane, call him on (01947) 811560 or email saleadley@live.co.uk

* Although relatively new to the sport, Shane has been racing for four years but has made rapid improvements and is now a 'category one' rider, climbing up from a category four.

This year, he raced in the Elite national series in Britain against top professionals in events broadcast on Eurosport and still aims to compete in them when he is back home.