Maurice Burton is glad his son, Germain, won't face prejudice that blighted his cycling career in the 1970s It will then be a proud and emotional moment for Maurice when his 17-year-old son, Germain, lines up for the world junior road race here on Sunday. While Maurice, who never represented Great Britain, found his pathway to the top blocked by prejudice, Germain has the world at his feet and the total support of the British system. Burton was belatedly added to the training group for Montreal but he soon sensed it was a political gesture and with the impetuosity of youth folded his tent and decamped for Europe and the slightly insane but undeniably lucrative world of Six Day Racing on the Continent. There, he raced against the world's best from 3pm to the early hours as promoters satisfied the needs of many fans to drink beer and watch bike racing. Those eight years were to provide a memorable and rich chapter in his life but Burton's exile from British cycling gnawed away at him, most of all the Olympic experience he missed out on. Without Burton GB won a bronze in Montreal, what might the outcome have been with him on board? Burton now runs a cycle shop in South London and devotes much of his time and energy providing the support for Germain - who is more of a road cyclist than a "trackie" - that he never got as a youngster. "I don't think my Dad ever realised how good I had got," says Maurice. When I won that National title at Leicester it was live on BBC Grandstand and a friend phoned him and he was watching the wrestling with Ken Walton on ITV. Watching Eddy Merckx win the 1969 Tour de France - we used to get ten minutes every Saturday afternoon on the World of Sport - was what fired me. I wanted to be a Tour winner but my talent was on the track. Plus if you ride road it's more expensive with all the transport to get to and from races. Germain has no such worries, although his sport still requires a considerable commitment on his part. Under-18 road races are not allowed on public roads in Britain so you either have to race against the seniors or trek over to Belgium and Holland most weeks where there is a thriving circuit. "You have to work hard but Dad had it much tougher, he got very little support and had to do everything the hard way," says Germain. We used to ride a tandem together a few years back and then I took the sport up seriously and won a couple of junior British circuit championships. I'm not a part of the GB Olympic Development programme yet and I might concentrate on track more this winter to maybe challenge for that but there's still a great system and support network in place as you try to climb the ladder. My bike frame cracked last week and within days the makers Colnago had got a new one to me so I could race in Belgium last week to prepare for the worlds. I'm just 17 and already this year I have had the honour of representing GB at a race in the Czech Republic, the European Juniors and now the World Championships. I'm the lucky one.