PEEBLES biking student Gregor Nixon moved into top gear last week to win his age group at the Scottish Enduro Series.

The teenager only took up mountain biking after a knee injury ended his rugby career.

And the Borders College sports student hasn't looked back as he has raced towards the top of the national rankings.

Last week at Laggan in the Highlands, Gregor won four out of the five stages in the field of 33 riders to land the Under 19s Scottish section.

And he has put himself into contention for winning the overall Series ahead of the final race next month.

A delighted Gregor said: "I was really happy to come first in my category at Laggan.

"The final event in the 2017 Scottish Enduro Series is in Dunkeld on October 15 and this event will be crucial for me as the end result is taken from your best four races and is points based.

"I’m currently in second place, around 100 points ahead of the third place rider so I’m looking to widen that gap.”

Gregor climbed into the saddle for the first time as part of his physiotherapy for a knee injury sustained while playing rugby.

During the past three years mountain biking has become his serious competitive interest.

He relocated from his native Callander to Peebles and joined Borders College’s BASE Downhill programme in 2016.

Gregor has now progressed onto year 1 of HND Coaching and Developing Sport.

As well as benefitting from his course at Borders College, Gregor also credits the local Dirt School coaches for his rapid progress on the mountain bike trails.