For the average amateur bike rider, the top of Strava leaderboards is a far-off land in the peaks above the clouds – or at least always just around the corner, tantalisingly close but always just out of reach.
Not so for Welsh climbing sensation Illi Gardner. She is way past the point of targeting PRs, unless that PR also comes topped with a QOM crown. Her climbing ability – and we're talking some of Europe's toughest ascents – is world class, as she demonstrated on a recent holiday to the French Alps, which saw her return with enough crowns to kit out all the royal families of Europe, and their distant relations to boot.
