WEYMOUTH track cyclist Alex Jolliffe said his “dreams came true” after he was selected for British Cycling’s senior academy programme, where he will ride and train with Rio gold medallist Jason Kenny.

The teenager has had an impressive year on the track, performing well in both the junior European and World Championships.

His reward is a full-time spot in the national academy, meaning he will be training and living full-time in Manchester from Monday as part of the sprint team.

Also selected for the squad was Weymouth junior world scratch champion Rebecca Raybould, who will be part of the women’s endurance team. She is currently on a training camp in Mallorca.

Speaking about the academy, Jolliffe told Echosport: “There is a lot of excitement. It’s a dream to train full-time with guys like Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner.

“I’ll be able to do this on a daily basis and to ride everyday with people who have won Olympic medals is really exciting.

“We get housing provided for us and our funding as well.

“We use that for food, car insurance and stuff like that. We’ll be purely focused on the training.”

After a successful summer on the track, Jolliffe is hoping that he can make the Under-23 European squad next year.

He added: “I’ve got to get selection for the Under-23 Europeans, that’s in June.

“There’s going to be tight competition for that and that will be my main goal for the year.”

Speaking about Raybould, Jolliffe remarked: “She’s excited too, she’s in Mallorca at the minute with the women’s endurance squad.”

It has been a great year for the pair with Raybould winning Great Britain’s only rainbow jersey back in July after winning the junior scratch race.

She held off the pack in Aigle, Switzerland to secure her first world title.

Jolliffe picked up a national title in August winning sprint gold in Derby.