Dominique Mayho, Bermuda’s top cyclist, has moved a step closer to his dream of racing professionally.

The 22-year-old has joined amateur outfit Jonge Rakkers Vollezele, of Belgium, where he will compete in the club’s elite team from April to September.

It will be Mayho’s first full season racing overseas, and he cannot wait to get started.

“I raced in Belgium for a while last year, but this year I’m going to be able to stay there for the full season and I’m really excited and looking forward to it,” Mayho said.

“It’s going to be a long hard season and we have already been invited to some big races and I’m looking forward to that. Belgium is the place to be, which is pretty cool.”

The NatWest Island Games gold-medal winner is keen to put together a solid run in Belgium in the hope of securing a professional contract.

“A lot of teams look at the amateur races for new riders,” Mayho said.

“If I get some good results or win one of the Belgium amateur races then you’re good enough to be a professional.

“This is going to be a very good opportunity for me to improve myself and hopefully get noticed by a professional team.”

Mayho, who is also a Caribbean Cycling Championships gold-medal winner, is well into his pre-season training, cycling up to 400 miles weekly under the cover of darkness.

“I wake up at 3.30am, ride for four hours and then come to work at 9am, so by 4pm I want to go sleep,” Mayho said.

“Last year I was able to wake up early with no problem because I spent all of last season not working and riding whenever I wanted to.

“But this year has been so much harder because I have to work. Now I’m trying to wake up at 3.30am, which is killing me.”

Mayho believes that his previous experience competing in Belgium will help him to hit the ground running.

“The first time I went there I really didn’t know what to expect,” he said.

“But now I know how hard the races are and how they are raced.

“The riders slow down a lot on every corner and then really sprint out of each corner. That makes the races a lot harder.

“But now I know how to go around people in the corner and know what to do to avoid having to accelerate that hard, so the benefit from last year is going to help a lot.”