If Elliot Rowe looked a little bemused when he secured the white jersey for best young rider at the Tour of Britain recently it was perhaps to be expected.

The 20-year-old from Aberdeenshire admitted he suprised even himself with his sixth place finish overall despite being one of the youngest riders in the 108-strong field.

He looked at home in the race which concluded with a stage which started and finished in Earlston in the Scottish Borders on Sunday.

It is a performance which has earned comparisons with Kelso's Oscar Onley who has been busy lighting up the Vuelta a Espana of late.

"I definitely did surprise myself," said Rowe, who races for Team Visma Lease a Bike as part of their development team, but was called up by the Great Britain team to race in the Tour of Britain.

"It was a massive confidence boost, I had just come off the Tour de l'Avenir (finished 18th), which is probably one of the biggest U23 races on the calendar and to go into the Tour of Britain and race with the elites, it was big.

"I knew I was going quite well coming out of the l'Avenir, I think it was a good opportunity for me to race at a bit of a higher level and just get stuck in and see how I can compete against these guys.

"I just took it as an opportunity to gain some experience and learn from some of the best guys in the world which was nice to do."

He said the confidence his teammates had shown in him during the Tour of Britain had also given him an "extra little bit of confidence".

"For me it is just keeping my head down, training hard," he added.

"I have done a decent result here but it is not huge, it is good for me now but I want to do more so I have just got to stick to what I have been doing this year.

"I have been working pretty hard so try and just crack on with that."

He said it was great to follow Onley in taking the white jersey on home soil.

"There have been big names riding the Tour of Britan and doing well there that have gone on to do big things," he said.

"It is nice to know, obviously it doesn't define anything and you don't know what is going to happen going forwards but I think it is a nice stepping stone hopefully on to bigger things."

Next up is the UCI U23 World Championship Road Race in Canada later this month, an event he describes as being "the biggest race of the year".

After that, the next big step would be to turn professional.

"It is good being a good rider at U23 level but when you step up it is a massive jump so I am still not sure what exactly that will be like for me," he added.

"I am still trying to find out what type of rider I am so I think I have got a lot to learn and I think just taking it step by step and seeing what comes out of it at the end of the day."