German boy astride Raleigh Chopper (5)

I believe the answer is:

saxon

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'german' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'boy astride raleigh chopper' is the wordplay.
'boy' becomes 'son' (synonyms).
'astride' is an insertion indicator.
'raleigh chopper' becomes 'ax' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'son' going around 'ax' is 'SAXON'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for saxon that I've seen before include "Member of old Germanic people" , "Germanic invader of England" , "Settler from Germany in the home counties" , "Race of England's rulers before the Conquest" , "Germanic tribesman" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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