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Sep 8, 2022
2022 Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 4 (ft. Colin Sturgess, Ben Perry, Oscar Onley, Josh Charlton and Ben Perry)
In today's episode we review stage 4 of the Tour of Britain, a stage every bit as full-on as us fans had been hoping for.
The short punchy stage from Redcar to Duncombe Park was full gas from start to finish, with barely a pause for breath for riders or spectators. Colin Sturgess, Josh Charlton, Ben Perry, Oscar Onley and Steve Lampier all give us their views of how it went in a fascinating set of diary entries.
As expected, it took a long time for any kind of break to form, with seemingly every team in the race keen to be represented. WiV SunGod performed admirably in defending Ben Perry’s lead in these opening 40 to 50 kilometres, closing down as many moves as they could while every man and his dog tried to get up the road.
Eventually, Magnus Sheffield of Ineos Grenadiers and Harry Birchill of Saint Piran punched clear, stretching out a lead of up to a minute. As the peloton hit the first major climb of the day at Robin Hood’s Bay, however, Tom Pidcock put in a stinging attack, taking a select group of riders with him. The race reformed on the false flat over the top, but it was a sign of things to come.
Ahead of the next categorised climb of Egton Bank, the Uno-X team swarmed to the front of the bunch and set a searing pace that blew the race to pieces as they hit the climb. Around 18 riders survived over the top, including race leader Ben Perry and our audio diarist Oscar Onley (Team DSM), and for a while, it looked like this group might go all the way to the finish line.
The group wasn’t cohesive enough, however, and were eventually joined by a chasing group to swell the front of the race to around 40 riders.
As this lead group hit Carlton Bank – the hardest climb of the day under 30 kilometres from the finish – Pidcock once again attacked. Only Dylan Teuns (Israel – Premier Tech) and Onley could stay with him, and they quickly set about putting time into their chasers.
It took a while for the chase to organise itself, but efforts from the Movistar team, Ollie Rees of TRINITY Racing and Jake Stewart (Great Britain), amongst others, eventually reeled the trio back.
The final climb of the day with 8.4 kilometres remaining was Newgate Bank, and this proved decisive. Pidcock was once again a protagonist, moving clear with his teammate Omar Fraille, Teuns again, and Movistar’s Gonzalo Serrano. They stayed clear as they hit the finish in Duncombe Park, with Serrano edging Pidcock in the sprint.
Serrano’s win moved him into the AJ Bell leader’s jersey, with Pidcock, Fraile and Perry trailing by seven seconds.
WiV SunGod’s Matthew Teggart retained the Sportsbreaks.com sprints jersey, while Mathijs Paasschen’s (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB) is the new leader of the ŠKODA King of the Mountains jersey, level on points with erstwhile leader Jacob Scott (WiV SunGod).
Stage 5 is the only stage of the race with under 2000 metres of climbing, so is probably the peloton’s best bet for a blanket finish. Running from West Bridgford to Mansfield the stage is 186.8 kilometres long.
Show sponsored by HUNT Bike Wheels.Support the show
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Sep 6, 2022
2022 Tour of Britain Diaries | Stage 3 (ft. Ben Perry, Steve Lampier, Colin Sturgess and Oscar Onley)
In today’s episode, we review what was a truly fascinating stage 3 of the Tour of Britain with the help of Saint Piran team manager Steve Lampier, new race leader Ben Perry, Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling sports director Colin Sturgess and Team DSM’s young gun Oscar Onley.
On paper at least, this stage was one for the sprinters. The stage route featured a lumpy start, including the first category Chapel Fell, which then gave way to slightly less fierce, rolling terrain on relatively wide roads. However, the stage was anything but formulaic, as we’ve often come to expect at the Tour of Britain.
In contrast to stages 1 and 2, there was a fierce battle to get into the day’s break. And when it did eventually form, it was a strong quartet that got away. The domestic team duo of Saint Piran’s Alex Richardson and WiV SunGod’s Ben Perry were joined by Belgian pairing of Kamiel Bonneu of Sport Vlaanderen – Baloise and Mathijs Paasschens (Bingoal Pauwels Sauce WB).
With the break still young, some lively and very visible discussions ensued between the leading quartet, the four riders debating how they would work together for the remainder of the stage. More on this later from our audio diarists Steve Lampier and Ben Perry.
Perry and Paasschens mopped up most of the bonus seconds on offer at the intermediate sprints – important given their GC proximity – while Bonneu took maximum points atop each of the KOM climbs. None of the escapees picked up enough points, however, to trouble the incumbent competition leaders, meaning WiV SunGod’s Matt Teggart and Jake Scott retained their respective leads in the Sportsbreaks.com sprints and ŠKODA King of the Mountains competitions.
As torrential rain hit the race in the closing 50 kilometres, it became apparent that the leading four had a fighting chance of making it to the end. With 30 kilometres left the gap was three and half minutes, and despite the best efforts of the peloton – and the gap slowly dwindling – the advantage continued to stay with the break.
For much of the final kilometres, Richardson declined to cooperate with his fellow escapees – for reasons Steve Lampier explains in his dispatch – but even this didn’t overly hinder the break’s position.
In the closing stages, Richardson tried multiple attacks but all were quickly closed down. The break then slowed considerably, so much so it looked like they might be caught. Bonneu then put in a strong attack just a few hundred metres out which his rivals were too slow to react to.
It enabled Bonneu to surge to the biggest victory of his professional career, with a visibly disappointed Perry in second. Richardson rolled in third with Paasschens fourth. The speeding peloton arrived at the line just seconds later.
Initially, the commissaires awarded the race lead to overnight leader Corbin Strong (Israel – Premier Tech), with Perry in second on the same time. After reviewing the race footage, however, the jury decided that Perry finished seven seconds ahead of the peloton which, together with the time bonuses he earned on the road, means he is now the new race leader.
As far as we can work out, it’s the first time a domestic team has ever held the race lead of the modern-day Tour of Britain.
WiV SunGod will certainly have their work cut out defending Perry’s lead as stage 4 looks brutal. Running from Redcar to Duncombe Park, it’s a short stage at 149.5 kilometres. But it features some punishing climbs and the final 30 kilometres, in particular, are unforgiving, and include the climbs of Carlton Bank (2km long, 9.8% average gradient) and Newgate Bank (2km long, 6% average gradient).
Another exciting day’s racing awaits.
Show sponsored by HUNT Bike Wheels.Support the show
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Sep 6, 2022
2022 Tour of Britain Diaries | Stage 2 (ft. Colin Sturgess, Oscar Onley, Steve Lampier and Jim Brown)
In this edition, we welcome back our now-regular trio Colin Sturgess, Oscar Onley and Steve Lampier, who are joined by WiV SunGod’s young sprinter Jim Brown.
Stage 2 began in Hawich and ended in Duns. The early part of the stage was marked by a six-man break which featured brothers Harry and Charlie Tanfield from Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, Saint Piran’s Adam Lewis, Travis Stedman of Team Qhubeka, Ukko Peltonen of Global 6 Cycling, and Sportsbreaks.com sprints competition leader Matthew Teggart (WiV SunGod).
Teggart dominated the three intermediate sprints to extend his lead in the competition to 12 points. The peloton then sparked into action in the final 30 kilometres as the race took on a trio of late ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs. Teggart was the last of the break to survive as they hit the first climb of Wanside Rigg, and was briefly joined by Human Powered Health’s Stephen Bassett, who struck out for more KOM points, but the pair were caught just after the summit.
INEOS Grenadiers then controlled the race on the narrow roads across the open moorland onto the second climb, with Jacob Scott (Wiv SunGod) jumping away near the top of Mainslaughter Law to secure enough points to move into the lead of the ŠKODA King of the Mountains competition.
Davide Gabburo (Bardiani CSF Faizanè) went clear on the descent, building a 30-second lead. The Italian was caught approaching the top of the final climb of Hardens Hill, with German champion Nils Politt (BORA – hansgrohe) driving over the top and briefly going clear before Dylan Teuns (Israel – Premier Tech) countered.
The Belgian was caught by Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers), and then a Team DSM-led peloton mopped them up as they raced toward the finish in Duns.
DSM put their sprinter Cees Bol into a good position but an inspired late charge from the Great Britain team looked as if it was going to deliver Jake Stewart to victory, only for the Coventry rider to be pipped by millimetres by a late-charging Bol. Race leader Corbin Strong ((Israel-Premier Tech) finished third to take more bonus seconds on the line.
TRINITY Racing's Luke Lamperti was the best rider from the domestic teams in a very solid 5th, while WiV SunGod's Jim Brown and Saint Piran's Harry Birchill were 9th and 11th respectively.
Strong still leads the race, extending his lead to 8 seconds, while Jake Stewart is second overall now.
This year’s race ventures onto English soil for the first time on stage three, which takes place between Durham and Sunderland. It covers a distance of 163.6 kilometres and takes in 2,478 metres of elevation, including the first category Chapel Fell climb, which begins just 40 kilometres into the stage.
Show sponsored by HUNT Bike Wheels.Support the show
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Sep 5, 2022
2022 Tour of Britain Diaries | Stage 1 (ft. Colin Sturgess, Oscar Onley, Matthew Teggart and Steve Lampier)
In today's episode we bring you audio dispatches from Colin Sturgess, Oscar Onley, Matthew Teggart and Steve Lampier as they reflect on how stage 1 at the 2022 Tour of Britain went, and what stage 2 holds in store.
Stage 1 went from Aberdeen to Glenshee Ski Centre covering 181.3 kilometres and taking in 2,516 metres of elevation. The weather was grim, so grim in fact that the conditions delayed the live TV coverage for 90 minutes.
While we were waiting for pictures to appear, a five-rider break formed of Uno-X Pro Cycling rider Martin Urianstad, WiV SunGod duo Jake Scott and Matt Teggart, and Human Powered Health pairing of Matt Gibson and Stephen Bassett. Gibson, of course, was a teammate of Scott and Teggart earlier this year until his mid-season switch to Human Powered Health.
The quintet were out front for much of the day, enjoying a lead of up to five minutes at one point.
Bassett took the ŠKODA King of the Mountains jersey while Teggart picked up the Sportsbreaks.com Sprints jersey, while Gibson won the Adyen Combativity Award.
The five made it until the higher slopes of the climb up to the Glenshee Ski Centre. TRINITY Racing’s Thomas Gloag then made a jump, catching the break and briefly threatening to go away before the bunch reeled everyone in with 1.6 kilometres to go.
As the peloton closed in on the finish, INEOS Grenadiers’ Omar Fraile struck out first but Israel-Premier Tech’s Corbin Strong timed his sprint to perfection to take his first pro win and with it, the leader’s jersey.
Tom Pidcock was the highest-placed Brit in 5th, while our diarist Oscar Onley, just 19, finished an impressive 8th in the reduced bunch finish. WiV SunGod’s Irish road race champion Rory Townsend was the best-placed domestic team rider in 13th.
Stage 2 starts in Hawich and finishes in Duns. It covers just over 175 kilometres and features three punchy climbs in the final 30 kilometres which should make for some aggressive racing in the closing stages.
Show supported by HUNT Bike Wheels.
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Sep 4, 2022
2022 Tour of Britain Diaries | Stage 0 (ft. Tim Elverson, Steve Lampier, Jake Scott, Colin Sturgess and Oscar Onley)
Welcome back to The British Continental podcast!
We are absolutely delighted to be reviving our humble podcast this week to bring you another Tour of Britain diaries series.
Throughout the duration of the AJ Bell Tour of Britain, we’ll be taking you inside the race from the perspective of the domestic teams and riders with audio dispatches and interviews with managers, riders and staff.
For the domestic teams, the Tour of Britain is akin to the Tour de France. By far the biggest event in their racing calendars, a chance to showcase their sponsors, attract new investment and prove themselves against higher-tier opposition, and it’s a shop window too for the riders, keen to put on an eye-catching performance that might bag them a pro contract.
This year’s Tour is a bit like a British version of the Race to the Sun – or Paris-Nice as it’s more formally known – in that it starts in the north of the country and then heads south to warmer climes. The 2022 edition starts where the 2021 version finished - in the Scottish coastal city of Aberdeen. It finishes eight days later overlooking The Needles on the Isle of Wight.
It promises to be another tough edition. There is no team time trial – or any time trial for that matter – this year, meaning hilltop finishes, crosswinds, time bonuses and aggressive racing are likely to be the influential factors deciding the race’s overall winner. Any winner will certainly need good climbing legs. Every stage bar one - Stage 5 - has over 2000 metres of climbing and the race is bookended with hilltop finishes at the Glenshee Ski Centre in Aberdeenshire and The Needles on the Isle of Wight.
Ahead of that first summit finish, we hear from 19-year-old Scotsman *Oscar Onley*, a stage winner of the Giro Valle d’Aosta earlier this year, who is being given a GC shot by Team DSM at this year’s race.
Saint Piran’s team manager* Steve Lampier *talks us through his team, including their head-turning new signings, and fires a riposte to social media commentators who have questioned the team’s transfer policy this year.
WiV SunGod’s* Jake Scott* won two jerseys in last year’s Tour of Britain and was a feature of almost every break. He tells whether jersey-bagging will be another aim of his this year.
And his team manager, *Tim Elverson*, looks back on a successful year for the team and tells us what success would look like for the team at the race.
And, stop the press, we also have a late entry from Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling DS* Colin Sturgess*, who we’re delighted to say will be sending us dispatches throughout the race again this year.
Each of our guests also looks forward to the stage 1 ski centre summit finish. The consensus seems to be that the climb is hard enough to break the peloton up, but not so hard that it will be decisive for GC. They all agree too that the weather could up the ante and make the finish much harder than it looks on paper.
We want a say a big thanks to HUNT bike wheels who are supporting this Tour of Britain podcast diary series. HUNT have been long-time supporters of The British Continental website – and the domestic scene more generally – so we’re chuffed that they are also backing the podcast this week. Their man Ollie Gray is embedded in the race this week, so he'll be helping to bring us interviews with riders and staff as the week progresses. Support the show
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Sep 27, 2021
Jake Scott | Domestic rider of the season?
Our latest episode is an extended interview with one of the domestic riders of the season, Jake Scott.
Now 26, the self-coached Canyon dhb SunGod rider who works part-time in a bike shop to earn a living has had an excellent year. On the road, his standout results include winning the National Road Series, victory at the Beaumont Trophy, 2nd in the Lancaster Grand Prix, 2nd at the Ilkley Cycle Races and 11th at the Heistse Pijl race in Belgium. And on the mountain bike, he won the National MTB Marathon Championships, a result which earned him a ticket to the world MTB Marathon Championships.
Perhaps most notably though, he put in a series of attacking displays at the Tour of Britain, featuring in the break day after day, a feat which earned both the Eisberg Sprints and SKODA King of the Mountains competitions.
Jake was the very first person we interviewed for this podcast, way back in the heady pre-Covid days of September 2019. Back then it was Greg Trowman who interviewed Jake, and we're pleased to say that Greg dusted off his mic for a reunion. They met up just before Jake’s Beaumont win and his trip to the MTB marathon worlds to record this interview. It’s a long one, but it’s well worth a listen. A fascinating insight into how the last 12 months have been for Jake.
Don't forget, listeners can get 10% off at luxury skincare brand VeloSkin by using the code TBC-10 at veloskin.cc.Support the show
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Sep 12, 2021
Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 8 (ft Colin Sturgess, Tim Elverson, Rory Townsend & Bob Donaldson)
Welcome to episode 8 of our Tour of Britain diaries, the final chapter covering what has been a thrilling edition of the race.
In this final episode we have some brilliantly thoughtful concluding dispatches from our regular diarists Col Sturgess, Rory Townsend, and Bob Donaldson, plus an interview with Canyon dhb SunGod boss Tim Elverson, neatly bookending things after we published an in-depth interview with Tim on the eve of the race. Our other regular diarist Andy Turner was waylaid today so he send his virtual love across the airwaves to you all instead.
We want to extend our enormous gratitude to all of our regular and ad hoc diarists and contributors to this Tour of Britain diary series. We’ve had some phenomenal feedback from listeners about these episodes and without our diarists and contributors finding time in their busy days to provide us with such insightful dispatches these shows wouldn’t have been possible. So our thanks go out to each and every one of them.
*Stage summary*
Stage 8 from Stonehaven to Aberdeen took in 173 kilometres of relatively flat roads, bar the famous climb of Cairn o’Mount, placed early on in the stage.
Six riders formed the day’s breakaway, which went almost from the gun. These were TRINITY Racing duo Tom Gloag and Ben Healy, SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling’s William Bjergfelt, stage 2 winner Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling), Michal Paluta (Global 6 Cycling) and Jokin Murguialday from Caja Rural.
The break was allowed little freedom, with several teams eyeing either the stage win or the bonus seconds at the finish. Carpenter and Irish road race champion Healy survived the longest, before being caught in the outskirts of Aberdeen setting up the expected sprint finish.
Alaphilippe led things out for Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) before André Greipel (Israel Start-Up Nation) hit the front, only for Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) to sweep past them both to take the stage and overall victory, thanks to the ten bonus seconds he got on the line.
Overnight race leader Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) finished outside the top ten, missing out on time bonuses and dropping to second overall. As well as the WorldTour pair of Cavendish in third and Gabz Gullaigh (Movistar) in 10th, the top ten featured four domestic team riders. Rory was 6th, his third top ten of the race. Matt Gibson (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) backed up his 3rd place yesterday to finish 7th today, Ollie Peckover (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling) grabbed his first-ever UCI top ten with 8th and Rory’s teammate Matt Bostock was 9th.
Jacob Scott (Canyon dhb SunGod) completed a remarkable week winning both the ŠKODA King of the Mountains and Eisberg Sprints classification, the jerseys for which he had held since stage 1. He was rewarded for his efforts by being presented with the Overall Combativity Award for the race.
James Shaw (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) was the best domestic team rider on GC in 14th. Alex Peters (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling), 21st, and Max Stedman (Canyon dhb SunGod), 25th, were the other two domestic riders in the top 25.Support the show
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Sep 11, 2021
Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 7 (ft Colin Sturgess, Rory Townsend, Bob Donaldson, Andy Turner & Ryan Christensen)
The break had its day on Stage 7 and we very nearly had the first-ever stage win by a British Continental team at the Tour of Britain. With plenty to reflect on, our diary dispatches today come from Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling DS Colin Sturgess, Canyon dhb SunGod pair Rory Towsend and Ryan Christensen, SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling's Andy Turner and Bob Donaldson from the Great Britain team.
*Stage summary*
Stage 7 from Hawick to Edinburgh was a day for the break. As on stage 6, just getting into the break was a battle in itself, with six riders eventually going decisively clear.
The sextet was Deceuninck–QuickStep pair Yves Lampaert and Davide Ballerini, Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar Team) and Pascal Eenkhoorn (Jumbo Visma) - all from the WorldTour - together with domestic team riders Matt Gibson (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) and Christopher Blevins (TRINITY Racing).
They built a lead of nearly 10 minutes and were allowed their head coming into Edinburgh as INEOS Grenadiers controlled the gap to ensure the race didn’t come back together to give Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) any opportunity to collect time bonuses to threaten Hayter’s lead.
Blevins was the first to be distanced with 20 kilometres to go on an unclassified climb out of Ford before Lampaert attacked with 8.5 kilometres to go splitting the group. Jorgenson reacted first to get onto the former Belgian champion’s wheel with Gibson putting in a concerted effort to then get across to the pair reaching them with five kilometres remaining.
The trio distanced Eenkhoorn and Ballerini. Coming into Holyrood Park Gibson's World Tour rivals used their experience to force him to lead out the sprint.
Belgian rider Lampaert came around him to take Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s first victory in the race, with Jorgenson in second and Gibson third.
Behind, race leader Hayter finished safely within the peloton to retain his overall lead and move to within a day of becoming the first British winner of the national tour in five years. Our diarist Bob Donaldson also finished with Hayter in the main bunch, while Rory rolled in nearly eight minutes back in 89th.
Rory's teammate Jacob Scott retains both the ŠKODA King of the Mountains and Eisberg Sprints jerseys and he will win both providing he finishes the final stage.
Speaking of which, stage 8 is from Stonehaven to Aberdeen over 173 kilometres and incorporates three classified climbs, including the famous climb of Cairn o’Mount early in the stage, as well as three intermediate Eisberg Sprints.Support the show
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Sep 10, 2021
Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 6 (ft Colin Sturgess, Rory Townsend, Steve Lampier, Bob Donaldson & Andy Turner)
Welcome to episode six of our Tour of Britain diaries.
The racing was frenetic today, probably the best day yet at the Tour of Britain, a real treat to watch. And we have plenty of treats coming too in this episode. We have dispatches from all three of our regular audio diarists, Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling DS Colin Sturgess, Rory Townsend from Canyon dhb SunGod and Andy Turner from SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling. We welcome Great Britain’s Bob Donaldson on board as a new regular diarist for the rest of the race. And we hear from Saint Piran’s Steve Lampier, who tells us what the race has been like for the Cornish team’s first Tour of Britain start.
*Stage summary*
Stage 6 of the AJ Bell Tour of Britain crossed the Pennines from Carlisle to Gateshead over 198 kilometres, taking in three first category climbs along the way.
It began at a frenetic pace, with riders and teams knocking six bells out of each other trying to get into the break. Rohan Dennis, Julian Alaphillipe and others were all part of the tussle to get away.
Eventually, a nine-rider group formed consisting of our own Rory Townsend, Mark Cavendish, no less, Cav’s Deceuninck-QuickStep teammate Tim Declerq, Jimmy Janssens of Alpecin-Fenix, Colin Joyce (Rally Cycling), George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma), Arkéa-Samic’s Dan McLay, Mark Donovan (Team DSM) and Mason Hollyman (Israel Start-Up Nation). It was a strong group, with Rory the only domestic team rider represented. The group soon decided that Mark Donovan – lying 9th on GC – was too much of a threat to their chances of success, and duly manoeuvred to drop both him and Mason Hollyman.
Rory hoovered up as many ŠKODA King of the Mountains and Eisberg Sprints points as he could en route, meaning teammate Jacob Scott has now secured the former outright and has a commanding lead in the latter.
The break was caught some way out, however, by a reduced peloton. James Shaw (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cylcing) then attacked on an uncategorised climb with around 15 kilometres to go, kickstarting a ten-rider move that went all the way to the finish. The move included all the main race favourites, with Wout van Aert sprinting to the win ahead of Ethan Hayter and Julian Alaphillipe. Shaw rolled in with an impressive 5th place. A 20-man group came in 10 seconds behind the leaders that included our diarist Bob Donaldson, Alex Peters (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling) and Max Stedman (Canyon dhb SunGod).
Hayter still leads the race overall but he now only has 4 seconds in hand over van Aert with two stages left. Shaw remains the best domestic team rider on GC in 14th.
Sadly, our diarist Andy Turner didn’t finish the stage, one of four withdrawals from the day along with Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling’s Charles Page. And injuries for both Dan Bigham (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling) and Ethan Vernon (Great Britain) meant that neither began the stage.
The race moves to Scotland tomorrow with a 194.8-kilometre stage from Hawick to Edinburgh with a picturesque route through the Scottish BordersSupport the show
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Sep 9, 2021
Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 5 (ft Colin Sturgess, Andy Turner and Rory Townsend)
We have a slimmed-down core of dispatches in today’s episode from our three regular audio diarists: Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling DS Colin Sturgess, Andy Turner (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling) and Canyon dhb SunGod’s Rory Townsend.
Don’t be fooled though. While the episode may be lighter in contributors than normal, it packs a punch when it comes to drama. An episode not to be missed.
*Stage summary*
On the face of it, stage 5 was a straightforward affair. A break went up the road, it was caught in the closing stages and it ended in the expected sprint finish. But a crash on the final bend meant that it wasn’t the duke-out for bonus seconds between race leader Wout van Aert and second-placed Ethan Hayter that we’d all expected.
The day’s break once again consisted of five riders, including four from the British domestic teams. These were short-track cross-country mountain bike world champion Christopher Blevins (TRINITY Racing), Dan Bigham (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling), Leon Mazzone (Saint Piran), Nickolas Zukowsky (Rally Cycling) and perennial breakaway member Jacob Scott (Canyon dhb SunGod).
Scott has somehow mustered the energy to make the break on every single road stage so far. He once again dominated the points scoring in the ŠKODA King of the Mountains and Eisberg Sprints competitions and unsurprisingly now has commanding leads in both.
Bigham, Blevins, and Zukowsky, meanwhile, lasted well into the finish town of Warrington and were only with only 1.8 kilometres of racing remaining.
As the bunch hit the final bend, Owain Doull crashed out on the wet, greasy roads, taking out several other riders on the process, including Rory. Van Aert was caught behind the melee, as were many others, meaning only select few riders fought it out for the win.
It was Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) who took the honours ahead of European Champion Giacomo Nizzolo (Team Qhubeka NextHash), Dan McLay (Team Arkéa Samsic) and 18-year-old American TRINITY Racing rider Luke Lamperti. The win was Hayter’s 7th UCI road win of the season, and the 38th by a Brit this season.
All this meant that Hayter retakes the overall race lead from van Aert, thanks to the ten bonus seconds he picked up at the line.
The sixth stage of the AJ Bell Tour of Britain crosses the Pennines from Carlisle to Gateshead over 198 kilometres, with the finish alongside Sir Antony Gormley’s world-famous Angel of the North. With three first category ŠKODA King of the Mountains climbs – at Hartside, Killhope Cross and Burtree Fell – during the route through Cumbria, County Durham and Northumberland it could be another day where the overall lead changes hands. An Alaphillipe long-range attack anyone?Support the show
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Sep 8, 2021
Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 4 (ft Colin Sturgess, Rory Townsend, Bob Donaldson, Oli Stockwell, Andy Turner & Matt Bostock)
Stage 4 of the Tour of Britain was the queen stage and it didn’t disappoint. Glorious sunshine, glorious scenery and a glorious parcours was matched with glorious racing. Just glorious.
We also have five glorious diary entries for your delectation this evening. We hear from a disappointed Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling DS Colin Sturgess, a shattered Andy Turner from SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling, a confident Matt Bostock itching for a sprint finish on stage 5, a double-act from Great Britain riders Bob Donaldson and Oli Stockwell, and a happy Rory Townsend, who says he had a lot of fun today.
*Stage summary*
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) triumphed atop the Great Orme after out-sprinting – just - reigning world champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quickstep).
The pair finished on the same time, with Michael Woods (Israel Start-Up Nation) one second further back, while overnight leader Ethan Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) slipped back to second place overall – just two seconds in arrears on…
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Sep 7, 2021
Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 3 (ft Colin Sturgess, Rory Townsend, Tom Gloag, Andy Turner & Max Stedman)
After a challenging team time trial for the domestic teams, our diaries feature our three regular audio diarists – *Rory Townsend* (Canyon dhb SunGod), *Colin Sturgess* (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling DS) and *Andy Turner* (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling) – and, ahead of tomorrow’s queen stage, we also hear from climbers *Tom Gloag* (TRINITY Racing) and *Max Stedman *(Canyon dhb SunGod).
Stage summary
INEOS Grenadiers came up trumps at the stage 3 team time trial in Carmarthenshire, with a commanding ride. The result moves Ethan Hayter – fast fulfilling his road racing promise – into the race lead.
On the 18.2 kilometre course, INEOS were 17 seconds faster than Deceuninck – Quick-Step and 20 ahead of Jumbo-Visma.
It was a tough day out for the domestic teams. Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling’s high hopes were dashed by a mechanical for Si Wilson, as Colin Sturgess explains in his diary entry. They nonetheless finished 8th, the best of the UCI Continental teams, just a 1’09” down…
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Sep 6, 2021
Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 2 (ft Colin Sturgess, Rory Townsend, Jacob Scott, Ethan Vernon, Andy Turner & Thomas Mein)
In today's audio diaries, we are once again joined by Canyon dhb SunGod rider *Rory Townsend*, Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling DS *Colin Sturgess*, and SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling's *Andy Turner*.
Our roving reporter within the Canyon dhb SunGod team, Ollie Gray from HUNT Bike Wheels, once again speaks with serial jersey-bagger *Jacob Scott*, and he also chats with *Thomas Mein*, who suffered a heavy fall today. And, from inside the Great Britain team camp, we hear from *Ethan Vernon, *8th today*.* Look out too for our interview with Andy's teammate *Alex Peters*, which should be up on our website by the time you hear this.
The stage began with the usual battle to establish a breakaway and, when one did go, it was once again five riders who escaped up the road. The lucky five were Robin Carpenter (Rally Cycling), Nicolas Sessler (Global 6 Cycling), Will Bjergfelt (SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling) and Leon Mazzone (Saint Piran), together with leader of the ŠKODA King of the Mountains and Eisberg spr…
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Sep 5, 2021
Tour of Britain diaries | Stage 1 (ft Colin Sturgess, Rory Townsend, Jacob Scott, Andy Turner & Bob Donaldson)
Welcome to the first episode of Tour of Britain diaries. After each stage, we’ll be bringing you daily audio diaries from British Continental riders and staff, giving you unparalleled insight into the race from the perspective of the domestic teams.
We have three regular diarists lined up:
· Canyon dhb SunGod’s Rory Townsend, a previous podcast interviewee, one of the best domestic riders around and winner of the sprints jersey at the 2019 Tour of Britain.
· British racing legend Colin Sturgess, DS at the Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling team. Colin was a world champion on the track and a national champion on the road. And was DS for Madison Genesis at the Tour of Britain back in 2018.
· Andy Turner, who rides for the SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling team. Andy is a Tour of Britain debutant, so he will be coming into the race wide-eyed.
We’ll also be grabbing ad hoc dispatches from elsewhere in the peloton. And, in today’s episode, these come from breakaway hero Jacob Scott of the Ca…
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Sep 4, 2021
Tim Elverson | Tour of Britain special
Welcome back to The British Continental. Refreshed and eager to get podcasting again after a summer break, we’ve got a set of episodes planned for you all focused on this year’s Tour of Britain.
Listen out for daily audio diaries from British Continental riders and staff, giving you unparalleled insight into the race from the perspective of the domestic teams after each stage.
First up, though, we have an in-depth interview with Canyon dhb SunGod owner and DS Tim Elverson.
Elverson has taken the team a long way in its short existence. Established in 2015 as elite-level squad Pedal Heaven, the team is now the domestic scene’s longest-running – and arguably most successful - squad. They have an ambitious race calendar, one that sees the team regularly competing at a high level, often going toe-to-toe with some of the best WorldTour teams.
We spoke with Tim just a few days out from the Tour of Britain. The British road racing calendar has been severely disrupted by Covid-19 re…
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Jun 24, 2021
Colin Clews | The return of the Women's CiCLE Classic
27 June 2021 will be a landmark for British road racing. It will see the first elite-level road race in the UK for 666 days. Fans, riders, and teams have had to wait nearly a full year two years for an elite road race on home soil. And whilst many a cycling fan will have their gaze fixed on stage 2 of the Tour de France, it’s important too that we celebrate this moment.
The race we allude to, of course, is the 5th edition Women’s CiCLE Classic. A relatively new race on the calendar, it has quickly established itself as an important event for the women’s domestic peloton. And as the first round of the National Road Series after such a long lay-off from elite road racing, it takes on even greater significance this year.
Ahead of the race, we spoke to the organiser Colin Clews, who coincidentally was also the organiser of the last National A road race in the UK: the Bourne CiCLE Classic. In a fascinating interview, Colin explains the challenges of putting on a top-level race in th…
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Jun 21, 2021
Emily Nelson | Winning the CiCLE Classic
Ahead of the women’s CiCLE Classic this weekend- the first National A road race for 666 days – we are publishing two special episodes focusing on the race. In this first episode, we talk with the race’s reigning champion, Emily Nelson, who gives us an insight into what it takes to ride – and win – one of the UK’s most prestigious one-day women’s races.
It has been a dizzying few years or so for 24-year-old Emily.
One of the world’s top track riders, she hit the heights in 2018, becoming the world madison champion on the track, and adding a world championship silver medal in the team pursuit to her palmares too. With both events on the 2020 Tokyo track programme, her Olympic dreams were looking bright.
The following year she then won scratch gold at the European track championships, and silver in the elimination race at the same event. And she excelled on the road that year too, despite riding only a handful of road races. She won the East/West Midlands women’s road…
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Jun 12, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 10
Stage 10 from San Vito al Tagliamento to Castelfranco Veneto was the last stage of this year’s edition of the U23 Giro and it ended on a high for British team Trinity Racing, to cap off an excellent race all round for the development set-up.
As we predicted, the flat-ish parcours didn’t result in any real changes to the GC, but it didn’t give the sprinters their day either. We said it might be a day for the break, even going so far as to tip Trinity Racing’s Ben Turner. But instead it was Trinity’s other Ben – Healy – who took the spoils. And well-deserved they were too.
The opening half of the stage was marked by numerous attacks and escape attempts, with riders desperate to grasp a final opportunity for a stage win. It wasn’t until around the half way point, however, that a meaningful break formed. It contained just three riders: Jacopo Menegotto of the General Store team, Harrison Wood’s SEG Racing teammate Daan Hoole and the Irish road race champion Ben Healy.…
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Jun 11, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 9
Stage 9. The last mountain stage, the penultimate stage of the race., and with only a flat final stage to come, this was the last opportunity for the GC riders to get one up on their nearest rivals, the last chance for the mountain goats to earn a potentially career-changing stage win.
There were no killer gradients, no monstrous extreme altitude climbs. But with climbing from the start, three category one climbs, a category three climb, and over 3000 metres of vertical gain, this was no easy stage either. The stage finished with two ascents of the Nevegal climb, and it was on these slopes that the decisive action occurred.
The early stages of the race were more about whittling down the bunch than establishing breakaways and after about 80 kilometres, only around 45 riders were left in the peloton. As they passed through the town of Belluno there was a fright for the Maglia Rosa Juan Ayuso and our diarist Tom Gloag, who both fell on the cobblestone streets. But they recovered quickly…
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Jun 10, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 8
Stage 8 already; where has the time gone? Just two stages left to go now and then it will time for some well-earned rest. The riders might need a lie down too.
Anyway, with that terrible joke out of the way, let’s get stuck into the stage round-up. Stage 8 from Aprica to Andalo was another mountain stage, featuring 2300 metres of climbing. A good chunk of that climbing began immediately, with the riders tackling the first category Passo del Tonale almost from kilometre zero. It was on these early slopes that a large group of no less than 36 riders made their escape over the Maglia Rosa group. The two Bens – Healy and Turner – were in there, as was our diarist Harrison Wood, making good on his objective to get in the breaks.
Before the break reached the final 15-kilometre climb to Andalo, Ben Healy escaped from that lead group with the Swiss Racing Academy rider Andréa Mifsud. Healy soon dropped Mifsud, stretching out a lead of over a minute on the chasers. On the final climb,…
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Jun 9, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 7
Welcome to the latest episode of our Baby Giro Diaries! We're getting to the business end of the race now and stage 7 was one that appears to have been a decisive one in setting the GC pecking order for the remaining three stages.
Taking the riders from Sondrio to Lago di Campo Moro, it was a short one at 120 kilometres, But it was also brutal, featuring over 3000 metres of ascent. For hors d'oeuvres, it served up 2 category 2 climbs but without a doubt, the main course was the challenging 28.8-kilometre climb to Lanzada | Lago di Campo Moro.
It was another stage where the break took a long time to form, with five riders eventually getting away. They reached the foothills of the final climb but by the time they had reached the steepest ramps, they had been caught and overtaken by a new front group of five made up of the Maglia Rosia Juan Ayuso, Colombia's Jesus Peña and the riders lying 2nd, 3rd and 4th on GC: Tobias Halland Johannessen, Henri Vandenabeele and our diarist Tom Gloag.…
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Jun 8, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 6
Welcome to our stage 6 Baby Giro diary episode. Six stages in, four to go, and still plenty of challenges ahead for our diarists to negotiate.
Stage 6 from Bonferraro di Sorga to San Pellegrino Terme was the longest stage of the race at 177 kilometres. The first 144 of those were flat, until the peloton hit the 6% gradient, category 2 Selvino climb. From there it was a fairly technical, fast descent for 16 kilometres before flattening out to the finish.
The racing itself was a fairly straightforward affair. It began at a furious pace, with an average exceeding 51 kilometres an hour for the first two hours, as numerous riders attempted to form a break. Eventually, a break of 13 formed that included Trinity Racing’s Ben Turner. The break was relatively short-lived, however. Asbjorn Hellemose from the Vc Mendrisio struck out on the climb, cresting the peak alone, but he was swept up by a select group of just of around 20 riders – including the main GC riders – on the descent. As t…
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Jun 7, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 5
Welcome to episode five of our Baby Giro Diaries. If you’ve been listening to our previous episodes, you’ll know the crack by now. We give a short round-up of the day’s action and then you hear from our diarists Tom Gloag, Harrison Wood and Callum Ferguson for their reflections on how the day went.
Stage 5 was arguably the toughest of the Baby Giro so far, culminating in two category 1 climbs. Heavy rain and some particularly aggressive racing meant that this was no easy day out for any of the riders.
Fast from the off, it took until around 45 kilometres for a break to form, and our man Harrison Wood was in it. His break of 7 was eventually joined by about 20 riders, including Trinity Racing’s Ben Healy and some other GC hopefuls.
With little cohesion in the group, Harrison attacked with about 50 kilometres to go to form a leading group of 7, including Healy. The group was caught by the GC leaders on the penultimate climb and from there the GC battle commenced. At that point…
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Jun 7, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 4
Welcome to stage 4 of our Baby Giro diary show, which comes after a great day for the Brits. As usual, we’ll bring you a short round-up of the day’s action, together with diary entries from Trinity Racing’s Tom Gloag, SEG Racing Academy’s Harrison Wood and Holdsworth-Zappi manager Callum Ferguson.
Stage 4 was a pan flat 25-kilometre individual time trial from Sorbolo Mezzani to Guastalla. Time trials of this length are a rarity at the under-23 level, so it wasn’t completely clear which riders the course would suit. Harrison’s tip for the stage win, his teammate Daan Hoole, was one of the early leaders, eventually finishing in 7th. Tom’s teammate Ben Healy was also in the hot seat for a while before being knocked off the top spot by just one second to Italian Filippo Baroncini from the powerful Colpack Ballan team. Healy nonetheless finished second on the stage, and was joined on the podium by Trinity Racing’s other Ben – Turner – who continued his fine run of form…
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Jun 5, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 3
Welcome to the third of our daily Baby Giro shows, bringing a round-up of the day’s action, together with diary entries from Tom Gloag, Harrison Wood and Holdsworth-Zappi.
Stage 3 from Cesanatico-Cesanatico was 133 kilometres long and featured over 2000 metres of climbing. After a flat first 29 kilometres, the stage then included four categorised climbs in relatively quick succession, culminating in the category 1 Barbotto climb, which topped out with around 43 kilometres to go. After that, it was pretty much all downhill to the finish.
It was a day for the breakaway today with Alessio Bonelli from the Biesse Arvedi taking the spoils over Luca Colnaghi in an 8-man tussle for the win. The main bunch rolled in 26 seconds later and included our diarists Tom Gloag and Harrison Wood – who crossed the line together – as well as Trinity Racing’s two Bens – Healy and Turner. Holdsworth-Zappi’s best finisher was once again Dan Hoeks, who also finished in the main bunch.
Juan Ayus…
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Jun 4, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 2
Welcome to the second of our daily shows following this year’s U23 Giro d’Italia.
After each stage, we are bringing you short round-ups of the day’s action, together with audio diaries from the British-registered Holdsworth-Zappi team, Trinity Racing’s Tom Gloag, and SEG Racing and Rayner Foundation rider Harrison Wood.
Stage 2 from Riccione to Imola was 138.2 kilometres long and featured two categorised climbs, both positioned towards the back end of the stage. The last of the climbs, the Cima Gallisterna, was also the final climb in last year’s world road race championships.
The race itself began with the familiar sight of an early break while the rest of the peloton held its fire. The break featured four riders, including Holdsworth-Zappi’s Connor Sens. It was never allowed more than about three minutes, however, and was brought back with around 40 kilometres to go.
Pre-race favourite Juan Ayuso punched clear to lead solo over the top of the Gallisterna. He was joine…
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Jun 3, 2021
2021 Baby Giro Diaries | Stage 1
Welcome to the first of our daily shows following this year’s U23 Giro d’Italia, a race affectionately known as the Baby Giro.
After each stage, we’ll be bringing you short round-ups of the day’s action, together with audio diaries from the British-registered Holdsworth-Zappi team, Trinity Racing’s Tom Gloag, and SEG Racing Academy’s Harrison Wood. The latter is of course of supported by the Rayner Foundation.
Stage 1 was a 144 kilometre from Cesenatico to Riccione. In our preview of the race, Joseph Doherty predicted this flat-ish stage would be one for the sprinters. But it was Italian *Andrea Cantoni *who took a surprise win at the end of a long day in the break on his home roads in Romagna. Cantoni will wear the leader’s pink jersey tomorrow as a result and now holds a 26 second lead in the general classification.
Behind Cantoni, Trinity Racing’s Ben Turner was the best-placed Brit, finishing a fine 6th after jumping away with 30 kilometres to go and closing a th…
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Jun 3, 2021
Lewis Askey | My Season | Part 3
Welcome to the The British Continental. In this episode, I’m pleased to bring you our latest catch-up with 19-year-old Lewis Askey, one of our under-23s to watch this season.
Lewis rides for the Groupama-FDJ development team and, as regular listeners of this podcast will know, we’re checking in with him throughout the season to see how his year progresses.
This is our third chat with Lewis and it came after a block of racing that included self-supported mountain bike race, the Circuit de Wallonie in which his teammate Laurence Pithie finished third, the Tro Bro Leon, won by fellow Brit Connor Swift, and the Alpes Isère Tour, where Lewis picked up a top ten on stage 2 before having to abandon the race with food poisoning.
In the interview, we talk about his self-supported mountain bike racing experiment and the extent to which it brings him closer to selection for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. We also discuss his latest road racing experiences, how the team decides which rider w…
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Apr 21, 2021
Max Stedman | Climbing the ranks
Today’s episode features an interview with 25-year-old Max Stedman. Max is a climber by trade, an asset that last year helped him to win the early-season Tour of Antalya and break the British Everesting record in September.
Max currently rides for Tim Elverson’s Canyon dhb SunGod squad. In fact, Max has ridden for Elverson since he was a second junior. Like his teammate Rory Townsend, who we interviewed last year for the podcast, Max’s results on the road have been promising enough so far to suggest he deserves a contract with a Pro Conti or even WorldTour team.
Despite only switching to riding full-time until relatively recently - choosing to balance his cycling career with completing a university degree in his first few years as a senior - he’s a five-time UCI race winner and has managed to pull off a number of eye-catching results against top competition over the years.
Four of his UCI race wins have come at the Tour of Quanzhou Bay stage race in China, a race in which he…
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Apr 18, 2021
Lewis Askey | My Season | Part 2
Today’s episode features our latest catch-up with young super-talent Lewis Askey, one of the ten male riders on our recently published list of under-23s to watch this season.
Just 19 years old, and now into his second year at under-23 level, Lewis rides for the Groupama-FDJ development team.
As regular listeners of this podcast will know, Lewis is keeping a diary of sorts on the podcast; we’re checking in with him throughout the season to see how his year progresses.
In our first catch-up with Lewis, recorded in the middle of February, he was on training camp in Italy. Now, a couple of months later, we caught up with Lewis as he was having a short break after a run of five tough one-day races that saw him make three appearances for the Groupama-FDJ WorldTour team.
Those five races were packed with incident too. Le Samyn was a lesson in how not to ride conservatively, he won the most aggressive rider award at the Grand Prix Jean-Pierre Monseré, he had a close-up view of the Jak…
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Apr 14, 2021
Joss Lowden | Woman of the hour
In this episode, we chat to Joss Lowden. Joss is a relatively recent convert to cycling. As she explains in this interview, she didn’t even really like cycling for quite some time, only getting into it after suffering a running injury. A cycling trip to Mallorca in 2016 made her rethink her dislike of the sport. And not long after she bought a TT bike on eBay and promptly broke the local TT course record just a couple of days later.
Since then, the now 33-year-old has spells with Aprire Bicycles-HSS Hire, Storey Racing, and Brother-Fusion before joining her current team, Drops-Le Col part way through 2019. Despite her obvious talent, Joss has had a fair share of challenges since she started racing. She essentially wrote off her 2018 season with a shoulder injury after a crash at the Tour de Yorkshire and then broke both her shoulder and elbow the following year at the Tour of California. On top of that, Joss’ team Drops lost a whole year of racing due to Covid.
When she has had o…
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Mar 12, 2021
Tom Gloag | Our man in Colombia
We’re really pleased to bring you what we believe is another very special episode. It’s an in-depth interview with Trinity Racing’s Tom Gloag, a rider who we have rated for some time now as one of the best under-23 British riders yet to turn pro.
Readers of our website will already know that we’ve long-lauded Tom’s potential. As a junior, for example, he took a stage win and finished second overall at the Kingdom Junior Classic, was third overall at the Sint-Martinusprijs Kontich Juniors stage race, and also took wins in the Spanish junior one-day races Zumarraga and Torneo Euskal Herria. He then capped the year off with a stage win in the Junior Tour of Wales.
Insiders at his club VC Londres – the club that has helped to produce talents including Ethan Hayter and Fred Wright – were also tipping him for a bright future. Our formal journal contributor George Jary, for example, told us that: “Tom is pure passion on a bike. A style reminiscent of Dan Martin, not scared t…
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Mar 5, 2021
Mark Stewart | Locked down, dropped, and feeling better than ever
We’re really pleased to bring you what is perhaps the most fascinating podcast interview we’ve done so far.
It’s a conversation with 25-year-old Scottish cyclist Mark Stewart. Mark has ridden for the Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling team since 2019 and, until last year, had been a long-term member of Great Britain’s track squad.
Over the years he has proven himself to be one of the finest endurance track cyclists around, winning national titles, World Cup golds, and a Commonwealth Games gold in the points race.
After the track world championships in 2020, Mark flew out to New Zealand to visit his girlfriend, fellow track cyclist Emma Cumming. Just days later, the borders closed around him, effectively locking him. And then, just a week after that, British Cycling told him he was dropped from the track programme. That might seem like a pretty tough hand to be dealt in what was then an Olympic year.
As Mark explains though, he’s actually never been happier. He’s landed on his…
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Mar 2, 2021
Lewis Askey | My season | Part 1
Our latest episode is with former junior Paris-Roubaix winner Lewis Askey.
In our opinion, Lewis is one of the brightest under-23 prospects around. Just 19 years old, and now into his second year at under-23 level, Lewis rides for the Continental-level Groupama-FDJ development team, along with new signing Joe Pidcock, younger brother of Tom. The team is only in its third year, but has already proven to be a centre of excellence for developing young riders, having been home to Lewis’ fellow Brit Jake Stewart before he stepped up to the WorldTour parent team this season. It’s a path we think Lewis has the potential to follow.
He first came to our attention back in 2018 when he won the junior Paris-Roubaix as a first-year junior. The following year, he consolidated his position as one of the most exciting junior talents in the cycling world taking victory in the Junior Tour of Wales, the UK’s most prestigious junior stage race. The race is so often a marker for future success, wit…
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Feb 26, 2021
Drops - Le Col Special | Marjolein Van't Geloof and Alice Towers
Welcome to the first episode of series 3 of The British Continental podcast! The juggle of homeschooling and childcare over the last few weeks has delayed our return to podcasting here at British Conti HQ but we are back at last.
In our first episode, we’re going to take you back in time a little to two interviews we recorded just before Christmas. A double bill, if you like, with Marjolein Van’t Geloof and Alice Towers who both ride for Bob Varney's newly titled Drops – Le Col supported by Tempur team.
24-year-old Marjolein – also known as 'Mayo' or 'Marge' to her teammates - is a Dutch rider probably most at home in the crosswinds and cobbles of her native Netherlands and neighbouring Belgium. She tells us about her pathway into cycling, her family’s ice skating expertise, how she juggles her work as a physio with being a top-level cyclist, her time on the Lotto Soudal and Alé Cipollini teams and why she feels so at home at Drops.
Alice, meanwhile, is a first-year sen…
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Dec 11, 2020
Damien Clayton | A one-track mind
Our latest episode is with Canyon dhb SunGod's new recruit Damien Clayton.
About a year ago, we published the first instalment of a three-part interview with Damien on our website. The interview traced his remarkable transformation from an architect who barely rode a bike to a UCI race winner.
Back in the summer of 2016, Damien's love affair with the bike began. At that stage he'd barely ridden more than 10 miles in one go on a bicycle, but a company bike ride from London to Brighton suddenly ignited his interest. He may have done it in gym shorts and on a single-speed bike with next to no experience, but he still found himself first to the top of all the hills, including Ditchling Beacon, the highest point on the South Downs. Afterwards, he bought himself a ‘proper’ road bike and then found himself falling headlong into a love affair with the bicycle.
Just three years later in 2019, not only had he signed his first contract with a Continental team, Ribble Pro Cycling, he'd also…
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Dec 7, 2020
Jim Brown | In search of a breakthrough
Our latest podcast episode features an in-depth interview with Jim Brown, the first of five new signings for the Canyon dhb SunGod team.
In our minds, Jim is one of the most under-rated young British riders around. He dreams of winning Roubaix one day but after a difficult first two years at the under-23 level, the Yorkshireman hasn’t yet had the opportunity to show his full potential.
As a junior, he grabbed our attention with plenty of top results without ever quite grabbing that big win. In 2018, for example, he was 2nd in the Keizer der Juniores, 4th in the E3 Harelbeke, 6th in the Guido Reybrouck and 7th in Gent-Wevelgem. A fine tally, especially considering that more often than not he was up against Remco Evenepoel that year.
In 2019, his first as an under-23, the first half of his year was interrupted by injury. But he finished strongly, riding the Tour de l’Avenir – where he grabbed a top 10 on stage 4 – and was then part of the Great Britain team at the Tour of Brit…
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Nov 15, 2020
Harry Tanfield | Ready to bounce back
Our latest podcast episode features an exclusive interview with Harry Tanfield.
Harry has signed for Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling in what might well be one of the transfer coups of the close season.
He has just spent the last two years competing at the World Tour level, first for Katusha Alpecin and then for AG2R La Mondiale. In many ways, it’s been a challenging period for the 25-year-old from Great Ayton. His first year about adjusting to the top tier of the sport and then, just as he was beginning to find his feet, the news dropped that his Katusha Alpecin team was folding. AG2R swooped in to rescue his World Tour career, offering him a one-year deal. But confined to a domestique role this season, and with the calendar severely interrupted, Harry has had few opportunities to prove himself. And when AG2R declined to renew his contract, he was left searching for a team once again.
In a tough contract year, his hunt for a World Tour or Pro Conti deal wasn’t looking hopeful. Then…
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Nov 7, 2020
Stevie Williams | The road to recovery | Part 2
Our latest podcast episode is the final part of our interview with Bahrain-McLaren rider Stevie Williams.
Those of you that have already listened to Part 1 will have heard about Stevie’s late beginnings to bike racing, his years riding at the domestic level for Pedal Heaven and JLT Condor, his switch to the SEG Racing Academy and his career-changing ride at the Ronde L’Isard.
In this second part, Stevie discusses his successful Baby Giro back in 2018, his transfer to what was then called Bahrain Merida and his fightback from an injury which threatened to derail his pro career before it had even begun.
It was a long, challenging road back to recovery for Stevie, and we're especially grateful to him for being so open about both the physical and mental battles he has fought.
The interview took place not long after his comeback race in the Czech Republic earlier this year. Now, Stevie has just ridden in his first Grand Tour, finishing ten stages of the Vuelta before retiring from t…
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Oct 23, 2020
Stevie Williams | The road to recovery | Part 1
In this episode, we bring you the first part of a feature-length interview following Stevie Williams' remarkable cycling journey.
The 24-year-old Welshman joined the pro ranks after a sparking 2018 season. That year, Stevie won two stages and the overall in one of the most prestigious U23 races around - the Ronde de l'Isard. If that wasn’t indication enough of his talent, he followed that up with a stage win and 5th overall at the Baby Giro.
The results earned him a WorldTour contract with Bahrain Merida – now called Bahrain McLaren – but his debut season with the team was virtually over almost before it had begun. Towards the end of 2018, he began to suffer from sharp knee pain every time he got on the bike. Whilst the cause of the pain was unclear, it was an injury which effectively derailed his season. Despite aborted attempts to race at the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie, most of the year was spent trying to get to the bottom of the problem.
The issue…
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Oct 18, 2020
James Shaw | Searching for a pro contract
Today’s episode is with James Shaw.
You might not know this, but not long after we set up The British Continental, towards the end of 2018, the very first interview we did was with James.
Back then, he was still reeling from the news that Lotto Soudal had decided not to renew his contract, despite quietly impressing with two seasons of reliable, diligent work as a domestique in some of the world’s top races before finishing 10th in the U23 world road race championships. As the year was drawing to a close, he told us that time was running out to save his barely-begun cycling career.
Eventually, he joined the newly created UK Continental team SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling, hoping to earn the results that would enable him to return to the pro ranks. A successful season followed, with wins in the National Road Series and 5th overall in the Tour de Yorkshire, helping him to secure a one-year contract with the Pro Continental Danish team Riwal Readynez.
This year has been a tough one for J…
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Sep 19, 2020
Ben Healy | Ireland's next big thing?
We’re back after a short break with an in-depth interview with the youngest ever stage winner of the Tour de l’Avenir, Ben Healy.
Ben currently rides for the new British development team Trinity Racing alongside a whole host of promising young riders, not least of which is Tom Pidcock.
Growing up in the Midlands, he started his cycling career racing mountain bikes and was good enough to be on British Cycling’s Olympic development programme. But he was dropped from the programme just before he moved up to the junior level. He decided to try out road racing instead, and almost by accident ended up at the Zappi Racing junior team. The team gave a good programme of international racing and Ben excelled. Not only did he finish second in the Junior Tour of Wales, he also won the junior Tour of the Basque Country beating Remco Evenepoel in the process. Not a bad start to his road racing career. Despite his success, the British team overlooked for selection to the world championships.…
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Aug 27, 2020
The Baby Giro Diaries with Lewis Askey & Harrison Wood | Race Preview
*Baby Giro preview with Lewis Askey & Harrison Wood. Presented by **Continental**.*
Whilst most of the cycling world will be gazing at Nice this Saturday for the Grand Depart of the Tour de France, about seven hours drive away, in Urbino, Italy, the grande partenza of the U23 Giro d’Italia will also be taking place.
In a season with barely an under-23 race to its name, the race affectionately known as the Baby Giro, takes on even greater significance for the world’s top young under-23s this year. It’s a race that has helped propelled many a rider to the professional ranks in past years. Previous winners Aleksandr Vlasov, Pavel Sivakov, Joe Dombrowski and Carlos Betancur amongst others.
It’s also been a happy hunting ground for Brits in recent seasons too. Ethan Hayter, Fred Wright, Matt Walls, Charlie Quarterman, Stevie Williams and Mark Donovan have all either won stages in the race or put in eye-catching performances.
All of them are now either at, or headed for, the Worl…
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Aug 19, 2020
Colin Clews | Creating a British monument
The 7th episode of the series features an in-depth interview with Colin Clews, someone who in our view should be regarded as a true legend of domestic road racing.
Founder and director of CiCLE Classic promotions, a UCI race commissaire, an anti-doping control officer and a member of British Cycling’s road commission, he’s a man who lives and breathes cycling. And at 70 years old, his passion for the sport seems absolutely undiminished.
He’s probably best known as the organiser of the Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic, Britain's only UCI 1.2 race. Taking place on roads and farm tracks across the undulating landscape of Rutland and East Leicestershire, it is one of the most spectator-friendly races on the British calendar. It’s often compared to a Belgian classic and it’s easy to see why. Year-after-year, the race produces images of dust-covered pelotons, rowdy roadside BBQs and riders scrambling for spare wheels after untimely punctures. Colin seemed too modest to…
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Aug 12, 2020
April Tacey | Drops | From fractured patella to eRacing sensation
In this latest episode, we interview April Tacey, one of the summer’s eRacing sensations.
The 19-year-old Drops rider has made a name for herself this year after some sensational e-racing performances, most notably when she beat some of the world’s best riders to win two stages of the virtual Tour de France. What made her success particularly noteworthy was that it was achieved after coming back from serious injury this year.
Media attention ensued, some of which implied that April had come from nowhere. But that’s far from being the case, as we discover in the interview.
She was the first-ever women’s national junior road race series winner in the UK and then, in her first year as a senior last season, she was already making in a name for herself, including an aggressive ride in the national championships, where she eventually finished 21st, and then second in the Curlew Cup, one of the premier women’s road racing events in the UK.
In this interview, we discuss April’s…
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Aug 5, 2020
Matt Hallam | Crimson Performance | Managing a domestic race team in the time of COVID-19
In the latest episode, we move our focus away from riders and onto the delicate juggling act of domestic team management, as we interview Matt Hallam, rider-manager at Crimson Performance – Orientation Marketing.
Matt’s story is fascinating and one we’ve featured in-depth on our website over the last couple of years. The short version is that in 2017, Matt set up a new business, Crimson Performance, “a platform for power-based testing, training and professional bike fitting”. And to help promote the new business, he decided to set up an elite-level cycling team at the same time.
This was no straightforward task. For a start, he had no experience of running a bike team before. He was also doing this all by himself, alongside his day job of running his newly-established business. Oh, and he had just eight weeks to get things in place so that he could register a team for the 2018 season. Eight weeks. To find sponsors, to find a team of riders, to sort out paperwork, admin and…
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Jul 28, 2020
Peter Kibble | Wales Racing Academy | The tough decision to retire, aged 22
At the age of 22, talented Welshman Peter Kibble took the tough decision to retire from racing in May this year. Deciding not to pursue your pro cycling dream must be a difficult moment for any talented young rider, so we were really grateful when Peter agreed to speak about his career and why he decided to hang up his metaphorical wheels.
Peter showed promise as a cyclist from a young age. In his first year as a junior, he took an impressive 6th overall in the Junior Tour of Wales, a race regarded as Britain’s premier junior stage race. He followed that up with a stage win and 4thon GC in the same race.
He started his under-23 career at the Zappi Racing Team, before moving to the Wales Racing Academy, where he stayed for the rest of his career. Despite injury troubles, Peter continued to show his promise. Last season he finished second in the early season Betty Pharoah road race to Connor Swift and came close to bagging top tens in National Road Series races. He also produced an a…
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Jul 21, 2020
Rory Townsend | Canyon dhb p/b Soreen | From nearly quitting to top domestic rider
An in-depth interview with Rory Townsend, arguably the best rider in the domestic peloton in 2019. The Irishman races for Tim Elverson’s Canyon dhb p/b Soreen team. In fact, he’s ridden under Tim since 2013.
His feats last season included two UCI road race wins, a further four UCI road race podiums, three National Road Series race wins, winning the Tour of Britain sprints jersey, a Tour Series win, 4th in the Irish national road race and selection for the World Road Race Championships. Not bad considering he’d come close to quitting at the beginning of the year after a crash at the Challenge Mallorca.
And yet, whilst many of his domestic peers earned contracts with World Tour and Pro Continental teams – including Matt Holmes, Jon Dibben, Gabz Cullaigh, Alex Richardson, Scott Thwaites, James Shaw, Mark Donovan, Ethan Hayter, Charlie Quarterman and Fred Wright – Rory narrowly, painfully, missed out. As he explains in the interview, he was very, very close to stepping up himse…
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Jul 18, 2020
April Tacey | Drops | Virtual Tour de France Bonus Episode
This bonus episode of the podcast is a snippet of our forthcoming in-depth interview with April Tacey. The 19-year-old Drops rider has become something of an e-racing sensation this summer. Over the last couple of weeks, she has beaten some of the world's best riders to win two stages of the Virtual Tour de France. Not only that but she's done this after coming back to racing from a fractured patella. It's a story we'll recount in detail in our full interview.
For now, with Sunday's final stage of the Tour de France coming up (on the Zwift's virtual Champs-Élysées), we hear April's thoughts on the course and whether she thinks a third stage victory could be on the cards.Support the show
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Jul 10, 2020
Charlie Quarterman | Trek-Segafredo | A neo-pro's journey to the World Tour
Charlie Quarterman went from struggling to find a team for the 2019 season to World Tour rider in 2020 thanks to in large part to a purple patch of form which culminated him winning the British U23 national time trial championships. In this episode, the 21-year-old takes us through his less-than-conventional journey to the World Tour.
In the interview, he reveals he was one of the generation of British riders to get into cycling as a result of Bradley Wiggins' Tour and Olympic success in 2012. He talks about his junior years at Zappi Racing, the junior team set up by former Italian pro, Flavio Zappi. Stepping up to the U23 ranks, he spent a challenging, often isolated, two years at the UCI Continental Leopard Pro Cycling team. Results didn't come his way to the extent that teams had little to no interest in signing him for the 2019 season. With options limited, he was reunited with Flavio Zappi, joining his Italian-based development team Holdsworth-Zappi.
The move presented him with…
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Jan 25, 2020
Dave Coulson | Cycling Sheffield
In the third episode of our new podcast, Greg Trowman sits down with Dave Coulson, the manager of the elite-level team Cycling Sheffield.
The team was established in 2014 as Envelopemaster – Giant. Set up as a development team, it aims to help riders develop and further their careers as athletes by providing a professional and nurturing team environment. The team has already had notable success: one of their graduates is Connor Swift no less.
Uniquely, the concept of the team is about creating a geographic identity, similar to that of a football team. As such, he works with organisations throughout the city of Sheffield to create partnerships that benefit both the city and the team.
In a wide-ranging, honest, and open interview, Greg and Dave talk about:
- what motivates him to run an elite-level cycling team
- creating a marketable team based on geographic identity
- the team's approach to rider development
- helping riders decide when to stop cycling, and
- the team's 2020 squa…
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Dec 3, 2019
Joe Evans | Saint Piran
In this episode, Greg Trowman interviews the Saint Piran rider Joe Evans. As readers of The British Continental website will know, Joe has been keeping a journal for us, documenting life both on and off the bike this season.
Before moving to the elite-level Saint Piran team at the beginning of 2018, Joe spent three seasons riding for Madison Genesis. This year, Joe has combined racing with full-time study at the University of Sheffield.
In the interview, we hear from Joe about how he balances training with studying full-time, why he thinks it’s important for a rider to have more than one string to his bow, and his unexpected love for racing the Tour Series.
Please accept our apologies for the audio quality in the interview. Unfortunately, we had a few technical hiccups, which means there is more background noise than we’d have liked. But please do bear with it, it’s well worth it!
Thank you to A-ten in Sheffield for letting us use their space to record this episode.
Artwork…
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Oct 15, 2019
Jacob Scott | SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling
Jake Scott of SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling has gone from strength to strength this year, securing a win at the South Coast Classic and then posting second at the Ryedale GP. We were lucky enough to sit down with Jake after a training session 4 days out from the Tour of Britain.
We discuss Jake’s approach to training, the rollercoaster of self-belief and motivation, as well as his unique approach to juggling a busy training schedule and working. It’s clear from Jake’s story that his job at the local bike shop is much more than just a job and one of the many factors of support that has helped Jake become the rider he is today.
Jake also discusses his future goals, riding the Tour of Yorkshire, what it’s like to coach yourself as a rider on a UCI Continental team and many other topics.
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