In this second instalment of our in-depth investigation of elite British domestic road racing, we turn our attention to the teams and riders: the managers, volunteers and athletes attempting to recover from a year without racing and fighting for survival after years of declining investment.
Our six expert witnesses speak with authority on the sporting, commercial, economic and administrative challenges of reviving a sport decimated by the coronavirus lockdown and struggling to regain the glory of an golden era still within recent memory.
Harry Tanfield has found a route back to the UCI WorldTour with Team Assos-Qhubeka, but reveals his disappointment at being told by Ag2r-La Mondiale in the weeks approaching his Grand Tour debut at the 2020 La Vuelta Espana that his services would not be required for 2021. A rider whose experience encompasses the Chorley Grand Prix and Ghent-Wevelgem, Harry offers his insights into the differences between domestic and WorldTour racing.
Like Harry, Sophie Wright graduated to the top-tier of professional cycling from a Brother UK-sponsored team in 2019. Like Harry, her first WorldTour employer (Cervélo-Bigla, later Équipe Paule Ka) folded. Unlike Harry, she had already signed a two-year deal with another suitor (ALE-BTC Ljubljana). Sophie shares her experience of the instability of a cycling career and her insights into the tactical gulf that separates domestic and professional racing.
Rebecca Durrell received no contract offers from UCI Women’s WorldTour teams when she succeeded Sophie as National Road Series champion, despite her formidable talent and further accolades, including the British Elite Circuit Race title. Becks reflects on the shifting requirements of top-tier teams, the value of domestic racing as a proving ground for a professional career, and impending motherhood.
British Cycling’s Elite Road Racing Manager, Erick Rowsell, competed in the biggest races at home and abroad during eight years as a professional rider. In this episode, Erick calls for fewer and better British-registered, UCI Continental teams and describes the intended benefits of British Cycling’s new Elite Development Team status.
Phil Jones MBE, Brother UK’s Managing Director and this podcast’s co-host, offers a forensic analysis of the wider economic factors affecting cycling teams and an invaluable guide to the business of winning sponsorship from corporate backers. Phil also considers the comparative value of brand exposure and cycling’s values proposition, describing how the sport offers another angle on Brother UK’s aim to help its people and partners achieve growth and success.
And Matt Hallam, the owner and manager of the Brother UK-sponsored Crimson Performance-Orientation Marketing team, shares the secrets of his impressive ability to attract new sponsors and further investment, even in a year with no racing, and lifts the lid on his ultimate ambition for a team founded to grant racing opportunities to riders in North West England but which now has more ambitious goals.