subscribe: Posts | Comments

A mixed week for British cyclists

0 comments

LizzieArmitsteadAnd still no women’s academy, still no full time women’s coach.

It has been, at best, a mixed week for cycling in Britain.

The mood was optimistic when British Cycling chief Brian Cookson replaced the unpopular Pat McQuaid as president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) on September 27, but the results from the World Road Championships soon dampened the mood.

With Emma Pooley absent while she focuses on completing her PhD, Lizzie Armitstead was the sole medal hope for Great Britain in the women’s road race on September 28.

However, the Olympic silver medallist faced a tough field including the formidable defending world champion Marianne Vos.

Only three other British riders were in the race, and no specialist climbers, so Armitstead was short on team support as she faced the hilly course and attempted to put a stop to Vos’s reign at the top of women’s cycling.

In the event, Armitstead was unable to keep up with the leaders in the final phase, and finished 19th, five minutes after Vos took her second consecutive rainbow jersey.

Then the entire British men’s team pulled out of a brutal road race on September 29.

The hilly course and bad weather did not suit the strengths of leaders Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, but the depth of the failure led some to question the attitude of the two Tour de France winners.

But while Team GB’s road cyclists were suffering through their dismal weekend in Italy, the leading track cyclists were proving their mettle at the British Track Championships at the Manchester velodrome.

There were gold medals for Jess Varnish in the 500m time trial, keirin and individual sprint and for Laura Trott in the points race and individual pursuit.

But the most impressive result of the week came in the team pursuit.

Britain dominated the 3000m team pursuit at the 2012 Olympics, when Trott, Dani King and Joanna Rowsell stormed to gold with a world record.

However, the format has changed this year to reflect that of the men’s event; now, teams of four riders race over 4000m. Trott, King, Rowsell and new addition Elinor Barker were keen to prove that the change will make no difference to their dominance, taking the British title in a world record time of 4:32:721.

Off the track, all four ride for Wiggle Honda, the professional women’s road team set up last year with the backing of the Bradley Wiggins foundation.

Wiggle Honda has met with significant success on the road in its debut season, and there are hopes that it will advance British women’s cycling in the same way that Team Sky boosted the men’s sport.

Indeed, this is currently the only hope for the development of British women’s road racing: there has been no women’s academy since 2009, and there is no full time women’s coach.

Cookson campaigned for the UCI presidency on a platform that included support for developing women’s road racing. However, as the Guardian has pointed out, the weak British performance at the World Championships is a direct result of the lack of investment in women’s cycling during his time at British Cycling.

Let us hope that Cookson can follow through on his campaign pledges and give the sport the support it needs.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *