British Teams Braced For Rocky Start To 2021

Squads get resourceful to see them through disrupted calendar, reports James Shrubsall

- James Shrubsall

If there’s one thing all the UK’s top teams have in common, it’s a sense of eagerness when it comes to getting the party started for 2021. But they are wary that the first six months of the year are unlikely to be smooth sailing.

However, riders can’t wait to race, bosses want to show the sponsors value for money, and coaches are looking to implement new protocols that remain untested in competition. Everyone is champing at the bit.

Despite British Cycling having released a full National Road and Circuit Series calendar much earlier than in recent years, there is also a feeling that 2021 will not be an easy ride. After all, racing is still not available on the open road in the UK and while hundreds of thousands of people have already been vaccinated against Covid-19, a normal way of existence seems a long way off.

BC is currently in discussions with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport with a view to setting up an early test event to pave the way for meaningful road-based competition.

“We don’t know whether we’re going to be racing in March, whether we’re going to be racing in July,” said SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling boss Paul Lamb. “I’d like to think that by September the Tour Britain will hopefully go ahead.

“I know we’ve got a full programme of Premier Calendar [National Series] events on paper, but that’s no use if we can’t race them. But we’re entering UCI races as normal, and just planning as though things are going to go ahead,” he said.