How did you first get into cycling?
Initially, I was just a kid on a mountain bike riding with my friends, building jumps and smashing around the streets. When I was 14 or 15 my mum was diagnosed with cancer – she was treated and is fine now – and cycling was my way of getting away from the uncertainty. There weren’t any mountain bike clubs, so I started going to the Velodrome in Manchester and got into track cycling.
Why did you switch from racing to coaching?
Like many female athletes reaching their late-teens, I’d discovered life and boys, and needed to earn money. I’d come third at junior nationals but I wasn’t on the national programme, and there was no [development] infrastructure. I trained as a journalist, but while I was qualifying I started coaching with my local club and then decided I wanted to be a coach full-time.
Fifteen years later, you’ve returned to racing – why now?
I’d been gradually increasing my training volume since 2018, and did some local races on the quiet. The hardest bit was making my racing more public – because of my job [as GB women’s endurance head coach], it would have been embarrassing to do badly. During lockdown, I was furloughed for a while, and again my way of coping with the uncertainty was by riding my bike. Over the next couple of years, as Podium coach, we won several titles including the Madison [with Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny] at the Olympics – a career pinnacle. Next I wanted to find out what I could achieve as a rider.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
CLASSIC BIKE COLNAGO SUPER
A trailblazing bike immortalised by Merckx and Saronni
"Strava activities are the only way I know some of my friends are still alive"
...or that Bernard is doing his weekly shop
AN EXPERT'S TAKE ON... SADDLE SELECTION
Crucial advice to guide your next purchase
JUST A NUMB#R?
Approaching a landmark birthday, Charlie Graham-Dixon explores how ageing affects cycling performance and what can be done to stay ahead of the curve
RURAL PERIL
More UK cyclists are killed on rural lanes than on busy city streets. Rob Kemp investigates why and what can be done to keep us safe while riding in the countryside
A BLESSED RIDE THROUGH THE FOREST OF BOWLAND
Forgoing cloak, cassock and cross, Trevor Ward goes in search of the holy roads that helped make a Tour winner
Dame Sarah Storey claims road and 19th gold double
More success for Team GB's Paralympians in Paris, but Storey slams women's time trial course
Roglič matches Vuelta win record
Slovenian takes fourth Tour of Spain title after hunting down O'Connor's lead, writes Adam Becket
Williams crowned Tour of Britain champion
Welshman leads home resurgence at the stage race to crown an Israel-Premier Tech clean sweep, reports Tom Davidson in Felixstowe
CLASSIC BIKE CLAUD BUTLER OLYMPIC ROAD
Iconic British brand's Holdsworth-era road bike