HOW TO BUILD A CHAMPION

A RIDER DEVELOPMENT MASTERCLASS FROM THE MAN WHO TURNS TEENAGERS INTO WORLD-BEATERS

- Chris Marshall-Bell

If there is one man more responsible than any other for Britain’s ascendance from near-irrelevance to leading powerhouse on cycling’s world stage, that man is Stuart Blunt. From a background in cyclo-cross racing – he competed at 10 World Championships in the 1990s and early 2000s – Blunt fell almost by accident into coaching with British Cycling in 2003. He worked in the national governing body’s talent programme until, seven years ago, he was promoted to lead the junior men’s Academy Programme, coaching the nation’s best male riders aged 16 to 18. In his two decades coaching GB riders, the 49-year-old has worked with scores of talented riders, many of whom now have illustrious careers. Among the biggest stars from the Blunt stable are Tao Geoghegan Hart, Fred Wright, Tom Pidcock, Ethan and Leo Hayter, and Ineos’s new signing Josh Tarling – all of whom credit their success, at least in part, to what they learnt from the coach they remember fondly from their junior days.

We sat down, connected by video call, with the man from Surrey to get inside his mind, learnt about his methods, and of course to ask the million-pound question: how do you build a cycling champion?

BASICS FIRST, POWER LATER

I believe in the basics of learning about your body first. Training technology has changed tenfold, but I really believe that you should only introduce tools such as power meters once the rider has learned about their own body and understand feel and perception. I do use training zones, but I still do a lot of stuff with a stopwatch, and I tell them what I want them to get out of an effort rather than just trying to hit a certain power.