Brother UK Cycling Podcast – Episode 64
Timothy John
“Hello and welcome to this new edition of the Brother UK Cycling Podcast with me, Timothy John, and my co-host Phil Jones.
“Phil, good to see you.”
Phil Jones
"Hi Tim."
INTERLUDE
Timothy John
“Phil, we're putting feathers in our own cap today. We’re going to kick off with the momentous news that the Brother UK Cycling Podcast has been shortlisted: we’re through to the final of the Sports Podcast Awards. We’re up for the Best Fitness, Health, and Wellbeing Podcast Award.
“Phil, you are no stranger to award ceremonies, both in a personal capacity and as the leader of Brother UK. This is a bit of good news, isn’t it? We’re up for a major award.”
Phil Jones
‘That’s really lovely, Tim, and it was quite a surprise, in all honesty.
“When we started this podcast, it was just to provide a service where we could have more dynamic commentary and use some of the relationships we both have within the sport to provide some deeper insights and some commentary really, I guess, about what’s going in the UK domestic scene.
Thanks very much.”
Timothy John
“Absolutely. Get yourselves there now, people: sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-fitness-health-wellebing-podcast. We can do this!
both well underway. We had the UCI World Cup in Dublin a couple of weeks ago and the UCI Track Champions League reached its climax last weekend in London.
“Show season has all gone, too: Rouler Live, Action Medical Research, and the Rayner Foundation annual dinner, the last of those the most important to us, of course, because that will form the meat of this episode.
“Nearly all the transfers from 2025 have been announced, including 15 young British riders joining WorldTour and WorldTour development teams next season. And the biggest transfer story of all, Phil, involves a British rider, too: Tom Pidcock leaving INEOS Grenadiers for Q36.5. Did you see that coming?”
Phil Jones
“Honestly, I think I did. It’s been, I guess, an open secret, that Tom Pidcock hasn’t been massively happy within the INEOS Grenadiers set-up, and everybody who follows the sport knows that there has been quite a lot of turmoil within that team.
“There’s nothing worse than when a team isn’t functioning correctly internally. It does create a lot of unhappiness, doesn’t it? Once that unhappiness begins, it sets the tone for the internal culture of how happy the riders feel, whether they’re getting the programmes they want, whether they then feel they can perform to their best on the bike, and so on and so forth.
things are not great over at INEOS, and as a result, there may be some departures.’ And here we are: Tom Pidcock was one of them.
“And obviously he’s gone over to Q36.5: a very, very different set-up, and maybe that’s just about Tom Pidcock wanting to keep his options open in terms of all the disciplines that he wants to race in: mountain bike, cyclo-cross, as well as road.”
INTERLUDE
Timothy John
“Well, let’s move on now to discuss Brother UK’s decision to extend its sponsorship of Team OnForm into 2025. Brother UK has been at the side of its women’s squads in their various guises since 2017.
“Women’s WorldTour riders Anna Henderson, Becky Storrie and Izzy Sharp are among its graduates.
cyclo-cross title, two weeks after winning round five of the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross championships.
“Now I caught up recently with Brother UK-OnForm’s team manager Mark Botteley to find out exactly what Brother UK’s extended sponsorship would mean to his team.”
Mark Botteley
“Having that support from Brother does make a massive difference, it really does.
“I mean, ultimately, what it enables us to do is to be able to keep doing what we have been doing for the last couple of years: putting a full team in all the national series races. We went over to Ireland to do the Ras with them for the last few years. Without the money from Brother, we could still go, but it would cost the riders a lot of money. It’s not cheap when you’re going over to Ireland on the ferry, so it is massive.
about it. There’s a lot of travelling involved, especially when you’ve got national series races so far away for so many of the girls. Overnight accommodation etc. It isn’t cheap.
“We were really lucky to get invites to do the Ceratizit GP Plouay and Gent Wevelgem. We did that in 2019, actually. I always thought we’d stand a chance of getting to do that again because, as I said, we rode in 2019, but you’ve still got to go through the process of applying and then hope you get the invite. And then Flanders, I sent the email, and in the next hour, I got a reply saying, ‘You’re in,’ and I was like, ‘That’s great,’ you know?
“We had those three junior, kind of Nations Cup-type races, and then we went over to Ireland twice. We went over for the Gorey 3 Day at Easter, and then over for the Ras in September. The plan will always be to do a little bit more, year-on-year, so I got in touch with the organisers of those Nations Cup races, and Watersley as well. We’re just waiting to hear back, and then we’ll know if we’ve been successful in securing a place on the start line.
looking to do this last year and what we’ll aim to do even more so next year.
“It’s been well-documented that the British scene, certainly for men, is on a bit of a downward slope at the moment, but for the women, it’s probably the opposite, really, Any opportunity you get to go and race abroad, be it a Nations Cup race or any of the kermesses that are out there. There was a quiet period in August, and Tuva Mauland and Grace Reynolds, they both went over there for a couple of weeks and did a few races. They thoroughly enjoyed it, got some experience and got some reasonable results as well. It is important. The upshot is that Grace has now moved onto a UCI team, the old Pro-Noctis team, and Tuva has managed to get a ride for a Belgian team as well. It shows that getting out there, doing those races, getting good results in those races, you’re going to draw attention to yourself.
“I know the national series races in this country have got harder, year or year. They’re more and more competitive. I think if you’re capable of getting a top ten in a national series race, you’re definitely capable of getting some good results over in France and Belgium and Holland. I think it’s massive, really, massive, to have that opportunity.”
Timothy John
“Well, wonderful to hear there from Mark Botteley, manager of Brother UK-Team OnForm’s women’s squads.
“Phil, this is great news. Brother UK will remain at the side of Brother UK-Team OnForm next season. What was your thinking? There’s a lot going for it. It’s a long relationship. The team has a great reputation. It’s got a growing international programme. What persuaded you to get on board again next year?”
Phil Jones
“Well, in the background, Tim, we’ve been doing a review of our entire cycling portfolio, actually, for 2025. We’re going to get into some of the weeds and the detail of what the racing programme looks like for 2025, and my view is that for us as a sponsor, what the racing programme looks like and how we can activate and make the most of that, I’ve decided to narrow down our sponsorships from two teams to one.
“On the plus side, DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK are already benefiting from having two major sponsors. They’ve got DAS, and they’ve got Hutchinson Engineering. It seems to me that the easier thing for us to do was to drop off that roster and to continue to fund Mark, so that both teams can continue to go forwards and both teams can continue to field riders in the race programme for 2025, 26.
onto the Continent and WorldTour seems like the right place for us to put our funds.”
INTERLUDE
Timothy John
“Well, let’s turn our attention now to arguably the biggest announcement since our last episode and that is British Cycling’s publication of next year’s national calendars.
National Road Series event.
“What we find on the National Road Series calendar for both categories is the East Cleveland Classic, the Lincoln Grand Prix, and the Beaumont Trophy/Curlew Cup, arguably the jewels in the crown of the domestic road series.
“The Lancaster Grand Prix, a more recent addition to the calendar, it’s status is TBC. The Yorkshire round has a date, August 31, but no location has been yet identified. That, of course, will be the replacement for the Ryedale Grand Prix.
Series, which is a bit simpler.
“There are six rounds each for the Open series and the women’s series. Three will be in Yorkshire: Otley, Ilkley and Sheffield; Sheffield being arguably the jewel in the crown of the National Cricut Series. One round will take place in Surrey, that’s the Guildford Town Centre Races, one in Lancashire, that’s the Fort Vale Colne GP, and one in Devon, that’s this newly proposed Dawlish Grand Prix.
“The national championship? Well, we’ll have to wait for the new year for more details.
Centre Races. He was also a member of the Elite Road Racing Task Force.
Chris Lawrence
“Obviously, the addition of the South West round is really good in terms of it takes road racing and the national series further south than it ever has been before. We’ve obviously seen Guildford come on in the last few years, Newark and such like.
year, knowing authorities as I do, might not necessarily be the answer to what we proposed.
“So, yeah, it’s great, but the obvious factors of it being a holiday destination on the first week of the summer holiday may prove a bit of a challenge for some; it may benefit others, so we’ll see how that plays out. Some of the other bits about it being a centre of population, which was one of the other objectives, clearly, I’m not sure that ticks the boxes yet.
“But, yeah, no, good. Clearly, a lot of the historic rounds that we’ve always had, the likes of Ilkley, Otley, Sheffield; they all continue, and that’s great. The more road racing, the better, and that’s kind of yet to be finalised, I hope. It still needs a lot of work and energy put towards it.
financial challenges, and, therefore, as yet, we’re unconfirmed, but we still have dialogue.
“Beverley, or East Riding of Yorkshire, rather, have some core services that they’ve cut out, and they couldn’t get funding in time for the race before those cuts were announced. They’re looking at other options for 2026. Again, it’s promising. We’ve got some excellent feedback form both. We’ve got some great relationships with both councils, and I’ve got other events that I’m hoping to land in the future.
“The question is does that National Circuit Series have to have the limitations of it just being six, seven or eight, or can it expand? What the Task Force talked about was not only demystifying how events are created but engaging new organisers to deliver events for the national domestic calendar. Is it that we’re now in a state where we really are capped by what domestic organisers can do at a national level? Or, do we need now to rethink?
update, and it feels as though that has been restricted to some extent, which does leave a little bit of a poor taste in the mouth.
“We need some transparency around what is happening around those individual 43 points, just so we can have faith around what the future, the sustainable future of our competitive sport in the UK on the road looks like, because, at the moment, one or two events in, great, one or two events gone, not great. The overall balance is probably net equal. It hasn’t improved.
“I’d like to see more effort, more transparency, more delivery in order to shape what it is that we deliver on the UK national series.”
Timothy John
“Great to hear there from Chris, a race organiser and a member of the Elite Road Racing Task Force.
“A guarded welcome, I think, from Chris for the 2025 calendar, but a clear warning that, in his opinion, more work needs to be done.
“He continues to fight the good fight for his own events in Beverley and Dudley, and good to hear that he has other irons in the fire as well.
“Quite a strong call, I would say, from Chris for British Cycling to publish the 43 recommendations from the Task Force, not just the 16 that have been placed in the public domain so far, and Chris would like to see an update on the federation’s progress against each of them.
“Now we understand that British Cycling will publish an update on the Elite Road Racing Task Force in the New Year, so let’s watch that space.
National Circuit Series.”
Phil Jones
“Ok, so on the plus side, there is a series. That’s the main thing. There’s something to go at, but obviously not every race has been confirmed. Some are pencil, some are in pen, so let’s really, really hope that some that are in pencil, like Lancaster, are delivered. It’s very, very important.
recommended perhaps aren’t necessarily addressed here.
“One might be a stage race. I know that will typically be more difficult to organise, but, actually, it’s still vitally important that the domestic scene has a stage race, and we don’t have one of those currently in the schedule.
been done for a circuit race, as well as a road race, so I guess I can probably understand that.
“But I think Chris makes some good points, really, around the location, that, effectively, Devon, at that time of year, is a particularly difficult place to get to because the number of holidaymakers who will be going that way. That’s number one. That also leads to the cost of going down there, so if a team is going down for the circuit series and staying on for a road race, potentially, it’s going to be quite expensive to race in that part of the country.
“I don’t want to be overly critical. The positive news is there is a circuit series. Obviously, we did encourage that more rounds are held in the south, and Dawlish is pretty extreme when it comes to fitting into the description of where the south is. Yes, it is the south, but it’s probably quite extreme south for some of the teams to get to. Personally, I think when we made that recommendation about the south, we are thinking more about places like Guildford, which are a bit more central, perhaps in the South East of the country.
amount that they can throw into racing is a pot that’s declining or evaporating completely.
“So, for race organisers like Chris, if the circuit series is only going to be six races, moving forwards, the question is how do organisers like Chris continue to try and put races on, particularly if, let’s say, British Cycling Events want to take the lead on such tings moving forwards, so there’s a little bit of tension/friction there, potentially, that I think would need to be addressed.
“So, on the plus side, I think that it’s good that at least we have a National Circuit Series and a National Road Series. I hope this is a transitory year, heading towards a re-energised scene as highlighted and recommended by the commission which I contributed to.”
Timothy John
“Well, let’s get into the main event of today’s episode, and that is the recent Rayner Foundation dinner.
“Now, for our regular listeners, I’m sure I don’t need to describe the Rayner Foundation, but let’s just recap: it is a charity, funding young British riders to pursue their dream of turning professional by racing abroad. It started 29 years ago now.
teams for weekend trips to European races.
“Now the recent dinner at the New Dock Hall was attended by nearly 300 people and raised round £15,000, or enough by itself to fund the Gateway scheme for another year.
Grenadiers on the Champs-Élysées for the Tour de France finale next year made for a memorable evening.
“Well, we’re going to hear now from Jos Ryan, the Foundation’s rider liaison and a stalwart of the British road scene. Her partner, Tim Harris, a friend of the late Dave Rayner and his team-mate at the legendary Raleigh-Banana team, was at that dinner, too. Tim is now a DS with Movistar’s women’s team and another invaluable asset to the Foundation.
heartlands.
“Now the Foundation enjoyed another incredibly successful year in 2024, helping to propel six young British riders to the professional ranks, and I began by asking Jos how that compared to other years.”
Jos Ryan
“Six riders, that’s quite a lot. We’ve had that many before, but that’s something to be proud of, it really is. We’re really happy to see that. That’s the idea of this scheme, I suppose: to help these riders become professionals, and then we can all bask in the reflected glory. We watch them on TV and say, ‘Oh gosh, we knew him or her when they were 16, 17 or 18 and just about to start their journey, going to live abroad.’ It’s fantastic to see. It gives us something to watch on that TV.
onto a Continental team and see what happens after that. We’re also there for the ones who are perhaps not so starry straight away.
“We’ve got Gateway riders. Gateway is for the junior teams that we help, typically, to get to UCI races in Europe. A lot of those teams have come here: Shibden, Prologue, Fensham Howes, Tofauti. Mark Botteley is here with Brother UK-OnForm. Cycling Sheffield is a team with under-23s. They’ve come to support as well.
“The evening is very valuable. We’ve got lots of support here. We’ve got people who have come to the dinner, and, hopefully, they will be buying some of the items we have here on display. Typically, these items are donated by the riders. We’ve got lots of jerseys and art work and that kind of thing. It’s not only that. We get donations through every year, and legacies; corporate donations. Not so many of those: we’d like more!
“Fundraising activities: people might organise a bike ride and say, ‘Well, we’ll send the Rayner Foundation £100 after our bike ride.’ There are different ways, obviously, but we’re very much relying on the cycling community to help us out.
they want to do with the rest of their lives. It’s already determined, isn’t it?”
Timothy John
“So wonderful to hear there from, Jos, Phil.
“Is there a more successful talent development scheme than the Rayner Foundation? More than 80 British riders have turned professional in the last 30 years with their support.”
Phil Jones
“I don’t think. so, Tim Certainly as far as the UK is concerned, the Rayner Foundation is a vital pillar for helping to fund individual riders as well as teams to race abroad, and 29 years on, I think it has a superb legacy, probably way beyond even what could have been imagined.
“So absolutely, a vital, vital charity doing sterling work for the UK domestic scene.”
Timothy John
“Yeah, now, as celebratory as the evening was at the New Dock Hall, we know, of course, that, like any organisation, the Rayner Foundation is having to battle economic headwinds in a post-Brexit, post-Covid economy.
“Phil, you lead a major business. You’re also in touch with organisations across the economy and across the wider piece. Just how challenging are the circumstances at the moment?”
Phil Jones
“Yeah, interestingly, I had a visit from the global president of Brother about a week ago. Brother has a very significant footprint in the UK. We have four Brother businesses sighted in the UK, probably reporting revenues in excess of £1.5bn. The UK is very, very specific.
what’s gone on with our government systems in the past few years, as well as the significant implications of Brexit.
“And they are significant for the sport of cycling because it just means the movement of rides across the Channel now is way more complicated than it ever used to be; way more complicated. There is no free movement any more. Also, for teams to come to the UK, as we’ve talked about on previous podcasts, for overseas teams, it creates a new layer of administration and paperwork that they’re not used to.
“From my perspective, that can be a blocker sometimes for some teams to think about coming over. They just think it’s too much effort when we can just go to Belgium, Portugal, Spain, all these other places. We can just drive our coaches there, and we don’t have all this extra admin.
“The post-Brexit environment isn’t great, and nor do I think it’s been massively helpful for the sport.”
Timothy John
“Yeah, and the Rayner Foundation has suffered from that as well. Very sadly, they missed two years of the dinner with Covid, quite as well as the Brexit challenges, so they are rebuilding, but they are rebuilding in style. As I say, nearly 300 people came to there dinner in Leeds last month; a very positive sign.
“Now, the Rayner Foundation dinner, Phil, I always enjoy, not only because of the glittering guest list - it was Lizzie Deignan when you and I were there a couple of years ago; we’ll hear from Ed Clancy a little later, a triple Olympic champion - but what the dinner is also superb at is attracting the real movers and shakers in our sport.
Pidcock and Joe Pidcock.
“FH-MAS-CAMS is arguably the world’s most successful junior men’s team. I put that to Giles, and he very modestly conceded, ‘Well, we might be the most successful in the UK,’ but when you look at the names:
“Sam Watson, who’s just left Groupama-FDJ to join INEOS Grenadiers, Max Poole who won the Tour of Langkawi for DSM-Firmenich-PostNL this year, Matty Brennan, who’s got onto Visma-Lease a Bike’s WorldTour squad after just one season with its development team, Bob Donaldson’s gone to Jayco-Alula, Jacob Bush is on the devo team at DSM-Firmenich-PostNL. These are all coming out of a junior team run by Giles Pidcock.
important that funding stream was to his team’s unique approach.”
Giles Pidcock
”They help us out with a grant for each race that pays for fuel, ferry crossings. It’s a big chunk of the budget that we have every year. Without them, it would mean we did two or three fewer races, and unless you can get a programme for the whole season, the whole thing starts to unravel. You’ve either got to do it properly or not do it at all, because doing one or two over the course of the year, you don’t build that momentum.
different for British riders. They have a unique set of challenges, created by us being an island and separate from Europe, and obviously Brexit has made it all a lot harder.
“I can’t ever see a situation where we would be part of a WorldTour programme. The riders have to stay here to go to school, so it needs someone to organise the logistics of getting them from here to Belgium and then back again for school on Monday. It’s a really unique situation that we’re in, that requires a unique solution, different to all the WorldTour pathways, but we have to compete with them. They have massive resources, not just in terms of money but in terms of personnel, coaching, nutritionists, equipment, and we do compete with them. We’re doing a lot with a little and giving these kids the opportunity.
“We’ve got about six or seven now who have come through the system and are in the WorldTour and another six or seven who are on pathways to get to the same place. We’ve got Seb Grindley, who’s gone to Lidl-Trek, their devo team. Elliot Rowe has gone to Visma-Lease a Bike’s devo team, and then just yesterday Joe Cosgrove was announced as going to the new INEOS Lotto-Kern Haus devo team, so fantastic.”
Timothy John
“So wonderful to hear there from Giles. I branded them in my intro as the world’s best junior men’s team. I don’t think there can be much argument about that, do you?”
Phil Jones
“I think it’s a good point. Giles is a very modest individual, working incredibly hard behind the scenes. If you look at what Giles is doing with the junior team, and we talked on the last podcast, the podcast before, about shortcutting from juniors, straight into the WorldTour. The age is getting a lot, lot younger. People have been leapfrogging the previous steps and conventions required to get to WorldTour level.
“To me, this team looks like the team to be on if you have aspirations to be a WorldTour rider in the future, in my opinion. I’d be pointing everybody towards this particular team to say, you’ve probably got the best chance of success if you go there, in my opinion, in the long term.”
Timothy John
“Now I mentioned him earlier when I talked about the glittering array of guests that the Rayner Foundation dinner attracts: Ed Clancy OBE, three times and Olympic champion, was one of two guests of honour, alongside Alex Dowsett, former Hour Record holder, Grand Tour stage winner, veteran of the UCI WorldTour. He rode for the biggest teams in the sport. He of course was one of those young British riders who began his career with Team Sky, then moved onto Movistar Team, Katusha, Israel-Premier Tech, What Alex Dowsett doesn’t know about professional cycling frankly isn’t worth knowing. Both of them gave a motivational talk to the young riders of FH-MAS-CAMS on the morning of the dinner.
“You know, Ed is busier than ever these days. He’s South Yorkshire’s Active Travel Commissioner. He does aero testing for British Cycling. He still looks incredibly lean. He does leadership work for Pro-Noctis. Now, incredibly, this was his first attendance at the Rayner Foundation dinner, and, naturally, I didn’t miss the opportunity to get a word with Ed. Let’s hear now from Ed Clancy.”
Ed Clancy
“There are a few things, very simplistically, that you need to succeed in life: hard work, opportunity and a good mentor. There are a lot of kids that I’ve spoken to today, and I’ve been speaking to the Fensham-Howes lads that Giles Pidcock looks after this morning, and they’re all prepared to work hard; they’re all passionate; they all care about this, right?
second piece of the puzzle: they can work hard, but they need opportunity, right? And this is all about trying to help youngsters fund their way.
“I was looking at the pamphlet on my table tonight and looking through all the great names that have come through the Rayner Foundation and the Rayner Fund. This has been the birthplace of so many great riders and athletes that I, myself, have looked up to and taken inspiration from.
“I’m not quite sure how I’ve been able to avoid this event for so many years, but I’m really happy that I’ve made it just before my fortieth birthday, so I’m very happy to be here tonight.”
good people with solid values who really care about people, too.
“Sport’s an elitist environment, and it’s exciting, but I think, deep down, everyone really cares about the wellbeing and the physical and mental health of all these young riders who are out there today, and I like that.
“Again, I spent a bit of time with Giles Pidcock and Sonia this morning, and, again, those two are a fantastic examples, for me, of heroism. It’s an interesting word. People laud athletes as Olympic heroes. They’re not, really. It’s different. They’re Olympic champions. Heroism is about giving a platform and providing a place where other people can succeed.
“There are a lot of heroes in the room today: Giles, Sonia, all the people who have donated and bought things today, and the raffle, and, yeah, I like that about today. It’s good to see.”
Timothy John
“There we are, Phil: Ed Clancy, friend of the podcast. He’s been on our podcast. You worked alongside him on British Cycling’s Elite Road Racing Task Force, and here is at the centre of yet another community.
of organisations and individuals. Would you agree with that very high level summary?”
Phil Jones
“I’m not going to disagree with a triple Olympic champion who has been swinging gold medals around his neck. If you’ve never met the man, you would probably not understand the level of humility that he has. He’s a very, very likeable individual. I think he’s giving a lot back to the sport still, even though his racing career, his Olympic career is over, he’s still very much a face at British Cycling, still very active, sharing the lessons from his Olympic journey.
“And who’s not gong to agree that hard work, opportunity and mentoring is not a way to become more successful than if you did not have those attributes, because if you did not, and somebody else did, I think it’s highly likely or probably likely that they are going to be more successful than you, so I absolutely agree with that.
“I’ve spent a lot of time with Ed and other Olympians and successful business people in my life, and absolutely those attributes are there, alongside others. They’re not the only ones. For example, geography and environment are both very important factors. If you have access to resources, from a geography point of view, so if you live near a velodrome, for example, you’re probably far more likely to be involved in velodrome cycling than if you lived 200 miles away from one, so things like that also come into, are causal factors to success.
“Also things like you’re own natural ability, so if you have a natural ability either to handle a bike, or sustain a heart rate, or if you have fast-twitch muscle fibres. All of these sorts of different things are factors that can lead to your success fundamentally in different sports or sub-disciplines within sports.
“But, absolutely, if you ever have the chance to hear Ed speak, go along because you will definitely learn something.”
Timothy John
“One hundred per cent. His speech, alongside Alex Dowsett, when they finally made it up onto the stage late in the evening, was absolutely brilliant. We’ll hear in a minute from Ben Chilton, one of the many young riders who were hugely impressed by Alex and Ed’s speech.
“I must just pick up on another point raised by Ed, Phil: he fears that cycling is becoming elitist. He cited all of these rising costs as potential barriers to entry. That’s counterbalanced, in his view, by the dedication of volunteers like Giles and Sonia Pidcock, who give up their time to get these young riders to places they need to be, but it isn’t a cheap sport, and it isn’t getting any cheaper.
sport that Ed fears is becoming elitist?”
Phil Jones
“I think the hard answer to that question, Tim, is, in the short-term, no. We are still in a very, very inflationary environment, in every area of our lives. Bikes are costing more. Unfortunately, this is all linked to geopolitical events that are happening all across the globe, so, shipping costs, production costs, currency moments, everything, are impacting the prices of goods that arrive on our shores.
through to race organisers, everything. The entire ecosystem is impacted.
“British domestic racing is not really an industry in itself. It is an ecosystem with numbers of different actors, stakeholders. There’s so many people involved in it, and, as a result, race organisers are seeing their costs going up. We’ve talked at length in the past about policing costs, health and safety costs, everything. Pricing is going up, and something we talked about on the Task Force is how do British Cycling provide, perhaps, some subsidy to help riders come and race, because if suddenly by the time you factor in petrol costs, possibly accommodation costs, as well as entry costs, it could cost hundreds to potentially go and race one round of the National Road Series or one round of the National Circuit Series. If you’re racing as an independent, it’s going to be pretty hard to keep funding that. You’re going to have to be a member of a team, effectively, so trying to get yourself onto a team becomes your major objective, and we know that the number of teams is shrinking.
“It is becoming difficult. There are, I think, way more barriers to entry than there used to be, and so I think some of these problems are not going to go away in the short term.”
Timothy John
who are helping young riders to overcome those barriers.
“One of those is Ben Chilton, a 21-year-old, who’s just finished a season with the French amateur squad Team U Charente-Maritime in the South West of France. Next year, he’s going to move a little further north and become the only British rider on the Mayenne V and B squad.
“Consistency was the watchword for Ben in 2024: three victories, 24 top-ten finishes, including 15 podiums. Undaunted by the language barrier, he hopes another season like the one just ended will take him a step closer to a professional contract.
“Let’s hear now from Ben.”
Ben Chilton
“I had two weeks out in France with the East Midlands team and got a little bit hooked on the French racing style and had some good results. I thought I should probably make the move and move my life from the UK into the French scene and haven’t really looked back since.
out there it feels a little bit like home again.
“I’ve not set my sights on anything yet, but I’m hoping to move out of the amateur scene and hopefully sign a professional contract. I’ve got to see how the winter goes and how the racing goes next year, but I’m hopeful that I can make another step up like I’ve done this year.
“I’m out there with a lot of other guys and other cyclists all helped by the Rayner Foundation. It makes a community and takes off a little bit of the financial pressure. Each month, a little bit of funding, a little bit of help comes in, which takes off the pressure from not working as much and being away from home.
there’s going to be a lot of down, but it builds resilience, and I can’t agree more with what they said.”
Timothy John
“So wonderful to hear there from Ben Chilton, Phil: a perfect example, I would imagine, of a Rayner rider. Resilience is the key characteristic. We say it year after year.
“Is that a trait that you’re born with, or can it be developed?”
Phil Jones
“Oh, one hundred per cent, it can be developed. You just need the right people around you to allow you to go through tough times and learn from it. There’s a difference between standard resilience and anti-fragility. Resilience is just the ability to bounce back. Anti-fragility, more generally, talks about the ability not just to bounce back but to learn and grow and become a better version of yourself as a result of difficult times and experiences.
you through those tough times, so, in my opinion, absolutely, it’s something that you can learn.”
Timothy John
“Certainly, Ben does not lack resilience; neither do any of the cohort of the Rayner Foundation. Of course, they’re riding the crest of a wave, these young riders. They will inevitably face tough times, and building that inner resilience that they start with in some measure will help them as they progress through their career.
expect to be alone. He expected most of the Rayner Foundation riders to be out training the day after a gala dinner.
“Does cycling have such a thing as an off-season any longer?”
Phil Jones
“I think it does if you’re a WorldTour rider; absolutely, you have an off-season. Geraint Thomas sort of talks about that, doesn’t he? He goes a bit crazy on the pizzas and beer for a while and then gets to the end of the off-season and cuts the weight off again.
mountain bike racing to keep you sharp and keep that race intensity.
“That’s the really key thing, isn’t it? Not just banging out base miles during the winter but what these elite riders really need to do is to keep their race-readiness, that top-end performance, whether it be sprinting, whether it be generalised endurance. Absolutely, training has changed, and it was no surprise to me that a few riders would be putting their legs over their frames and getting out on the roads the day after the dinner.”
Timothy John
“I think youth plays a big part, too, Phil. I’m not sure if the older guests would be quite so keen!”
Phil Jones
“Yeah, whenever I’ve been to dinner, there are very few of the riders who are actively participating in having a few beers. It’s only people like me who don’t have to race professionally and also the retired riders who you see wandering around with a beer in their hands.
“Anybody you see in their early twenties, who probably looks about 65kg and is about six feet tall, they are normally always on the water.”
INTERLUDE
Timothy John
“Ha! Yes, you can spot the active athletes a mile off. Another great aspect of the Rayner Foundation dinner that you mentioned there, Phil: always lots of interesting ex-riders floating about the place. Dean Downing, a friend of the podcast, was there with a cohort of some of his young, coached riders, and Dean, of course, is going great guns as a coach. His brother Russell was on the premises, too.
him. Let’s have a listen to Keith.”
Keith Lambert
“It’s remarkable, isn’t it? All through the years, we’ve been fairly consistent in getting one or two over the line, which we've been obviously very pleased about, but it just seems to have accelerated so much in the last few years. There have been four, five or six in the last few years, each year, so we’re doing something right, I think.
“We look for applications to come in each year, obviously, and there are always 60, 70, 80 applications. The difference I think we find now is that the standard of the majority of them has increased so much, and that’s reflected in the end result as well. That’s why there’s five or six turning pro.
“It really is difficult to select riders, because we can’t fund everyone. The money doesn’t stretch that far. We have to be selective, obviously, but each year is becoming more and more difficult because the talent is remarkable. I don’t know where it’s coming from.
the future, aren’t they?”
“From the point of view of the Foundation, the difference we’ve found these last couple of years is that rather than just having an application out of the blue, if you like, although you might have known a little bit about one or two of them, you’ve got that facility now where we’re helping the junior teams with the Gateway system. It’s allowing us to see the talent coming through, if you like, rather than the Springboard scheme being the starting point. That’s helped a lot.
“But the talent there is tremendous. Not just [the Springboard scheme], but we look at the juniors and the talent they’ve got, being helped by teams of people, I have to say, who give their time, and parents-wise, money as well, to get these teams aboard and get the experience for these riders.
weekend and then going for longer spells in the holidays, it’s great experience for them, and they’re stepping up a little bit quicker than in the past, shall we say.
“I think as Ed or Alex was saying earlier: it’s different in many ways to when they were [progressing], but the principle is still the same in many ways, isn’t it? The way you hold yourself and have respect for people. That’s what they were trying to get over. That doesn’t change, does it?
“We’re really happy with what’s coming through and what’s moving on because that’s what we’re here to do, and it says to us that we’re doing something right, doesn’t it?”
Timothy John
“So wonderful to hear there from Keith Lambert, Phil.
“This trend that he has identified for teams like Brother UK-OnForm, like Shibden, like FH-Mas-CAMS to take their young riders overseas. How significant is that? Keith seems to think it’s made all the difference.”
Phil Jones
“Well, I wouldn’t disagree with him. All the teams that we’ve sponsored over the years have considered that one of the most vital components to developing riders, primarily because the racing style is so different. The way that races are run and raced on the Continent really differs from how they might work in the UK. If there is an aspiration from these UK riders to end up on the Continent one day, they absolutely must have experience of racing and riding in pelotons and on circuits and races and multi-stage races abroad.”
Timothy John
“Now, one of those junior riders who has benefitted from racing overseas with our own Brother UK-OnForm is 17-year-old Amelia Staunton. She’s one of Brother UK-OnForm’s rising stars. This was her first year with Brother UK-OnForm, the season just ended. She was second at the Witham Hall Road Race, ahead of several senior riders from UCI Continental teams. She was just outside the top-20 at the junior women’s Gent-Wevelgem, and she rode in the junior women’s Tour of Flanders and junior women’s Grand Prix Plouay, as well.
races.
“Let’s hear now from Amelia and Chris.”
Amelia Staunton
“We managed to go to Gent-Wevelgem, Tour of Flanders and Plouay, and all three of them were just an amazing experience. We didn’t expect to be where we were, and I’m just so proud of the whole team.”
Chris Staunton
“I think we did about 25,000 miles this year, if you consider ‘cross races right at the start of the year. We live down near London, and so going to Scotland for ‘cross races, but, actually, going to Scotland for ‘cross races is quite an undertaking.
“I think the nice bit is that you always feel like you are part of something. Brother UK-OnForm is not necessarily the biggest European race team, and so, especially at the start of the season, the girls were a little bit tentative, as were we as parents, I think, but by the time the team was going to Plouay, and they were going with other parents and not just us, it was a fantastic experience to feel like they were part of it and to feel that the team was recognised and understood and capable. People were saying, ‘There are the Brother girls.’ That really makes a difference in terms of how they sit in the peloton, how they feel in the peloton, and, as a parent, you can only feel proud of what your kids are doing.
necessarily feeling that we have to expect the world of our kids.”
Amelia Staunton
“I think it’s firstly about meeting all of the competitors our age. We have a quite a lot of junior women’s races, but the amount of races out there is just crazy. The travel, all of that, is just like another crazy experience. We’re like, ‘Wow, we actually get to go and do this, and it’s amazing.’”
Chris Staunton
“We are not cyclists as a family. This is our first foray into this. From Amelia’s point of view, we wouldn’t have known where to go. We wouldn’t have known who to talk to, and Mark’s got a fab network which really supports all of that, and the support of Paul and all the others really makes a big difference to being able to feel like you’re engaged and that you’re able to do that with your kids in a really positive way.
“It’s fair to say that Brother UK-OnForm is not the biggest of the UK junior teams, and there are some quite famous ones out there, but lots of those have a lot more gravitas, funding, whatever you want to call it, and so for the first year when we’ve been doing lots of European races, which has been this year, I think the girls have all done absolutely fabulously well, and I’m sure that it will continue.”
Amelia Staunton
“It’s just about revising in the car. I was revising on the ferry. I was writing my EBQ on the ferry on the way to Gent-Wevelgem and Flanders. I remember Paul coming and helping me with it and helping me change the title, and it’s just those kind of moments when I know I want to be talking with the team, but I know that I have to do some work because you need a plan too, you know.”
Chris Staunton
“Amelia is very diligent in my view. She works really hard, and so it’s not that hard. She wants to do that. There is a level of doom-scrolling that anyone has on a mobile phone which is the kind of hour where you disappear into nothing, and that’s just about reminding, I guess: ‘Come on, get off your phone,’ but not in a difficult way.
the easiest subjects, and so we’re super proud of what she’s trying to achieve and what she will achieve.”
Timothy John
“So that was Amelia Staunton, one of Brother UK’s shining stars, and her father, Chris, who’s wracked up 25,000 miles behind the wheel of the family car this year, driving Amelia and her brother to races.
very active role.”
Phil Jones
“Yeah, I think most teams have an active base of people who are giving up their time. Particularly when you’re coming through the ranks, parents play such an important part, regardless of the sport you’re in, whether it be cycling, football, rugby, tennis, badminton; it doesn’t matter. Parents play such an active part in supporting their children with their ambitions, so all credit to Chris. That’s one of heck of commitment. It’s not just those miles. It’s the time it takes in that you’re probably having to give up all elements of your own social life to support your child in their pursuit of their ambition.”
Timothy John
“Well, another packed episode: everything from the new national calendar through to the Rayner Foundation dinner and plenty more.
“We really are at the end of the season now. If you’re looking for some action, some entertainment of the winter then of course tune in and watch the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. And also, if you’re looking for a bit of winter sun, then I can’t recommend more highly going to the Costa Blanca, resorts like Calpe, Denia, because you will find the hotels awash with WorldTour teams and the roads awash with WorldTour riders.
Sports Podcast Awards, and have yourselves a very merry Christmas.”
Phil Jones
“If you’ve enjoyed today’s episode, please hit subscribe.”
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