In the last two years British cycling has hit the road running. Even in the wet, grim and recently snowy British winter, cyclists clad in brightly coloured waterproofs and their new christmas ‘bootsies’ are still putting in the kilometres. It was a joy to see more than the usual ‘Sunday cyclist’ out on the roads this summer, with pain trains, leisurely group rides and the lone sufferer taking on Box Hill in Surrey.
Cycling has always been popular in Europe; Denmark has over 10,000km of dedicated cycle routes, while 27% of all journeys in the Netherlands are by bike. Whereas, Britain has always seen it as a ‘midlife crisis sport’. Men with a few extra pounds, both in their wallet and on the scales, going all out on expensive equipment and making the odd ride, in the process coining the term ‘middle-aged men in lycra’. Recently however, there seems to be a gradual shift in the British state of mind.
So what’s caused this shift? Cycling. We’ve become good at it! Initially in track cycling with names such as Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Bradley Wiggins, Mark Cavendish and countless others sweeping up medals in Olympic, Commonwealth and World Championship events and more recently, on the road. Like churning a big gear, slowly but surely, momentum has built with Britain dominating in the cycling world. The last few years have been incredibly successful and have caught the attention of the public.
Back in 2000, whilst riding for Cofidis, David Millar began winning stages in the three Grand Tours. He added to his palmarès by winning the opening individual time trial in the 2000 Tour de France with further wins in 2002 and 2003. He won two stages in the 2001 Vuelta a España and a further one in 2003. He sparked British interest with hopes of one day becoming a general classification contender. However, in 2004 Millar was arrested for doping. Another fraudulent rider in the sport. On return from his suspension, Millar rode the 2006 TdF, placing 59th with Saunier Duval-Prodir; a Spanish team. He then went on to win the stage 14 time trial in the Vuelta and in 2007, won the national road race and time trial championships. With his renewed success, Millar helped form Slipstream-chipotle, later Garmin-sharp, which had a pro anti-doping stance. He has subsequently won stages in all three Grand Tours, most recently stage 12 of 2012’s TdF.
With the British interest sparked by Millar, Cavendish exploded onto the road racing circuit in 2007. He took eight pro wins that season, before sprinting to four stage wins in 2008’s TdF. Since then, the ‘boy racer’ has been nicknamed the ‘manx missile’, become famous for his legendary second kick, taken 23 TdF sprint stage wins, with four consecutive wins on the Champs-Élysées, both records in themselves. French newspaper L’Équipe has titled him the best TdF sprinter of all time. Cavendish’s most successful season to date, 2011, saw him become the first Brit to win the Green jersey in the Tour, winner of world road race championships and the BBC Sports Personality of the year. In 2012, whilst part of Team Sky procycling, Cavendish took 15 stage wins, six of those in Grand Tours, three in the TdF whilst riding without his usual dedicated lead out train.
Then there’s Wiggo, originally a track cyclist he began his transfer across to the road in 2005. Whilst riding for Garmin-slipstream, Wiggins placed fourth in the 2009 TdF. Following Lance Armstrong’s disqualification, he was retrospectively awarded third, making him the first Brit to grace the podium. December 2009 saw Wiggins move to the newly formed British team; Team Sky. In 2010 he won the individual time trial in the Giro d’Italia and became the national time trial champion. With a team built around him, he went into the 2011 TdF a strong contender, but crashed out on stage 7 with a broken collarbone. He took third overall in the Vuelta before aiding Mark Cavendish to his 2011 world championship win. Cue 2012.
Wiggins, focused on the TdF, rode to victory in Paris-Nice, became the first Brit to top the podium at the Tour de Romandie before winning the Critérium du Dauphiné. He took to the mountains for a natural haematocrit boosting training camp as final preparation for the Tour. He placed second in the prologue, avoided time loss in the frantic first week sprints and then took third place on stage 7 behind Cadel Evans and his Team Sky teammate Chris Froome, who took the win. The first summit finish of the Tour was at La Planche des Belles Filles and Team Sky showed their dominance dropping many of the main contenders in the final kilometres. This team effort placed Wiggins in the Maillot Jaune, 10 seconds ahead of Evans. Stage 9, a 41.5km time trial showed Wiggins’ strength as he put 1min 43sec into his closest contender; Evans. On stage 11, Wiggins lead came under attack; Evans rode away with 65km to go but was reeled back in, then with 11km left of the race, Vincenzo Nibali attacked, riding away from Wiggins. Together with Froome, they bridged the gap 5km from the finish, dropping Evans in the process and securing the yellow jersey on Wiggins’ back. He took another win on stage 19 in a 53.5km time trial and rolled into Paris as the first ever Brit to win the Tour de France! Chapeau Wiggo!
Wiggins became a prominent public figure, playing a role in the Olympic opening ceremony, taking the gold in the time trial and along with Sir Chris Hoy became the most decorated British Olympian with seven gold medals. He won the prestigious Vélo d’Or trophy in October, was crowned the BBC Sports Personality of the year and received a knighthood in the New Years Honours.
With the 2013 season already off to a flying start; a stage win for Cavendish in the Tour San Luis and Geraint Thomas winning stage 2 of the Santos Tour Down Under, what else does the year have in store?
Ian Stannard, the 2012 national road race champion has his eyes on the upcoming classics. Cavendish has a dedicated team; Omega Pharma - Quick-Step and will have eyes on as many stage wins if not the odd sprinters jerseys. Wiggins starts his racing calendar early February in Mallorca before joining Froome at the Tour of Oman at which point the two riders are set to head their separate ways. Wiggins is set to tackle the Giro and Froome the Critérium du Dauphiné before both taking their place on the starting line of the centenary edition of the Tour de France. This years Tour, a monstrous parkour with stage 18 culminating in two ascents of Alpe d’Huez.
Looking to the future, if British cycling can continue to add to their already growing palmarès, the shift to cycling is only going to continue. With the ‘Get Britain Cycling’ inquiry, an All Party Parliamentary Cycling Inquiry underway, introduced to improve cycling conditions and get us on our bikes, coupled with continuing British success, it won’t be an unusual site to see more and more ‘everyday cyclists’. With cycling becoming mainstream and more kids then ever asking for cycling jerseys for Christmas, grassroot cycling is expanding. With a bit of luck, our cycling success won’t be short lived and in the not so distant future we could see British cyclists in yellow, pink, green, white, polka dot jerseys and more. A multi-coloured Britain. Now wouldn’t that be politically correct?
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