GBCT, who train at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, has not qualified for the women’s team sprint event at the Olympics since London 2012. Fast forward to today, and the team currently lies third in the world ranking and heads to Paris as one of the medal favourites.

Photo: GB Cycling

This impressive turnaround has been building over the past few years and has been helped by insight and support from across the GBCT programme, earning them their PLx Awards success.
The awards are a celebration of outstanding achievements at a high-performance level, that lead to unforgettable sporting moments.

In the 2023 season, the track sprint squad won silver medals at both the World and European Championships, while also securing a bronze Nation’s Cup medal.

The team also saw individual success with Emma Finucane setting a British 200m record as she won her first world title at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships. Finucane also won gold in all four of the women’s sprint events at the 2023 National Track Championships. She also won gold in the Cairo Nations Cup in the sprint and European silver in the Keirin event.

Sophie Capewell won a silver sprint medal at the Cairo Nations cup as well as a bronze in the same event at the European Championships. After giving birth for the first time in 2022, Rio Olympic Games bronze medallist Katy Nicholls (formerly Marchant) won a bronze in the keirin at the Tissot UCI Track Nations Cup in April. Lauren Bell also enjoyed a successful year, being part of the silver-medal winning sprint team at the 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships, alongside Capewell and Finucane and was also on the European and Nations Cup team sprint line ups.

The performance set-up has focused on developing the best performance analysis, strength and conditioning coaching, and psychology work as well as a strong focus on off-bike stimulus. All these areas came together to build the confident and psychological resilience of the current GBCT women’s sprint team.

Emma Finucane, from the women’s sprint team, said: “It’s been a great year for us as a team and we’re really grateful to receive this award in recognition of that. Teamwork is really important to us and we’ve worked really hard on what that has meant and should look like this year so it’s nice to see it’s paying off.”

The team were led by Kaarle McCulloch from April 2022, until June 2023, who placed emphasis on off-bike practices to help improve on-track performance and instilled in them her philosophy that riders must be ‘the CEOs of their careers’.

This mindset has seen the squad work together in a range of scenarios, from drumming to high diving, and have been encouraged to find their own interests outside of cycling. This focus on personal development, beyond just medal success, has been well received by the whole squad and is emphasised by the marked impact on performances.

The PLx Awards celebrated the high-performance sporting community in the UK and their contributions as an individual, team, sport, or event during 2023. The winners were announced at an awards ceremony in Stratford-upon-Avon on 28 November.

To find out more about the PLx Awards, hosted by UK Sport and powered by The National Lottery, visit www.uksport.gov.uk

With thanks to New Reach PR

Flowy descents with technical passages and jumps, challenging uphills, and an extensive mountain-bike infrastructure: Kitzsteinhorn and Maiskogel in the Zell am See-Kaprun region in Salzburger Land, Austria, offer mountain bikers and e-bikers plenty of action on varied trails and routes – as well as a breathtaking alpine landscape.

Photo: © Kitzsteinhorn

Those who prefer downhill riding can take one of the cable cars with free bike transportation to the Alpincenter on the Kitzsteinhorn at 2,450 m or to the Maiskogel at 1,570 m. From there, you can head back down to the valley on different freeride trails. Mountain bikers who like to pedal uphill have several routes to choose from, which they can master with pure muscle power, supported by an electric motor, or combined with panoramic rides in the cable car. In any case, great alpine landscapes with a wide variety of vegetation zones from the valley to the high mountains await in this unique natural area on the border to the Hohe Tauern National Park.

MTB Freeride Trails
3 freeride trails for experienced mountain bikers are open on the Kitzsteinhorn from the middle of June to the middle of September (depending on snow conditions), covering a total of 11.8 km and 2,005 vertical meters from the high alpine terrain down to the valley. Geissstein Trail (3.4 km, 492 vertical meters), Wuestlau Trail (6.5 km, 1,100 vertical meters) and Bachler Trail (2 km, 413 vertical meters) require excellent bike control, very good technical riding skills, and appropriate equipment. Another trail, which is family-friendly, is located at the Maiskogel (3.7 km, 381 m).

Bike routes up to the tree line – and beyond
The bike routes at Kitzsteinhorn and Maiskogel lead from the fields and meadows in the valley through colorful deciduous forests over flowering pastures and alpine meadows up to the tree line and beyond. The seamless cable car network with free bike transport allows the routes to be combined with relaxed panoramic rides in the cable car. From the difficult Kitzsteinhorn Uphill (24.9 km, 2179 vertical meters uphill), which as of this summer leads all the way to the Gletscherjet 3/4 middle station at 2,617 meters, to the moderately difficult Maiskogel Tour (19.5 km, 880 vertical meters uphill) and 3K K-onnection-Tour (10.4 km, 732 vertical meters uphill), there is something for everyone. E-bikers will find charging stations at the mountain station of the MK Maiskogelbahn and at the Gletschermuehle restaurant on the Kitzsteinhorn at 2,450 meters.

Wash Points & Trail Workshops at Maiskogel
In addition to the free bike transportation in the cable cars, Kaprun is well prepared for mountain bikers in other ways as well. For example, at the Trail Tuesdays every Tuesday from the beginning of July to the beginning of September, professionals introduce interested bikers to effective braking, shifting, and cornering techniques for more safety when riding downhill in open terrain. And at the Kids Bike Day every Monday from the beginning of July to the beginning of September, children from the age of 8 learn the basics of trail riding in a playful way. These workshops are offered for beginners and advanced riders.

Those who want to start their journey home with a clean bike can use the Wash Points at the Langwied valley station, the Stanger station (MK Maiskogelbahn middle station), and the MK Maiskogelbahn valley station.

Further information at https://www.kitzsteinhorn.at/en/summer/kitzsteinhorn/mountainbike

The GB Gold Medallists that are the driving force of the athlete purpose movement, Legacy 300, have launched a unique fundraising drive for community Sports clubs.

The Beat the Medallist challenge series centres around VIP hosted challenges in numerous sports enabling individuals or team entries to generate funds for Sports clubs or chosen good causes as well as competing against rival clubs in more neutral sporting arenas.

As they have already raised £506K for good causes through the Legacy 300 project, the athletes are hoping that the blanket coverage of the Tokyo games, will encourage Sports and other sports clubs to engage their members family, employers’, and friends to support participants as they take on GB Gold Medallists.

Beat the Medallist: A Unique Challenge

Each event will see the Olympic athletes set a target time on the day, those who fundraise for their club through provided auction platforms and donation pages, will get time bonuses to help them surpass the Gold Standard time. The more they raise the more chance they have to Beat the Medallist.

The challenge series starts with the first national event involving the GB Cyclists on November 12th at the Olympic Velodrome with the series continuing in 2022 with the GB Rowers and GB Slalom Canoeists hosting challenges at the iconic venues of Henley on Thames and the Olympic WhiteWater Centre, with further sporting events taking place as the project unfolds.

GB Cycling Gold Medallist Phil Hindes was looking forward to being part of this unique series having already posted a video message on social media urging people to get behind the Legacy 300 project. “As sports people we would love to see the vast majority of the next £500K we raise in donations to support grass root sports clubs. It is a great opportunity for cycling enthusiasts to be the focal point of the clubs fundraising. Looking forward to seeing as many clubs as possible represented on our charity days but be warned, I will not ease off I want to win as well.”

The project is looking to add to the £506K raised in donations by the Olympic athlete initiative Legacy 300, which sees participants pay for exclusive experience days themselves and create donations on top.

Interested Sports playing cyclists are invited to email david@legacy300.com or visit the events page  for further details on the Beat the Medallist project.

Courtesy of Legacy 300

26 riders from the Great Britain Cycling Team, of which 16 will make their Team GB debut, have been selected to represent Team GB, with British Cycling setting themselves the aim of being more competitive across the cycling disciplines at the Tokyo Games.

In the road events, twin brothers Adam and Simon Yates have been selected for the men’s road race, as have Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart, both of whom will also contest the men’s time trial event. In the women’s road race, London 2012 Olympic Games silver medallist Lizzie Deignan will be joined by Anna Shackley, with Anna also competing in the women’s time trial.

In the men’s mountain bike event, the reigning under-23 World Champion Tom Pidcock is making an excellent recovery from his broken collarbone, thanks to the collaborative support from the medical staff at the Great Britain Cycling Team and at his trade team, and is set to make his first appearance at Olympic level, while Evie Richards will also make her Olympic debut in the women’s mountain bike race.

BMX Supercross will see Kye Whyte and Beth Shriever represent Team GB, both making their Olympic debuts, while the BMX Freestyle event will be contested for the first time in Tokyo, with world bronze medallist Charlotte Worthington and Declan Brooks ready to represent the nation.

The competition schedule then turns to the track, where Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny are both preparing to make history by confirming themselves as the most successful female and male track cyclists ever. Joining Laura in the women’s endurance squad are fellow Olympic Champions Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker along with Neah Evans and Josie Knight. In the men’s sprint squad, Ryan Owens and Jack Carlin will join Jason Kenny.

Ed Clancy will be aiming to win his fourth consecutive team pursuit gold medal, and he will be joined in the men’s endurance squad by Ethan Hayter, Ethan Vernon, Matt Walls and Ollie Wood. Olympic bronze medallist Katy Marchant will represent Team GB in the women’s sprint and keirin events.

Speaking about the selection, British Cycling Performance Director Stephen Park said: “I am incredibly excited by the squad we have selected to represent Team GB in Tokyo, and there will be plenty for British cycling fans to cheer for during the Olympic Games.

“We have six Olympic Champions bolstering our squad, with Geraint Thomas, Ed Clancy, Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny, Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald all very driven to add more medals to their palmares.

“At the other end of the spectrum, we pride ourselves on the strength of our pathway, and this is evident in the team we have selected with recent Academy graduates making our Olympic team. Josie Knight, Ethan Vernon and Anna Shackley have seized every opportunity this additional year has given them and it will be testament to the work of our pathway programme to see them on the start line in Tokyo.

“I’m proud of the focus the support team have made in attempting to diversify our medals, with a real investment going into the BMX and mountain bike disciplines. I’m certain we will see this investment pay off with great performances in Tokyo which will then stand us in good stead leading into Paris 2024.

“We are renowned for our domination in the track events and, while we have a realistic expectation that the rest of the world will be more competitive than ever this year, I am still extremely excited to see every single member of the track squad in the hunt for a medal in Tokyo.

“Everyone on the Great Britain Cycling Team is committed to doing the jersey proud, and this will be no different when we compete for Team GB at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.”

Mark England said: “I am delighted to be able to welcome such a talented cycling team to Team GB for Tokyo 2020.

“Team GB have a proud track cycling record at the Olympic Games and it’s exciting to see BMX and mountain bike disciplines alongside some very experienced road cyclists selected to the team today.

“The Olympic experience in this team is hugely impressive and I have no doubt it will be a valuable asset for those set to make their Olympic debuts in Tokyo. I am fully confident that the athletes selected today will put in some fantastic performances this summer.”

Team GB Cycling Team:

Men’s Road:

Tao Geoghegan Hart
Geraint Thomas
Adam Yates
Simon Yates

Men’s TT:

Tao Geoghegan Hart
Geraint Thomas

Women’s Road:

Lizzie Deignan
Anna Shackley

Women’s TT:

Anna Shackley

Men’s MTB:

Tom Pidcock

Women’s MTB:

Evie Richards

Men’s BMX SX:

Kye Whyte

Ross Cullen (travelling reserve)

Women’s BMX SX:

Beth Shriever

Men’s BMX Freestyle Park:

Declan Brooks

James Jones (travelling reserve)

Women’s BMX Freestyle Park:

Charlotte Worthington

Men’s Endurance:

Ed Clancy
Ethan Hayter
Ethan Vernon
Matt Walls
Ollie Wood

Charlie Tanfield (travelling reserve)

Women’s Endurance:

Katie Archibald
Elinor Barker
Neah Evans
Laura Kenny
Josie Knight

Women’s Sprint:

Katy Marchant

Men’s Sprint:

Jack Carlin
Jason Kenny
Ryan Owens

Phil Hindes (travelling reserve)

Entrants travelled from as far afield as Ipswich, Cardiff, Cheshire and North Wales to take part, while overseas University of Bath students from China were also among the cyclists who enjoyed the warm weather and supportive atmosphere of the non-competitive event designed to encourage fitness and participation.

There were two organised rides on the day, with the majority of cyclists taking on the 102km route from the University of Bath Sports Training Village to Glastonbury and back.

There was also a shorter 50km route that proved popular with families and everyone who took part on the day received a free T-shirt.

Finishers could also take advantage of a free post-cycle rubdown from students on the Team Bath Training & Development Sports Massage Therapy course.

Among the clubs taking part were Somer Valley CC, Velo Club Walcot, Axe Valley Pedallers and Plymouth University BC from Devon, Team Trident, Bristol RC, Salt and Sham Cycle Club, Avid Sport and Simply Grey Cycling Club.

Plans are already in place to stage another Team Bath Sportive in 2020 with a third, longer route.

Courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

Starting and finishing at the University of Bath Sports Training Village, the Sportive – the cycling equivalent of running a marathon – will see cyclists head to Glastonbury and back via either 50km or 102km routes, both of which are fully signed and include feed stations.

It is a non-competitive event, with the focus being on participation in a supportive atmosphere, and is being run in conjunction with British Cycling. Advance entry is priced £20 for the 50km route and £30 for 102km, both increasing by £5 for entries on the day.

Organiser Felix Young said: “Sportives are a great way for people to get fit and challenge themselves, with the group nature of the event providing a fantastic opportunity for camaraderie and a chance to cycle between two iconic locations through the beautiful Somerset countryside.”

Medical and mechanical support will be provided on both routes and there is free parking at the STV for all taking part. Sports massage will also be available at the finish for donations to the Zambia IDEALS project involving University of Bath students.

Entrants must be aged 18 and over and more information is available by contacting organiser Felix Young on hello@avid-sport.co.uk. To enter online, visit www.teambath.com.

Report courtesy of the Team Bath Press Office at Matchtight Ltd.

Undertaking physiological tests in various environments allowed both Boardman and university academics to understand the factors that will cause the likely deterioration in performance of some athletes in the latter stages of both the road race and time trial in Brazil.

“Rio is going to be hot and has the potential to be humid,” said Boardman. “Riders should have done heat training camps and be acclimatised for humidity, so they should be ready to go on the big day. It’s quite a mountainous course as well, which will play a factor.

“Loughborough is overflowing with facilities to do all kinds of testing and we’ve been able to look at what happens when you expose an athlete to high heat and altitude, and we’ve been able to do physiological testing and simulate climbing all within a few hundred metres. It’s a pretty special place.”

He continued: “Physiology testing is absolutely critical to an athlete’s preparation because it’s just putting markers down that you can then measure and see whether you’re getting better or getting worse, so there absolutely essential.

“When I was competing it was a big part of my work and it actually kept me interested in the journey rather than just the destination – there was something I had to beat, a marker in the sand. We’d try different types of training and then we were able to come back and assess whether that training had been successful, so physiology tests played a huge part in my career.”

Richard Ferguson, Senior Lecturer in Exercise Physiology, added: “For our testing ahead of Rio we’ve focused on the physiology and environmental laboratories to do a wide range of physiological testing before the athletes head out to The Games. This has helped us to understand their physiological responses and adaptations to both training and acclimatisation.

“What most riders should have done in the build up to Rio is spent a long period of time acclimatising to the environment they’re going to face – it’s in the longer events such as the road race and time trial where the thermal stress of the environment will have a significant impact. It’s not just the cycling, but any of the long distance events where the conditions will have an impact.”

Report courtesy of Loughborough University

Becky Frewing (Photo: Joolze Dymond and MouldyPix)

4TLOS while primarily a website celebrating women’s sport is also keen to promote achievements of women working in the usually male dominated sport world.  We were lucky enough to catch up with Becky Frewing – General Manager of ONE Pro Cycling to find out a little more about her interesting and varied career.

Becky has graduated from working as a Sales Administrator for a premier league football side to orchestrating the creation of a 20 rider professional cycling team that, after just one year, has already earned its place in the 2^nd tier of professional road racing. Breath-taking stuff in just a few years and shows what’s possible with the right drive and initiative.

Becky started out working as a Sales Administrator for Crystal Palace FC where she worked her way up until she was responsible for corporate events and for key sponsor accounts.

Given the opportunity to work with the Geoff Thomas Foundation, Becky moved into charity fund-raising helping to organise a major event in which cyclists could follow (2 days behind the professionals) the Tour de France route.

The switch to cycling was complete, and after working with several other cycling teams Becky got together with cricketer Matt Prior to create ONE Pro Cycling which last year became the first UK team to be granted a UCI Professional licence.

Becky pointed out that at the moment fans tend to support their favourite cyclists but with an increasing fan base they would like to change that to be the team that people support – it is easy to see that as the seasons’ progress and the team hopefully becomes even more successful, the One Pro brand will become more recognisable.

Establishing a team that has progressed so quickly in its first year is an amazing achievement and as soon as it’s a viable proposition ONE Pro Cycling also aim to establish a women’s team.  We hope that we will be able to report on the progress of both teams here, and continue to follow Becky and her fascinating journey.

The full Q&A with Becky:

Did you set out to have a career in sport?

Not at all. I did a generic Leisure & Tourism course at college as I didn’t want to go to Uni and was keen on getting out to work as soon as possible. The sports avenue was a bit of a fluke to be honest

How did you find yourself working for a premier league football club and what was that like?  

A friend of a friend was working at the club at the time and they had an opening for a Sales Administrator. My family had always had a connection with the team, my Dad played for them in his younger days. My Dad’s uncle was the Groundsmen so it was a nice job to have. The Football Club was quite a surreal working environment. Whilst it often didn’t feel like work you worked bloody hard! I worked my way up the department relatively quickly and in the end was responsible for key accounts sponsors and all the corporate events. You worked every home game without a day off during the week so you had to get on well and look after everyone as it was a way of life.

Was it friendly and inclusive?

Yes it definitely was. Football involves a lot of passion and our Chairman at the time always challenged us to be able to make the business side of things a success without being dependant on what the team did on the pitch but the reality of that was somewhat different. If the team did well then people wanted to be involved.

From there you worked with Geoff Thomas setting up a fundraising event in which riders take on the Tour de France two days behind the professionals.  Then with Nigel Mansell setting up UK Youth.  Two really exciting projects. How did you find the switch from commercialism to fund raising or is it not that different?

It wasn’t hugely different, ultimately both are businesses just a slightly different way of looking at it I suppose. The hardest thing for me going into Geoff Thomas Foundation was moving away from the busy office environment and working more on my own, being my own boss and having to motivate myself each day. Both hugely rewarding though.

Then from the charity projects to managing pro cycling teams another big jump or natural progression?

It ended up being quite a natural progression in the end. I got into cycling whilst working for Geoff Thomas. He took on the Tour de France as a charity fundraiser so that was my first taste of it. Up until then I’d never even seen a bike race let alone thought about it from a business point of view.

It must have been really exciting to be in from the beginning of One Pro Cycling – how did you come to be involved?

Becky, Rob Over, Matt Prior (centre), Steve Benton and Matt Winston (Photo: Joolze Dymond and MouldyPix)

Very much so. I had been working for three other teams in recent years and always wanted to build a team that wasn’t solely reliant on corporate funding and could be sustainable longer than a sponsorship term.

I had met former England Cricketer, Matt Prior whilst working for another team. He was a massive cycling fan so would come along and do some PR at races and events. We kept in touch over the last few years and when he got injured playing cricket in 2014 I approached him about being involved in setting up a team and here we are!

I have to admit to not knowing much about pro cycling but assume it’s in tiers, is that correct and if so how does a team work its way up to the top level?

Yes there are different levels. So up until 2015 the teams I have worked for have always been on what’s known as a ‘UCI Continental’ team. This is the highest rank domestic level in the UK and allows you to race certain races in Europe and overseas.

ONE Pro Cycling have recently become the first ever UK team to be granted a ‘UCI Professional’ (pro conti) licence. This is the equivalent to the second tier in racing with the first tier being ‘World Tour.

Is there a limit on number of teams from each country being eligible to ride in a particular race (as with Formula 1)?

Yes there are. There can also be a limit in terms of the amount of pro conti teams applicable in some of the bigger races.

One Pro has stated its ambitions and has just completed a successful first season – have you been at all surprised by how successful the team has been?

Not really. A lot of work went into building the team both on and off the bike. Having Matt (Prior) involved has been huge. Being able to bring the knowledge he has from another professional sport has played a massive factor in our success.

As One Pro has grown no doubt your role has changed too – has that been a bit of a relief, or do you enjoy juggling several roles?

It has changed quite a lot as the team has grown. My experience previously had been very much hands on and being at races but we have such a good team covering that now that it has allowed me to concentrate more on the commercial side of the business which will be key to it’s further success.

Next year the team will move up to Pro-Continental level – which will presumably be even more travelling and organising.  Will this take you and the team all across Europe or further afield?

Yes it will. We start our season at the end of January in New Zealand then move onto Australia and then our biggest race to date will be the Dubai Tour at the beginning of February, Malaysia late February and then back onto the European circuit in March.

How does the Founder Membership scheme work?

We introduced the Founder Membership scheme when the team was launched. People who joined will forever be a founder member of ONE Pro Cycling and their surname will be watermarked into our 2016 kit. We want to be able to give something back to the fans and this was a great way of launching this.

Cycling has grown fantastically in popularity over the last few years and I see that you are trying to close the gap between elite cycling and participation is that a difficult thing to do?

It’s getting a lot easier because of the success the UK has had in the sport. The likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish have given people a reason to be interested. Cycling is a very traditional sport but it has come on leaps and bounds with the technology and products now available and that’s what makes it great. People can relate to it. Whether it’s going out with the family for a ride in the park, commuting to work or racing at the weekend, it has something for everyone but not many people follow a particular team, they tend to follow the individual. We want to be the team people support, follow and share in our success and feel part of.

What do you hope for in Season two for One Pro?

Obviously we are moving up a level, have a lot more riders, will race in bigger races and will have a lot more pressure on us but we don’t want to just make the numbers up, we are there to compete. Off the bike we want to make sure the team is successful with an increase in members across the globe.

Do you hope that there will be a women’s team in the next few years?

Definitely! It’s something we looked very seriously at for 2016 but just couldn’t make it work in the timeframe we had but it’s hugely on our radar for 2017.

I can imagine that you have little recreational time but when you do, do you enjoy cycling or do any other form of sport?

Unfortunately I haven’t really had time in the last 6-8 months to do anything! I haven’t come from a cycling background but I do enjoy it the odd time that I go out. At the moment anytime I have is spent catching up with friends and family and the odd gym session!

Do you follow any other professional sport – have a favourite team?

I still follow Crystal Palace and like to keep an eye on how they are getting on. Still know a lot of people at the club.

Finally, what is your ideal activity for a day off?

A nice lie in, followed by a bit of shopping with the girls, sushi lunch and an evening in the pub!

You can find out more about ONE Pro Cycling here