Talk Cycling Blog

Hoy handed knighthood

2009-01-06T09:22:11Z

The cycling legend, Chris Hoy, has followed up his success at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony by being named in the New Year’s Honours list.

The cyclist, who is thirty-two years of age, will receive a knighthood as recognition of his success at the Olympics last year. Hoy won a total of three gold medals in Beijing. The Scottish cyclist revealed that being named on the list was a “huge honour” and extremely “unexpected”. Furthermore, Hoy believes that it is the perfect way "to end the year”.

Hoy’s delight was intensified by the fact that his mother was appointed MBE (which her son achieved in 2005) in recognition of her work as a nurse in Edinburgh. Hoy’s mother, who revealed that she was “blown away” by her son’s achievements, worked in a sleep lab which has performed many studies and released important new research during recent years.

The typically modest cyclist was keen to emphasise the importance of his achievement for the wider world of cycling in the UK. Hoy believes that he has always done what he can to “promote the sport” because he has such a passion for it. He now thinks that the consequences of his knighthood will have a positive impact upon the sport.

Sporting experts believe that the knighthood will propel Hoy to another level of fame and increase attention from companies keen to put his face at the forefront of their advertising campaigns. His income from sponsors is set to rise massively over the next few months.

Looking back on Britain's bumper cycling year

2009-01-05T09:57:22Z

What a year 2008 was for the British cycling team! Whether it was the World Track Championships in Manchester, the Tour De France or the Olympic Games in Beijing, Britain’s cyclists swept all before them.

Looking back, it is hard to believe that Chris Hoy’s golden year began with disappointment. In the World Track Championships in March, Hoy lost out in his first event, the Team Sprint. However, the Scotsman prevailed in his solo events, the Sprint and the Keirin, and came away from the event as a mere double World Champion!

It was Bradley Wiggins and not Hoy who picked up three gold medals in Manchester, triumphing in the Individual Pursuit, the Team Pursuit and the Madison. The Madison was Wiggins’ partner Mark Cavendish’s first major success of the year and kick-started an outstanding season for the rider from the Isle of Man.

Victoria Pendleton shone in the women’s events claiming world titles in the Sprint and Team Sprint and a silver medal in the Keirin. Unfortunately for her, only one of these events, the Sprint, appears on the Olympic schedule so she would only be in with a chance of a single gold medal in Beijing.

The World Championships was also the stage on which Rebecca Romero burst onto the international scene by winning the Individual Pursuit. A year previously Romero was a World silver medallist in the event. Her victory in Manchester set the Athens Olympic rowing medallist up nicely in her quest for gold in Beijing.

June 2008 saw British cycling fans’ attention turn to Italy and the Giro D’Italia, one of the three ‘Grand Tours’. Mark Cavendish didn’t wait long before making his mark on the event with victory on the 4th stage of the event. He followed this success with another victory on stage 13. Cavendish became only the third Brit to take a stage win in the Giro and is the first since 1987.

July in the cycling world means only one thing: the Tour De France. Cavendish was hoping to repeat his Giro D’Italia success in the world’s most famous race. Not only did he match his Giro success - he doubled it. The Manxman sprinted his way to a remarkable 4 stage wins. This was an absolutely phenomenal return in such a competitive bike race. In 2008 Mark Cavendish announced himself as one of the world’s fastest men on two wheels and, at the age of only 23, looks set to spend many years at the top of the sport.

And so to the Olympics in Beijing in August where coach David Brailsford assembled a cycling team which amassed 14 medals including 8 gold medals. Nicole Cooke continued her magnificent career by winning Britain’s first gold medal of the games in the Women’s Road Race. Then attention turned to the velodrome.

Chris Hoy made the headlines by becoming the first Briton in a century to win 3 gold medals at the same games. Victorious in the Team Sprint and the Keirin, Hoy also won the Sprint event ahead of team-mate Jason Kenny in 2nd place.

Another British one-two occurred in the Women’s Individual Pursuit event where Rebecca Romero overcame Wendy Houvenaghel in the final. Bradley Wiggins took home a pair of gold medals, winning the Team Pursuit and Individual Pursuit events. Fellow Brit, Steven Burke, picked up a surprise bronze medal in the Individual Pursuit. Victoria Pendleton picked up Britain’s 8th and final cycling gold medal in the Women’s Sprint.

Britain’s Paralympians followed these achievements by picking up a staggering 19 gold medals. Darren Kenny was the pick of the team with 5 medals including 4 golds. Mark Bristow, Jody Cundy, Anthony Kappes, Aileen McGlynn, Simon Richardson, David Stone and Sarah Storey each won two gold medals.

Yet more British success was to come at the Road World Championships held in Italy in September. Nicole Cooke followed her Olympic success with a superb victory on the road and in so doing became the first cyclist ever to win the Olympic road race and Road World Championship in the same season.

At the end of 2008 Chris Hoy (or should I say Sir Chris Hoy?) is picking up all the plaudits but who has had the best year in British cycling? Without belittling Hoy’s achievements, the exploits of Mark Cavendish and Nicole Cooke are surely more impressive within their sport. Cooke has accomplished something that the male or female cycling world has never seen before and Cavendish won 17 major road races, more than any other rider in 2008, and has become one of the world’s most exciting road race sprinters. But people like to be able to quantify success easily and in 2008, to those outside the cycling community, Hoy’s 3 gold medals beat Cooke’s 1 and Cavendish’s zero.

So it's honours all round for Britain’s cyclists and coach David Brailsford as we enter 2009. Track cycling will take a back seat with no Olympic Games to keep it in the public eye. Next year looks set to be the year of road racing. In Mark Cavendish, Britain has a real talent who can dominate the flat stages in the Grand Tours and better his 2008 results. In a year in which the Tour De France will be big news with the return of Lance Armstrong, Cavendish could be propelled to superstardom.

Shane Sutton named coach of the year

2009-01-05T09:52:08Z

Shane Sutton, the cycling coach who was such a significant part of the successful British team at this year’s Olympic Games, has been rewarded for his efforts with the coach of the year accolade.

He was named coach of the year at the UK coaching awards, an event which also recognised the efforts of Duncan Parniss, the hockey coach who was named young coach of the year, and John Jacobs OBE, the golf coach who was handed the lifetime achievement award.

Sutton, who is fifty-one years of age, helped to hone the skills of Britain’s best cyclists throughout the year. The physical fitness and tactical awareness of Britain’s cyclists were apparent at both the Olympic Games and the World Championships.

British cyclists have been vocal in their support for the coach, with Bradley Wiggins, the cycling legend, stating that Sutton is the heart and soul of cycling in the United Kingdom, and Dave Brailsford, the performance director for British cycling, revealing that he would be unable to perform his job properly without the support of the magnificent coach.

Sutton has put his success in the world of coaching down to having a “sympathetic ear” and remaining motivated and fully committed to the job. He has a unique ability to recognise the individual characteristics of British cycling’s biggest stars and he knows how to motivate each cyclist differently.

For example, he has coached Bradley Wiggins in such a manner as to allow the cyclist to overcome his “nervous” and “complicated” (to use the words of the coach) personality.

Hoy rewarded for successful year

2009-01-05T09:46:40Z

Earlier this month, the sporting world was rife with speculation about which outstanding sportsman or woman would be rewarded for their efforts with the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

Fans of Andy Murray believed that he was the obvious winner after such a successful year, whilst fans of British motorsport stated that Lewis Hamilton deserved recognition after making history at such a young age and in such impressive fashion. However, numerous other individuals were also in with a good chance of gaining the award.

It was with some shock that Chris Hoy was handed the accolade during the ceremony, which was held in the middle of December. However, although slightly surprising, nobody was able to say that the award was not fully deserved.

After all, Hoy managed to win three gold medals in the Olympic Games earlier this year, making him the most successful male Olympic cyclist ever. The cyclist revealed that he was “stunned” after being handed the award but perhaps he shouldn’t have been. After all, nearly forty per cent of the members of the public who voted had chosen him as their favourite.

Chris Hoy, who has managed to remain refreshingly humble despite his rapid rise to fame during the past year, spoke of his belief that by voting for him, the public were actually voting for the entire British cycling team. This typical modesty was followed by the touching revelation that winning this award has provided Hoy with one of the highlights of his career.

Hoy adds another award to his collection

2008-12-02T14:01:24Z

The golden year for Great Britain’s cycling team continues as triple Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy has been named 2008 Sportsman of the Year by the Sports Journalists’ Association (SJA) at their annual Sports Awards held in London.

The award, now in its 60th year, recognised a strong year of sporting achievement by British sportsmen with Hoy holding off stiff competition from Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, tennis ace Andy Murray and sailing star Ben Ainslie.

The ‘Flying Scotsman’ joins a prestigious list of previous winners of the award including such notable Olympians as Sebastian Coe, Daley Thompson, Linford Christie, Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent.

During the Beijing Olympics, Hoy powered his way around the velodrome to gold medals in the individual sprint, the team sprint and the Keirin, becoming the first Briton in a century to win three Olympic titles in a single games.

Team GB's cyclists dominated their events as they returned home with an amazing 8 gold medals between them and 14 medals in total. Hoy proudly flew the British flag in the closing ceremony: quite an accolade in itself.

Hoy was not the only cyclist to be acknowledged by the SJA with fellow Olympic gold medallists Jason Kenny, Nicole Cooke and Rebecca Romero also winning awards. Paralympic cycling hero, Darren Kenny, took home The Bill McGowran Trophy for the Disabled Sports Personality of the Year.

The award for SJA Sportswoman of the Year 2008 went to the swimmer Rebecca Adlington who won two gold medals in the pool in Beijing. Hoy and Adlington will go head to head in the public vote for the 2008 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award which is to be held in Liverpool on 14th December.

However, both SJA Sports Awards winners may be pipped at the post by Lewis Hamilton who has emerged as the bookmakers’ favourite to triumph at the televised ceremony. Whatever the outcome, no one can deny that Chris Hoy has had a year to remember.

Armstrong expresses concern over Tour attack

2008-11-20T16:08:05Z

Lance Armstrong, the American cyclist who is currently making a shock comeback after three years in retirement, has spoken out about his fears of being attacked by angry spectators during the Tour de France next year.

For many years, Armstrong was a dominant force in the world of cycling and he managed to win the Tour de France seven times during his career. However, certain fans of the cyclist lost faith in him after it was claimed that he had used performance enhancing drugs.

Although an independent investigation, which was set up after the French magazine, L’Equipe, revealed that Armstrong’s urine samples had shown traces of the substance called EPO, found the cyclist to be innocent, doubts still remain over the validity of his previous numerous successes.

The cyclist, who is thirty-seven years of age, believes that some people in France remain “aggressive [and] angry” and he is worried that his safety “could be in jeopardy” as a result of such strong feelings. Armstrong has revealed that he understands why people remain uncertain about his past but believes that he has been victimised by the media and the anti-drugs authorities.

Armstrong’s fears are actually based on something which happened during the Tour de France during the 1970s. The Belgian legend, Eddy Merckx, was punched by a French spectator who was unhappy that the cyclist was threatening the record held by the Frenchman, Jacques Anquetil.

Whilst Merckx was cycling along an important part of the route, a spectator broke through the crowd and hit him, an event which denied him a record-breaking victory.