CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Why being a Continental team is just fine
Like the way that Championship football teams are in a perpetual push to reach the Premier League,youmight think that for Britain’s Continental teams there should be a similar drive and desire to move up. It would be a sign of progression and a tangible achievement. There are many reasons, however,whybeinga Continental team is a destination in itself.
The competition domestically is strong right now, particularly when it comes to qualifying for the OVO Energy Tour of Britain. To continue the football analogy, the race is like the FA Cup to Britain’s six Continental teams, a showpiece occasion for riders and sponsors alike. In the past three seasons, the battle to make it there has become a race in itself.
Teams have been in a near-seasonlong competition whereby the top four teams, dictated by their performance in selected races, qualify for the Tour of Britain. This year has been a closely fought affair, with the top five separated by just a handful of points right up to the final qualifying event at the Stockton Grand Prix on 15 July.
BATTLE OF BRITAIN
As far as the Tour of Britain is concerned, qualification based on merit feels like a better system than race organisers choosing teams. However, several teams argue that it detracts from the rest of the British racing calendar, suggesting teams race tactically to qualify for the Tour of Britain, rather than to win the race.
“SweetSpot, the organiser, thinks it is contributing to the scene here in the UK by making the racing more exciting, because those riders have to race for it,” says JLT Condor manager John Herety. “For me that’s bull. We don’t race those races to win the race, we race to qualify for the Tour of Britain.”
Tim Elverson, sports director for Canyon Eisberg, agrees, but both team bosses admit they haven’t found an alternative, and acknowledge that it’s a fair procedure. “We know what [the qualifying process] is at the beginning, but I do think it slightly detracts from the racing,” says Elverson. “This year is unusual, because I think in previous years there have probably only been three teams, and you were scrapping to find a fourth team that could elevate itself enough to make it.”
Tour of Britain race director Mick Bennett strongly disagrees with the idea that teams aren’t racing to win. “No, I’m sorry, I completely dismiss it,” he says. “I’ve not seen any evidence of it, and I’ve witnessed every race so far this year. It didn’t affect the Tour Series, it was Madison Genesis trying to beat Canyon Eisberg, and there’s no way that was affected by the Tour of Britain selection.
“If I felt for a moment that these events were being negated because of Tour of Britain selection, I’d give up tomorrow. I don’t think there’s anybody who could stand up and say, ‘oh, we lost Tour of Britain selection because we were trying to win the Stockton Grand Prix.’”
RISE THROUGH THE RANKS
With limited budgets, the pressures of qualifying for the big races and Continental teams’ relatively low profile, it might sound a world away from the likes of Team Sky, but there are reasons for operating at Continental level beyond financial concerns.
“I like the atmosphere of working with younger riders and being able to help them move on,” says Herety. He’s been running his team for over 10 years, putting together a programme of international races to give younger riders the experience and platform to progress in the sport, as well as regularly racing in front of home fans.
Continental teams also provide a home for world-class riders who wouldn’t naturally fit into a WorldTour team, for example JLT’s triple Olympic track gold medallist in the team pursuit, Ed Clancy. “The type of racing programme that a WorldTour team does is not going to benefit Clancy,” says Herety. “It’s going to go against his track ambitions.”
Vitus Pro Cycling owner and sports director Cherie Pridham knows the sport inside out. She was a professional rider in Europe in the pioneering days of women’s cycling before aspiring young riders had the support they do today.
“The British race programme is a very high level,” she says. “I think there needs to be a little bit of respect and understanding as to the level here in the UK.”
As if to underline her point, a couple of weeks later Madison Genesis rider Connor Swift rode to an emphatic
IF I FELT FOR A MOMENT THAT THESE EVENTS WERE BEING NEGATED BECAUSE OF TOUR OF BRITAIN SELECTION, I’D GIVE UP TOMORROW Mick Bennett
solo victory in the national road championships at the start of July, beating WorldTour riders like his cousin Ben Swift and Mark Cavendish.
“You only have to hear someone like Alex Dowsett speaking about the [London] Nocturne, and about how fast it is,” Pridham says. “British riders are the best criterium riders in the world, because it’s their bread and butter.”
Pridham’s youthful development team (nine riders are 23 or under and five are teenagers) missed out on a place in this year’s Tour of Britain, but she remains upbeat, emphasising that the team is a long-term project. “Of course we’d like to be in the Tour of Britain, but you have to be realistic as to where you are with riders.
STEPPING STONE
Some teams do have ambitions to step up to Pro Continental level, with the opportunity to race in the world’s biggest events. One Pro Cycling has had that experience, having raced as a second-tier team in 2016. Team principal Matthew Winston thinks it’s important for Britain to have a Pro Continental team, offering riders a stepping stone between the Continental ranks and the WorldTour: “It gives these guys who are domestic level something to aim for. When you’re Pro Continental you’re racing against WorldTour teams every day you race, whereas at Continental level you’re maybe racing WorldTour teams three or four times a year, so it does give them that step.”
John Herety agrees: “I think it is still a big step, but it depends on the rider. Someone like Tao [Geoghegan Hart of Team Sky] is more than capable of going from Continental to WorldTour. So there are some, the special ones, for sure.”
But he doesn’t think that riders in the UK miss the lack of a home Pro Continental team: “I get enough agents calling me, so there’s enough opportunity for riders to be able to move to the next level if they’re good enough.”
The financial barriers to operating at Pro Continental level are significant. It’s not only the cost of UCI registration but also minimum wages for riders ( 30,855 this year, and 25,806 for neo-pros), and the extra riders, staff and vehicles needed to run a dual race programme. “There’s one reason why this team isn’t Pro Continental, and that’s down to budget,” Winston says. “That’s the goal for the team.”
Money isn’t an immediate concern for Irish Pro Continental team Aqua Blue Sport; owner Rick Delaney has assured funding for the team for a minimum of four years. The team has raced at Pro Continental level since it was founded at the start of 2017, and Delaney is happy with where his team is. Compared to the WorldTour teams, “Pro Continental is more fun,” he says. “A team like ours, every time we go to a race, we want to be at that race. WorldTour teams go to a lot of races, and they go because they have to go; they’re not necessarily going because they want to.”
It’s not all plain sailing for Pro Continental teams. Aqua Blue Sport had a great outing at last year’s Vuelta a España, overcoming an arson attack on its team bus to animate breakaways and pick up a stunning win courtesy of Stefan Denifl on the steep ascent of Los Machucos on stage 17. But despite its strong performance, the team didn’t receive an invitation to any of this year’s Grand Tours. “After what we did last season, of course it’s a massive disappointment,” says Delaney, noting that wildcards in the three Grand Tours this year have heavily favoured home Pro Continental outfits. “That’s not healthy for the sport, but I’m quietly confident that we won’t be disappointed next season.”
Relying on invitations to races means Pro Continental teams find it difficult to plan their calendar, a problem that Continental teams don’t face. “It’s very hard to set rider objectives for the year, because you don’t know what big races you’re going to have,” Delaney acknowledges, making it difficult to budget for the year too. “Imagine going to sponsors and saying, ‘we are going to the Tour this year, we’ve qualified.’ That puts you in a very strong position. Rather than going to a sponsor in January, and they ask, ‘What races are you doing?’ and you say, ‘I don’t know yet. I’ll tell you in April if we’re in the Vuelta.’ It’s madness.”
Delaney is looking forward to the Tour of Britain. “It’s almost our national race,” he says. The Continental teams are also relishing the prospect, and with big wins already at the Tour de Yorkshire and the national championships, they are showing that sometimes it pays big to be small.
CONTINENTAL TEAMS ALSO PROVIDE A HOME FOR WORLD CLASS RIDERS WHO WOULDN’T NATURALLY FIT INTO A WORLDTOUR TEAM John Herety