JAMES KNOX
DECEUNINCK-QUICK STEP
Fittingly for a former fell runner, James Knox describes his career progression as a series of steps. Mostly, they’ve been in the right direction and they’ve already led him to 11th overall in a grand tour – the 2019 Vuelta a España – and a secure position in the world’s most successful team.
“Two steps forward, one back, two forward. That’s the way it seems to have gone for the last three or four years,” the Deceuninck rider tells Procycling. “Turning pro was hard and I had a knee injury to start the season in 2018. But I got to the second half of the year feeling stronger. I was up there in races for the first time and that was a big step forward. I felt like I was climbing with good guys in San Sebastián, Montréal and Turkey, so I finished the year so much more confident than I started it. That was a step.”
2019 was another series of steps. Some forward: good results in the UAE Tour (eighth on GC), Volta a Catalunya (sixth on stage 2) and Tour de Romandie (14th overall). Then a step back: crashes at the Giro d’Italia knocked his body off kilter and he pulled out. Then another forward at the Adriatica Ionica race where he was third overall.
And then came the great leap forward: 11th overall at the Vuelta a España.
“I went to the Vuelta with a very free role,” he says. “At the team meeting at the start, Fabio [Jakobsen], Phil [Gilbert] and Štybar were the main guys. I remember staying behind after the meeting and piping up to the DSs that I’d like to have a go for the GC. They said, ‘Fine, do your thing.’”
The main plan was that there was not a plan. Knox would aim to hang in up to the first rest day and see how it went, with the aim of squeezing into the top 20. And even after losing time in the first week, at the first rest day he was close to that – he was 21st, 13:23 down. Not great, not bad – but he and the team decided to focus on getting into breaks and fighting for stage wins.
“Then everything went 100 per cent my way,” he says. “I did a good TT, but I wasn’t really a threat in the GC so
I could battle to get up the road and fight for stage wins, which was more productive for experience than fighting for top 20. Then everything shot up in stages 14, 15, 16… I got in the break, was at the front in the crosswinds and leapt up to the top 10. After that, it was a case of fighting to keep top 10. It happened… not by accident, but the way it panned out was unexpected.”
In the end, Knox finished 11th. British riders have been remarkably successful in grand tours in the last decade, but that result is still enough to put Knox joint 33rd on the all time list of British GC results in three week races. He’s pragmatic about improving in the future – a lot of circumstances went his way in the Vuelta, and overall it’s possible he could ride a better quality grand tour, yet finish further down the GC. No matter, it’s all steps in the right direction.
“It might be hard to replicate that Vuelta result. It wasn’t a fluke, but it all worked out well, a couple of big names crashed out and I got time back that I might not be able to in the future, and I’ll take that into account,” he says.
The plan for 2020 is more of the same. Knox will tackle the Giro and Vuelta, with the freedom to ride for GC, but go for stage wins if that doesn’t work out. “I’ll have a stab at GC without a huge amount of stress and focus but I could also go for certain stages and in any stage race try to do a good GC. I’m just happy to see an upward trajectory.”
“I leapt up the top 10. After that, it was a case of fighting to keep the top 10. It happened not by accident, but the way it panned out was unexpected”