32 Italian job: the BC Academy
British Cycling’s Academy in northern Italy is where our most promising young cyclists are preparing to step up to the next level
Walk around Montichiari, a small town near Brescia, Italy, just 30 minutes from Verona, and there are few signs of life during the day. The church bells chime every hour while in the main square a handful of people sit in the sunshine eating ice cream outside a gelateria.
Yet hidden down one side street, lined with orange and terracotta buildings, is a bike shop — a small sign of how much this area is suited to cycling. It’s a world away from the industrial park where the National Cycling Centre in Manchester is based, but this is where British Cycling sees its stars of the future developing.
At the end of 2015, BC announced it was re-establishing an overseas training base for its Academy men’s endurance programme in Montichiari. Ten years ago a similar set-up in Tuscany oversawthe development of Peter Kennaugh, Luke Rowe, Ben Swift and Ian Stannard, and BC wants to ensure its next generation of riders can reach the same heights.
In February the eight riders — Ollie Wood, Gabriel Cullaigh, Matt Gibson, Joe Holt, Joey Walker, Mark Stewart, Matt Bostock and Nathan Draper — moved from the Academy base in Stockport to Italy, where they’ve been living for seven months, overseen by coach Brian Stephens and former pro David Millar, who acts as the riders’ mentor.
These riders may be the focus now, but the aim is to create a base that will be used by young British riders for years to come.
“There’s that generation of Pete Kennaugh, G Thomas, Cav, Swifty, we’re the next group,” said Gabriel Cullaigh, a second-year Academy rider. “We want five, six years down the line to be doing what they’re doing, in the Tour de France and on the track.”
The idea is simple; if you want to make it as a pro bike rider you have to live and race like one, with BC aiming to replicate as much of the environment and lifestyle their young riders can expect in the future, early in their careers.
It’s easy to see why Montichiari was chosen. The mountains can be spotted in the distance, you can ride down miles of road before a traffic light stops you, and there’s a 250-metre indoor velodrome (the only one in Italy) nearby which the squad has access to pretty much whenever they want. The riders can also participate in the abundance of U23 races in Italy and neighbouring countries, and follow an extensive programme that sees them competing pretty much every week. There’s not much else for them to do other than ride their bikes, and that’s sort of the point.
“[It’s] an apprenticeship; it’s about as much as developing on the bike as it is about developing young adults into men off the bike,” says Ian Yates, performance pathway manager at BC. “For me it’s why this is a really unique approach and really unique opportunity; you look at some of the pro teams that they’ll go to and they will have to fend for themselves.”
A home away from home
Comparisons can easily be made between the Academy and university — moving away from home, living with friends and having to fend for yourself for the first time.
In fact, the house BC has rented for the riders to live in could pass as a university hall. While Stephens and a team mechanic, Hector Espasandin Rama, live in an apartment in the town centre, the riders live in a house 15 minutes further out. It has four bedrooms — two riders to a room — two kitchens and two living rooms. It’s basic but functional. Inspirational and motivational quotes from British Cycling have been taped to the walls for decoration, and boxes of cereal are stacked on top of the fridge. There’s a large converted barn that houses the bikes, which also has a scattering of gym equipment, a table tennis table and DJ set.
A typical day starts with a morning session at the track, followed by lunch, out onto the road for another ride, maybe with a coffee stop on the way, then it’s back home to make dinner. There might be a certain romance that comes with being a professional bike rider, but in reality day-to-day life is fairly routine.
The house doesn’t have Wifi, so the riders instead go on manic film and TV downloading sprees when they stay in a hotel for a race to give them something to watch in their free time. There has also been the occasional game of football, though a window was broken when their ‘shooting boots’ went missing. Stephens suggested that they start a vegetable patch in the large garden, though this idea proved to be a triumph of hope over experience. It was met with a retort and smile from 20-year-old Ollie Wood who said it was “easier to buy vegetables in the supermarket”.
“I told them how hard this was going to be and what a big adjustment it was going to take and now they’ve found out I wasn’t lying,” says Stephens. “It hasn’t cracked anybody. They just have a new appreciation for living abroad and what it takes to be a pro bike rider. It’s what they’re learning to be. It hasn’t come to the point where it’s bringing people undone.”
Up against the best
Getting good, quality race experience is the main reason for moving to Montichiari, though the step up in level has been a big adjustment for the riders. Competing against some of the best young riders from across Europe has meant just getting to the finish line has been the biggest achievement. They haven’t notched up a podium place or win just yet, but Stephens isn’t worried. It’s about seeing results in the future, not immediately.
“The level of racing is really high. You come from being one of the top riders in GB and find out there’s 120 riders that good here,” Stephens says. “I said to them at the start of the year I’ll be happy if you finish a race and I’m sure they just thought ‘whatever’. Then they’ve come here and found out it is really hard to finish a race. It’s the
“I told them how hard this was going to be. They’ve found out I’m not lying”
tactical, psychological and the physical [what they’re learning] — all that; it’s a big learning curve but they’re learning.”
“The racing is generally aggressive and because everyone’s so strong it’s always quite stressful, everyone fighting for position: it never really settles in the entire race,” explains Cullaigh.
“In Britain and Belgium you might go really hard off the climb, or in a crosswinds section, for a bit and you look back and there’s maybe only 20 guys left, but in an Italian race after a really hard section there’s still 50-60 guys there. It’s really teaching you how to race properly and use your legs when it really matters.”
Post-race analysis
After each race the riders send Millar a debrief of how they think it went and how they performed, picking out the positives and negatives. It’s a technique Stephens used when he was coach at Cycling Australia, and something he says helps them identify what they need to improve.
“You can recognise what you do well and how to do things better as a team and as an individual,” he says. “They need to pull the performance apart.”
This is where Millar’s 15 years as a pro racer can be invaluable to the young riders. Former technical director Shane Sutton appointed him with the idea of providing some inside knowledge on racing and tactics, as well as help the riders deal with agents and professional teams that may come looking to sign them.
The appointment was met with some controversy due to the two-year doping ban Millar served during his career. However, the riders insist it’s not been an issue for them. Millar says the culture today is so far removed from the one he started out in that he doesn’t need to teach them how to avoid making the same mistakes he did.
He’s visited Montichiari a few times so far during the year, but is available to offer advice whenever the riders need it.
“When most of those guys were born in ’96-’97, I was doing exactly what they’re doing now. 1996 was the year I came to France on my own; it’s this weird, lovely full circle,” Millar says. “I’m here for when it goes pear-shaped. They can speak to me as a peer.”
“He’s been brilliant for us,” Wood explains. “He always says he just wants to teach us what no one taught him. We’ve just got an extra advantage on what everyone else does.”
Independence might be the keystone message from BC but the riders need to also be determined, resilient and really want to succeed, whether that’s to win medals in Tokyo 2020 or ride the Tour de France.
“It’s hard to think we can be as good as that,” says Wood. “We’re all trying to be and hopefully this will be a step in the right direction.”
“He always says he just wants to teach us what no one taught him”