The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Park is best man for Team GB, says Jones
CYCLING: New performance director is ‘right man for the job’
British Cycling is under the best management it can be following the appointment of Stephen Park as performance director, according to the Briton who is the new head of Cycling Australia.
Park, British Cycling’s first performance director since Sir Dave Brailsford’s departure to concentrate on Team Sky three years ago, takes up his position in time for this week’s Track Cycling World Championships in Hong Kong.
Simon Jones, formerly of British Cycling and Team Sky, was overlooked, but gained the considerable consolation of being named Cycling Australia’s high performance director.
While Park has to find a way of maintaining and building on 20 gold medals out of a possible 30 on the track at the last three Olympics, Cycling Australia is undergoing a period of introspection following a disappointing return of just two medals across four disciplines in Rio.
Jones reckons he is more suited to the Australia role, for which he was chosen ahead of former British Cycling technical director Shane Sutton, among others.
Jones worked with British Cycling from 1995 to 2007 under Peter Keen and then Brailsford, who in 2014 asked him to join Team Sky.
Jones is committed to the long haul at Cycling Australia and has mainly a watching brief here this week, like Park.
His wife and two daughters have relocated to Perth, while he will divide his time between the Western Australia capital and Adelaide, where Cycling Australia is based.
He worked with the Western Australia Institute of Sport from October 2007 to September 2013 before joining the English Institute of Sport and then Team Sky.
Previously he was British Cycling endurance coach and then head coach, where he clashed with one rider, in particular.
He was roundly criticised by Mark Cavendish in the Manxman’s first autobiography for his focus on performance data. He is not the first, nor likely will he be the last, to feel Cavendish’s ire.
But Jones insists athletes’ needs and requirements were the overwhelming priority at British Cycling.
He did not contribute to the independent review into the culture of British Cycling’s world-class performance programme, which will be published in May.
“I don’t think British Cycling ever was a win at all costs. I think that’s absolute nonsense to be honest,” Jones added.
“We used to really think about the person. That was our mantra. The athletes were the kings and queens.
“But you’ve got to put it in the context of performance. We’re not going out for a Sunday barbecue with your mates.
“If you don’t put people under pressure in training then you come to a World Championships and they crumble.”
Dundee’s Mark Stewart will make his Track Cycling World Championship debut in Hong Kong this week.
He will team up with Ollie Wood in the madison on Sunday – the final day of the event.
The race, similar to the points race but with riders in teams of two, was taken off the men’s Olympic programme for the 2012 London Games, but there are hopes it could be reintroduced for both men and women at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.