FACHIES KEEP IT LOW KEY

Cycling’s other power couple going for gold

It is blatantly unfair, of course, to compare the Fachies with the Kennys. Yet comparisons between the twowheeled twosomes who have been plotting to take tokyo by storm this summer are simply inevitable.

Married, and medallists multiple times over, Neil and Lora (pictured) avidly followed the continued success of Jason and Laura at the Olympics earlier this month. Now it is their turn to line up at the velodrome and add to their golden hauls at the Paralympic Games.

While the Kennys, willingly or not, have embraced the spotlight that comes with making history, the other high-speed couple with whom their paths cross on a near-daily basis at British Cycling’s HQ in Manchester are quite happy with a low-key existence that is about more than mere pedal power.

‘We’ve always been the kind of people who don’t really talk about our cycling much outside of training,’ says Neil. ‘I know there are those who love it and take it home with them. But we’ve been quite good at switching off.’

‘It’s something we’ve got a lot better at in the past five years,’ adds 32-year-old Lora, his wife since October 2016. ‘It’s just about making sure we’ve got other things that interest us. Fortunately, Neil and I met through cycling, but it wasn’t because of cycling that we got together.

‘there’s a lot of other things we’ve got in common. We both love music. We both love food. We both love travelling around and exploring different places. So, there’s so much else that holds us together that cycling’s just the added thing.’

Liverpudlian Lora (nee turnham) has a Paralympic gold and bronze from Rio 2016, with four world titles. Her Aberdonian husband, 37, earned a gold and silver at London 2012, plus a silver in Rio, lobbing in 14 global crowns for good measure.

Despite such success, both considered stepping away from the sport last year but contrived to egg each other onward when these Games were rescheduled.

‘It’s really handy, as you’re coming into those big events, when you’ve got someone else who understands the workings and the stress of it,’ says Neil. ‘Initially, we would get quite argumentative, using one another as a stress belt. But we’ve learned why that is. Under pressure, we both want to perform.

‘Now we think we work really well together. And actually, for our performances, we can get the best out of each other.’

And surmount life’s challenges as well. Lora lost her sight by the age of five as a result of a hereditary condition. Neil’s vision, meanwhile, is deteriorating gradually.

‘I am aware that my sight will probably go at some point,’ he admits. ‘So it’s a case of making the most of things while you can.’

An indefinite timeline is the curse, not the prognosis itself. ‘We do talk about it a bit,’ says Lora. ‘But from his perspective, he can see that I’m still incredibly successful and independent, when I don’t have any sight at all.

‘So he just takes reassurance from that. My whole family are totally blind. If there is something that worries him or whatever, he can ask and not feel stupid because we’re in a safe environment.’

Both will hop on their tandems and take turns in pursuits and kilos over the coming days. Copying the Kennys with golds from their trip to Japan would be ideal.

However, Lora, who faces British rivals Aileen McGlynn and Sophie Unwin in the kilo tonight, may soon follow another path already trodden by Laura, having delayed plans to start a family when the pandemic pushed the Paralympics back 12 months.

Once motherhood might have terminated her cycling career. Now it would merely need maternity leave. ‘Covid and all that has been good for me because it’s given me the headspace and made me realise how much I do actually love what I do,’ she reveals. ‘I love my sport, I love training, I love pushing myself to the limit.’

Neil has been bitten again by that bug, too. And in a Games without spectators, he is appreciative his nearest and dearest will be but a few steps away.

‘I’m in that privileged position where my wife comes along to the major championships with me, whereas most people are speaking to the relatives back home. So it could be worse,’ he says.