Visually impaired para-cyclist Steve Bate will head to the Paralympics in Paris to represent Great Britain on the track and the road, alongside his pilot Chris Latham.

Born in New Zealand, Bate moved to Scotland in adulthood. A rock climbing, enthusiast, when Bate was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in 2011 he was forced to give up his career as an outdoor instructor, as the condition began to slowly rob him of his eyesight.

Seeking a new sporting challenge, Bate was encouraged to try para-cycling by friend and Great Britain Cycling Team rider Karen Darke and was subsequently accepted onto British Cycling’s Paralympic Development Programme. He was paired with pilot Adam Duggleby, and in their first year riding as a tandem they became British national road and time-trial champions as well as winning the Tandem Tour of Holland

These early results were enough to see the pair selected for the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships where they finished sixth in the pursuit

However, it was on the road where they really started to make an impact, finishing on the podium in the road race and the time-trial at the first world cup of the season in Maniago, Italy, in June 2015. They finished the year in fine fashion winning a gold medal in the time-trial in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa as well as picking up a bronze in the road race.

After a strong 2015, attention turned to gaining selection for the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. This saw a personal best at the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, followed by another world cup medal – a time-trial bronze which would see them selected for their first Paralympic Games.

In Rio they dominated the tandem endurance events, setting a new world record in qualifying to win gold in the tandem pursuit on the track, and winning gold in the time-trial on the road before rounding off a magnificent ten days by picking up a bronze medal in the road race.

Bate and Duggleby carried their form into 2017 where they won medals at road world cups, but it was 2018 before the pair could finally lay claim to their first world titles, both on the track, where they won gold in the individual pursuit in Rio, and on the road, with time-trial gold. The following years proved trickier, as the pair were unable to defend their world titles, but it did not deter them and they achieved selection for the delayed Paralympics in Tokyo in 2021, following the covid-19 affected season of 2020.

The pair began 2021 in triumphant fashion on the road at the world championships in Portugal, reclaiming their rainbow jersey in the time-trial event. On the track in Tokyo the pair missed out on gold, securing instead a brilliant silver medal in the pursuit. In the road race however, a crash saw Bate seriously injured, and he was forced to spend four months off the bike, following necessary hip surgery and the subsequent recovery.

After his recovery, Bate was paired with Chris Latham for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where the pair were able to ride to a bronze medal for Team England in the 1km time-trial.

The pair have developed their partnership in the last two years, with 2023 a busy season for them. Bate returned to the road, winning medals at two rounds of the para-road world cup alongside Latham in the build-up to the home world championships in Glasgow. At the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome, they missed out on the final in the pursuit, but were able to win their bronze medal race.

So far this year, the duo has gone one better at the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships in Rio, where they won silver in the pursuit behind the imperious Tristan Bangma, who set a new world record time in the process of retaining his world title. It will be a tall order for Bate to overcome Bangma at the Paralympic Games this summer in Paris, but he and Latham will be ready to give it their all as part of a strong Team GB contingent.