Chasing that First Pro Victory
Interviews with Ben Swift and Ian Stannard
It has been quite a year for Rotherham's Ben Swift and Milton Keynes' Ian Stannard and both riders are chasing their first individual victory as a professional. When I spoke to them late August at the Manchester Velodrome, both were hoping to ride the Tour of Britain but at that time three weeks out, neither knew whether they would be even though their teams were expected to ride.
A week after the interviews and there was confirmation that Ben Swift was down to ride while Ian Stannard had still not heard from his team a week before the race after not being named in the first line-up. Being a professional is so different to a 'normal' job and the uncertainty of their racing schedule can be part of that. Both however are still chasing that first victory, Ben in the Tour of Britain and Ian in the British Time Trial championships.
Ben Swift
It has been quite a year for Ben in his first year as a professional and he returns to a race that he has had his fair share of success in. Having ridden for both Barloworld (once) and Team GB (twice) in the race, Ben has a fair amount of experience of his home Tour and has worn the King of the Mountains jersey in two separate editions of the race. “I’m really excited about doing the Tour of Britain with a pro team such as Katusha" he explained. "The race is getting better and better each year and looking at the teams who are coming this year, I think there are more teams, and more of the top teams in the race.”
Ben racing in Smithfield at the Nocturne there.
The style of racing in the Tour of Britain is getting more and more similar to other stage races I do in Europe. Some of the support we had last year from the public was pretty incredible and I think the sport is getting bigger here. Bradley (Wiggins) riding will also help the profile of the race.”
Ben showed in the Tour of Italy that he can sprint with the very best getting a third place on stage 2 of that great race and the Tour of Britain may well give him the opportunity of doing something very special indeed for a young professional. “I am still chasing that first pro win and it would be good to get it in the Tour of Britain” he says. “Whether I get a chance to go for the sprints will depend on who we have in the team line up because when we have the big sprinters there (which Katusha do), I have to work for them, but when they aren’t, I get a free role.”
“It’s my home race and I really enjoy coming back to do it because we’re hardly ever in Britain. It is good we now have our own National Tour which each year is getting bigger and bigger and if I can get my first win in the Tour of Britain, that would make it quite special. I’d quite like to also wear a jersey again like the King of the Mountains.”
It is though that first pro victory he is after above anything else. "I have had two second places this year and I think three thirds which is why I really want this win. I have got every place in the top 10 except 1st and 7th! I am definitely after the former! I realised the first part of my dream this year of turning professional and getting a ride in a Grand Tour and the Ardennes classics too. Success has come pretty quick and the next step is my first win."
Since the Tour of Italy, Ben has ridden the British road race championships as well as stage races in Austria, Walloone and then Burgos.
"Austria was my first event for getting back into the racing again and I found myself in the position of being given a role of contesting finishes whereas I really wanted to build up to that. I was hoping to do well in Burgos but it never went to plan. The finishes in those races can be so different to those in the Giro. In races like the Giro, there has been such a dominant team like Columbia and once they get on the front, it’s pretty simply what happens after that but the others are more of a bun fight, especially when you’re in there on your own.”
"I think you’ll find the Tour of Britain will be quite similar because there will be a lot of good guys there and they’ll want to have a go."
Have a go hero -- Ben Swift on the rivet at the British champs this year.
The Worlds
One race he doesn't expect to win but does hope to ride in support of the likes of David Millar or Bradley Wiggins is the World Championship road race. The Tour of Britain finishes the week before the UCI Road Cycling World Championships which Ben says is a perfect time and with many of the riders preparing for the Worlds in the Tour of Britain, that will make for a really good race.“
Asked about the World's course which he has ridden along with many other potential GB riders who were in Switzerland for a training camp, there was a pause when I thought there were going to be some expletives before he said “it’s going to be pretty tough to say the least. It isn’t just the climbing but the technical side of it as well, narrow roads and before you know it you’re on the next climb. The course has two short steep climbs with technical descents. You will definitely need a good team behind you I think."
Asked is he looking forward to the race should he be one of the chosen nine, Ben replied “its going to be a big old jump from the Under 23 race (Ben was 4th last year). I’d like to get selected to get that experience and to help the team. For sure I know I can’t do anything myself on that circuit but know I can do a good job for the team."
Ben has been in Italy since January the 8th and didn’t get home until after the Giro and then after three weeks here, he went straight back out to resume racing. Listening to him talk about life on the road, you can see how tough it can be for youngsters in foreign teams and how important Team Sky will be for young British riders coming through and turning professional.
It can be a solitary existence in a pro team where you’re at a race with six Russians and you’re pretty much left to eat your dinner on your own but as Ben says, the life of professional can be hard at times but it is something he has wanted to do since he started riding bikes before he'd even reached double figures and now he has shown he has the ability to be a top pro. “I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else” he says of it.
Finally I asked is it a problem training for races when he doesn't know what races he's doing a lot of the time? “The programme is changeable but I do get to know in advance what I am doing even though it can change from the original schedule. As for training, I haven’t had to worry too much about training because of all the racing. The biggest block I think I’ve had between races is ten days and the longest time in the one place since January has been eight days."
That doesn't look like changing in the near future with so many races still to come for the Rotherham rider but for eight days in September, the eyes of much of the country will be on him to see whether he can break that duck and get that all important first victory. Good luck to Ben!
Related Interviews
Ben Swift Launches Pro Career | Ben's Swift Rise in Pro Ranks
Ian Stannard
Latest: A day is along time in cycling! Originally Ian was not part of the ISD team for the Tour but today (Sept 4), he is in the provisional list released this afternoon. I hope to speak to Ian soon to find out more!
For a rider who was third overall in last year's race, it is quite a shock that ISD have failed to select Ian for his home Tour and when we spoke today (morning of Friday, Sept 4), he still had not heard from them as he left his home to head out on a three hour training ride. Like Ben though, Ian is looking for that first individual victory and he has a stiff challenge at the British TT champs where he'll come up against Bradley Wiggins no less.
Ian driving a chase group along in the British road race championships.
Had he been riding the Tour of Britain, which he may still do knowing how teams can change line-ups for races at the last minute, his goals weren’t so much the overall but the stage victory to give him that first pro win. When we spoke before his team had been announced, Ian had explained that was really looking forward to the race because for British riders, it is a special one to do.
“I quite like the Tour of Britain compared to the other Tours I have done. I can speak English in the hotel and to people on the race and know what is going on. It’s also the biggest bike race in Britain so it is always good to be part of it.”
It was also good to hear him talking about the safety of the race. As someone who for many years now has done the race on the back of a motorbike, safety is pretty important to me I can tell you but I’m also aware of the headlines foreign riders have had regarding the safety of the race on the crowded British roads.
Ian was keen to point out that while some riders have called into question the safety of the race on British roads that really, the Tour of Britain is like any other he does. “To be honest, I think the safety is as good as any other race. It’s only the other really big races (Giro etc) that are probably better. I really enjoy the race and there is a good atmosphere being on it. The public seem to be curious about what is going on and so there’s lots of them about, especially the young people from the schools and that’s good to see.”
Talking about the stages on the Tour of Britain which are shorter than say some like those he experienced in the Tour of Poland, Ian explains that the stages for the Tour of Britain are every bit as hard as similar races in Europe. “The stages tend to be a bit shorter but the roads are heavier and not as fast and it’s always up and down with some wind making it difficult.”
Away from the Tour of Britain, 2009 has seen Ian move back 'home' to Italy after racing for Belgian pro team. He says one of the changes has been dealing with the heat. “Being a bigger rider, I do find it difficult when it’s really really hot and I struggle a bit then. I was in Italy with the Academy of course and so was used to the climbing and stuff so it didn’t take long to get used to it again this year but the racing as a pro has been another level up.”
In the Giro I was in the gruppetto each day in the mountains but I was comfortable enough. Sure, it was hard work and I was tired after those stages but I was okay. I lost a fair amount of muscle during the Giro and since then I have surprised myself and others on how I go up the climbs well now. For next year I just need to lose some weight and I should be okay on them. The changes in my riding since the Giro I have found are mainly to do with the climbing and the fact I can ride harder for longer. Going up the climbs in a race like that has made such a difference."
Talking about his role in the ISD team, he says “After the Giro, the team have given me more of a free role. Before that I was given the job of looking after Visconti and the whole purpose of me being in the Giro was to work for him. Now though I can go to races and do a bit more of what I want. It doesn’t always work out like that!"
Talking about the role of a domestique and those who spends hours on the front controlling the pace of a race or keeping the lead of a break in check, he says “you just get into a rhythm and for me it's not the hardest thing in the world riding on the front. I’ve got a big engine and I can go and go and if anything, they’re normally telling me to ease up a bit. You sort of start at 60 per cent say and gradually it digs in and when you get up to a 100 percent, that is when it starts to really hurt. That’s when I like it and I generally go a bit further than most guys!”
Finally, I see a lot of young riders who want to be like Ian -- professionals -- and I hark back to the time I saw Ian as a 16 year old racing around Victoria Park in Leamington Spa for Team Keyne, lapping a field of fourth category riders. He was obviously a special talent but so many don't go the distance whilst Ian has.
“When you’re 16, you do dream and aspire to being a professional bike rider and to be the best you can. I have always dreamt of it and you watch Roubaix and Flanders and dream of racing those races. Now, I’ve ridden them and the next step is I want to win them. It’s the greatest thing to do being a pro bike rider.”
On that positive note, good luck to Ian at the British Time Trial Championships on local roads for him and for the rest of the season.
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