Ben Swift
Road, Team Pursuit, Omnium
Current Team: Sky Pro Cycling
DOB: 05.11.1987 | From: Rotherham | Based: Isle of Man
Ben’s cycling career began at the tender age of three and a half when his parents entered him into a bike race. From there, he joined the GB Cycling Team in 2004 and went on to win the Gold medal in the Team Pursuit in the European Track Championships in Cottbus in 2007.
2007 also saw Ben make his first professional road debut when he joined Team Barloworld as a trainee, during which time he won the King of Mountains title in the Tour of Britain. In 2008, the youngster was selected to represent GB at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and at the UCI World Road Championships of the same year he took fourth place in the Under-23 category.
It was in 2009 where his road career really took off as a neo-pro with Katusha where he scored his first-ever stage victory at the Tour of Britain, achieved a top-three stage finish at the Giro d'Italia, and securing a string of further top-10 placings before "coming home" to ride for Team Sky in 2010.
He made a fine start for his new employers at the Tour Down Under before becoming the first rider on the team to secure an overall stage race victory when he triumphed at the Tour de Picardie, picking up the Points and the Young Riders jersey along the way. Ben also enjoyed success at the Velodrome in 2010 with his GB team mates, winning the Silver medal at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Poland.
Swift's recent inclusion in the GB squad for the 2012 UCI Track World Championships in Melbourne earned him the rainbow jersey in the points race as well as a silver in both the scratch and the madison.
Website: www.benswiftcycling.com
Twitter: @swiftybswift
Ben Swift: Selected Career Highlights to Date
2012
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Melbourne, Gold, Scratch, Silver, Points, Silver, Madison
2011
Tour Down Under 1st – Stage 2, 1st – Stage 6, 3rd – Overall
Vuelta a Castilla y Leon 1st – Stage 5
Tour de Romandie 1st – Stage 5
Tour of California 1st – Stage 2, 3rd – Stage 5
Tour de Suisse 3rd – Stage 8
2010
UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Poland Silver, Team Pursuit
Tour of Picardie 1st – Overall, 1st – Stage 2
2009
Giro d’Italia 3rd – Stage 1
Tour of Britain 1st – Stage 7
2007
UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Manchester Bronze, Team Pursuit
UEC European Championships, Cottbus Gold, Team Purs