Follow britishcycling.org.uk on

Road To 2012
Martyn Salt: The Essential Olympic Mountain Bike Manager

Words And Photography By Luke Webber
Posted November 4 2010

Homepage: Road To 2012 | British Cycling's Performance Programs Explained
Team GB Mountain Bike Roster | Join Team GB
Mountain Biking: Olympic Qualification Explained | UCI National Rankings

Luke Webber talks exclusively to Olympic Mountain Bike Manager Martyn Salt and Olympic Cycling Manager Simon Lillistone about the biggest cross country race to take place in Britain.

Simon Lillistone describes him as "essential...a man of top level experience who will make the Olympic Mountain Bike Event work." Now Martyn Salt speaks for the first time about his dream role becoming a reality.

After over a decade in mountain biking, a good memory is required to recall Martyn Salt the disillusioned retail manager. Because Salt's story is one of progression - from assisting at the legendary late-90s Plymouth Mountain Bike World Cups to being a central figure in the delivery of the award-winning 2010 Dalby World Cup. But it's not only international elite athletes that Salt has directly impacted upon.

The British Cross Country Series, Twentyfour12 and the Soggy Bottom Series represent three ways that Salt has impacted upon the British mountain biking scene, along with demo days and the creation of a reliable and widely-used online entry system yet to be replicated.

Such pedigree has provided the British mountain bike community with a huge confidence boost - after all, most have experienced his productions first hand, from which the verdict is unanimous; Salt knows what it takes to put on a great show. Which brings us nicely on to the Olympic Event itself.

OLYMPIC DREAMS
When British Cycling talked to Salt in 2009 there was enthusiasm for the first English cross country World Cup in a decade - an event now subject to critical acclaim and approaching its second year - a success the Olympic Mountain Bike Event hopes to replicate.

With the London 2012 venue now unveiled and building underway, the reality of an Olympic mountain bike race and two gold medals is beginning to hit home - but Salt insists that apart from the initial wow factor, the Olympics aren't a reality.

"It's not real until you get to Games time; today it's a project and a very exciting one at that. The last three years I've seen it coming and it has to be the pinnacle of what I do. I was first of all delighted to be considered, then great to get the job and now even better to be doing it. But still it doesn't feel real, it seems a long way off."

Already, as we walk around Hadleigh Farm, Salt has his familiar relaxed but fastidious approach to work - an aspect that belies a slightly unkempt exterior, something that defines each of his sporting involvements as top class - but at the same time instils a level of comfort to those who work around him.

The landmark moment of seeing riders on the first section of trail breaks Salt's façade - if only momentarily - as a smile is glimpsed and excitement creeps out; only to be replaced by a rationalisation of the moment at hand.

"To see riders on track, excited about this, it helps motivate you to do a good job. But my role is about the sport and helping to live with the sport and there's a hell of a lot of other people in other departments - so it's about doing a great job at working together to achieve the outcome - the outcome I'm absolutely convinced by - the outcome of a standout mountain bike race people will talk about for years.

"To have a course of this physical and technical and mental challenge, in an open setting, near to this population and ideally suited for television coverage, the spectator experience...the opportunity for the sport is huge and unrivalled.

"And for me, opportunity is a key word. From somebody who has been involved in the sport as long as I have you really want to see this as an opportunity not to be missed. And to show mountain bike races don't have to take place in a forest which often means they are in isolated venues hard to get masses of people to. With some thought, some resource and some imagination; you can build it."

This ambition was obviously something which caught the eye of Olympic Cycling Manager Simon Lillistone, who identified Salt as an essential addition to the team and someone who would put minds at ease in a sport as complex as cycling.

Simon Lillistone (centre) - Olympic Cycling Event Manager

"Between the Olympic cycling disciplines I think the only similarities are the fact every bike has wheels. They are going different places, with different athletes and different requirements, so to have Martyn on site for the first time was a good feeling. I believe he will give momentum to the project, bringing with it first-hand experience of top level mountain bike races, making the race work for both the athlete and the spectator.

"Most importantly though, we are confident - alongside the UCI - that we will have a great race here. We want to start engaging people now to tell the story of the progress of the venue and let them experience it first hand."

That story will continue as the British Cycling Mountain Bike Team visit the Olympic venue, and you'll be able to experience it exclusively on British Cycling.