Olympic Development Programme 2007/08
Story posted January 15
Photos/Article by Larry Hickmott (larryhickmott@britishcycling.org.uk)
Helen Mortimer introduces the ODP programme to the riders and parents for the 2007/08 intake.
One of the crucial programmes to maintain the flow of talented riders into the Academy and Podium programmes is the Great Britain Cycling Team’s Olympic Development Programme.
It was only seven years ago at the Sydney Olympics that the prospects of continued success were looking bleak but the introduction by the GB Cycling team of many new programmes including the ODP one, have helped the management create a strength in depth. So much so, for the 2008 Olympics, there is an unprecedented number of riders competing for a spot in the team in Beijing.
Development of riders to feed the Olympic Academy and Podium programmes continues apace this year and for 2007/08, a large new group of riders have been invited onto the development programme where the emphasis is on developing riders for the other programmes and not just about results.
“We have been very successful at the European and World Championships over the last few years” ODP performance manager Helen Mortimer explains “and a lot of people will focus on that. The ODP however is not just about results. It is about putting the processes in place so we can help a rider create a foundation to build on in other programmes like the Olympic Academy. It really isn’t just about winning bike races as hopefully that will come anyway from getting all the other things right.”
The riders invited onto the ODP programme will get the opportunity to take part in structured, specialised training under the care of dedicated and experienced ODP coaches. Recently at Manchester, the new inductees for the 2007/08 programme were invited to Manchester to hear from the performance manager Helen Mortimer, the ODP coaches and EIS staff about how the programme will work in the coming 12 months (November 1 to November 1).
New riders and parents were each handed a hand book and talked through the various programmes for the different disciplines such as Mountain Bike, Endurance and Sprint programmes. New to the programme for 2007/08 are:
Women’s Endurance: Corrine Hall, Dani King (moved from Sprint programme) and Jess Booth.
Men’s Endurance: Dan MClay, Chris Whorral, Alexander King, George Atkins, Mark Christian, Erick Rowsell, Andrew Williams and Sam Harrison
Sprint: Laura Trott
Mountain Bike (Cross Country): Sebastian Batchelor, Ewan Clark, Rebecca Thompson
Integrating the GB Cycling Team Programmes
A key part of the development of riders who will hopefully one day win medals for their country at Olympic level is to provide a seamless pathway from one programme to the next. Riders can join the programme at any time but many if not most, come from the Talent Team and work their up from there to the ODP, the Academy and then Podium.
It is therefore important that the coaches on all the programmes sing from the same hymn sheet. That the riders who progress to the Academy have the skills required to compete at World level and those in the ODP likewise have the skills they need to compete at an international level.
These skills are taught by the coaches and in 2008, many of the Talent Team coaches will be brought into the ODP camps to work alongside the ODP coaches to give them the experience they need to hand down to their riders before they progress to ODP level. This will also help the ODP as many of their coaches will be required at the training camps for the riders going to the Beijing Olympics, experience they will in turn bring back to the riders on the ODP.
“This change to the programme will help the Talent Team coaches understand the level we are operating at on the ODP and what we expect of staff and riders on these camps. They can then take this back to their Talent Team riders, making it a more consistent process through the programmes” explained Helen.
Corrine Hall & Daniel McLay, winners of Future Stars races at the latest Revolution track opens at Manchester.
The Olympic Influence
Being Olympic year will bring other benefits as well. The timing of the Olympics has seen the race scheduling of major events such as the European Championships moved about in favour of the programme’s riders.
For example, the European road and track championships have been split so there is a good gap between the two. “In previous years,” Helen says “we haven’t really been able to focus on the road as that competition has been too close to the track competition. Next year though we can prepare our riders properly for the road in July and then they can follow that by going into a track preparation phase before the Track Nationals and then the Europeans in September. This will give the riders a large block of international experience.”
Explaining why the Junior Worlds are not on the radar for 2008, Helen says “the problem with the World Championships next season is they start two weeks before the holding camp for the Olympics and taking into account the programme is not just about results but also gaining valuable experience and knowledge, this could not be done without having the right coaches there with them and these coaches are unlikely to be available. This is one of the reasons why we have shifted more towards the Europeans being a major target and other international track races and road stage races for a further source of international experience.”
Two of the World's leading Sprint coaches seen here helping ODP riders at the 2006 European Championships, left Iain Dyer (with Jessica Varnish) and right, Jan van Eijden (helping Danni King). Both coaches will be working with the Olympic team as well in 2008.
Coach Led Racing
An area of the ODP that is also continuing to develop further is the coach led racing camps for track and mountain biking. This is where riders are brought together to ‘race each other’ and gain from that physical and tactical experience for their chosen events.
Explaining more about this element of the programme, Helen Mortimer says “it was a concept that Rod Ellingworth thought up and came about from us wanting to provide some racing where riders would not be afraid to try new things and in a way get things wrong but to also help them learn new skills and tactics in race situations. We’re able to bring together all the development programme riders as well as riders from other programmes such as the top riders from the talent team and those in the Olympic Academy.”
“Riders get a lot out of the weekends with immediate visual feedback, good coaching structure with clear goals and aims for each race and the chance to try things out in a racing situation. If it doesn’t work, they watch themselves back with the video footage that is taken, learn where they went wrong and then have the opportunity to discuss points with the coach before getting back up and trying it again”
Another similar opportunity to the CLR is a new concept called the Future Revolution. This is a knock on from the very successful Revolution that takes place in Manchester, but it is purely for Youth and Junior riders.
The first one was held in Newport and saw riders from Holland and USA attend. “This is something that Gary Coltman from the Olympic Talent Programme has been working on. It is basically another racing opportunity for our riders, where the programme coaches are there track side helping them develop their tactical knowledge. The first one was a great success and there is another planned for March which we will be attending”
The European Championships provides the British youngsters with valuable competition against strong international competition.
Training Camps
Through out the coming 12 months for the riders on the programme, the team will provide them with a number of camps which will either be coach led racing, training or a bit of both.
“They range from two day weekend camps to 10 days during the bigger holiday breaks” the performance manager explained. “We do have a problem whereby the holidays fall on different days in different countries such as England, Scotland and Wales and in general, the camps will fall on the days that suit the majority of the riders. This is where the EIS and other similar bodies in Scotland and Wales will help riders liaise with their schools so they can attend the camps, even to the point of the riders bringing their school work with them.”
The lengths the team have gone to as well to try and accommodate all holiday periods includes the one in February where the camp will overlap both school holiday periods in different countries of the UK so riders with different holiday periods can attend during their break. Another example of how serious the team take the schooling side of an athletes development is in mountain biking, where should exams fall at the time of the Europeans, those riders affected will focus on the Worlds instead to give them major event experience without it affecting their schooling.
“When it comes to exams, there are a number of options open to them” Helen says. “Organisations like the EIS for example can actually liaise with the schools to look at the possibility of the athlete sitting the exam in another country, or get dates moved for athletes at a high level. We’re not the only people who need this as this happens in swimming and other sports too”.
Laura Trott, new into the programme, gets to race against a triple World Champion thanks to the Revolution meeting at Manchester.
Rider Support
Just being selected to ride on the ODP programme is a great a benefit to a young rider but the package of benefits extends to the support a rider on the ODP programme gets. This includes:
- Coaching
- Race & Training programmes
- Track time
- Residential training camps
- Athlete Personal award (E Level Funding)
- Equipment & clothing
- Help in purchasing Science in Sport energy products
There are also services from the English Institute of Sport and similar services in Wales and Scotland from similar bodies there. By way of example, this can include support in providing education on nutrition, strength and condition coaching (gym), performance analysis and fitness testing.
Companies that provide help to the team include Giordana clothing, Rudy Project helmets and bags, Pinarello and Dolan bikes.
An example of the Pinarello bikes the riders get to race on the track. This one pictured at the 2007 European Championships.
What the programme expects
Riders on the ODP will constantly be challenged to show an improvement over the course of their time in the squad and were reminded in the get together recently that this can’t be done for them and that this progression is in their hands with the aid of their coach. The goal of the programme is to help riders reach the level required to move on into the Olympic Academy Programme.
One of the key elements is discipline and any rider in breach of the team’s agreement will be disciplined. Riders are constantly assessed by their coaches and a fortnightly report sent to the head coach and performance director.
Riders for 2007/08
Women’s Endurance
Hannah Mayho
Alex Greenfield
Katie Colclough
Corrine Hall
Dani King
Jess Booth
Men’s Endurance
Dan MClay
Chris Whorral
Alexander King
Andy Fenn
Luke Rowe
George Atkins
Mark Christian
Erick Rowsell
Andrew Williams
Sam Harrison
Sprint
Laura Trott
Peter Mitchell
Rebecca James
Jessica Varnish
Steven Hill
Mountain Bike (Cross Country)
Hamish Creber
Alex Paton
Annie Last
Sebastian Batchelor
Ewan Clark
Rebecca Thompson
Staff
ODP Performance Manager, Helen Mortimer
Iain Dyer, National Sprint Coach
Jan van Eijden, Sprint Coach
Darren Tudor, ODP Men’s Endurance Coach
Simon Cope, ODP Female Endurance Coach
Phil Dixon, MTB Coach
Sebastian Batchelor, Jessica Booth, Mark Christian
Ewan Clark, George Atkins, Corrine Hall
Sam Harrison, Steven Hill, Rebecca James
Alexander King, Daniel McLay, Alex Paton
Peter Mitchell, Erick Rowsell, Rebecca Thompson
Laura Trott, Chris Whorral, Andy Williams
Jessica Varnish, Katie Colcough, Andy Fenn, Luke Rowe
Alex Greenfield, Hannah Mayho, Danni King
Hamish Creber, Annie Last
RELATED LINKS
2007 European Track Championships
2006 European Track Championships
