Steve Cummings: Back to the Fold
Story posted March 14
By Larry Hickmott
One of the success stories from the Great Britain Cycling Team has been Steve Cummings. Way back when, 2001, before the Olympic Academy was put in place, Steve chose to join what was then a track programme after achieving success on the road as a junior. The Wirral rider was one of many talented riders at the time and his choice to turn to the track as a development option was obviously a good one as not only has he already got an Olympic Silver medal in his palmares and a World championship Gold, he has also tasted success on the road.
Right: A great victory for Cummings who signed for Barloworld late last year after the Discovery team folded. Photo courtesy of www.teambarloworld.com
Since 2005, and that awesome Gold medal at the Los Angeles World Track Championships, Steve has gone away and concentrated on the road going from the successful Belgium team Landbouwkrediet to the star studded Discovery team of Lance Armstrong. When that team folded at the end of last year, Team GB helped him find a new home and that was with Barloworld for who he has already achieved a momentous pro race victory in 2008.
His goal right now though is to try and elbow his way into the Great Britain Team Pursuit line-up for the Manchester UCI World Track Championships. That will be no mean feat as he battles with the five other riders nominated for the event. These include Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas, Paul Manning and Bradley Wiggins. Each one of those riders right now is riding in the form of their life and no-one in the team can be certain of their place in the line-up which is a great position for the GB team to be in as they try and ensure they finally win Gold at the Olympics in this event.
Steve during standing start efforts this week in Manchester.
Steve’s return to the track started late last year when he went to Australia to prepare for the Sydney and Beijing UCI World Track Cup competitions. “Originally I was only supposed to be doing the Beijing World Track Cup, but somebody pulled out and I did Sydney as well.”
Prior to that, it was 2005 when he last rode the track at this level. He admits that in 2006 in had the intention of coming in a doing the track once a month. “With my road commitments it turned out it just wasn’t possible and I got so into the road thing, I didn’t even think about the track. If I am honest, it has been a difficult decision to leave the road.”
Steve cites being sick of coming second in major competitions on the track as one of the reasons he turned to the road but seeing the team now and the way it performs was a key reason for wanting to come back and a part of it”.
World Champion -- Rob Hayles helps put a smile on Steve's face after winning the World Team Pursuit title in 2005.
When I put it to him that sacrificing a small part of a road season for the Olympics is seen by some as a small price to pay, he replied “That’s why I am here now to see if I can still do it. Since the time I last rode, the Team is going a lot quicker so I’m here to see if I can get selected. If I can ride the Worlds and go fast with the Team then the Olympics is on the cards. If not, at least I will know and can then go away and concentrate on something like the Tour de France.”
Steve, who was gutted to ‘only’ win Silver in Athens in 2004, admits that the team with new riders coming in and new training strategies have meant that the chances of winning are higher. “It’s a different worry now – that of getting into the team more than anything else. These guys are the World Champions and I have try and break into that four.”
Being a North West boy, he admits its fantastic that the Worlds are in Manchester and adds that it is something that is on everyone’s mind – that and trying to set a new World Record here. “They were quite close last year and hopefully they can break it this year which would be a dream to do on your home track.”
Steve, being a Wirral boy may be shy to outsiders but he can also be quite a laugh in the team and good for morale. An example of that was when he learnt that he had made the team for the Track Worlds to which he replied “That’s good – I’m glad I came now! This could have been a very short track block!”
Since his last stint with the team in 2005, he says the guys he rode with then have moved it on and you can feel the improvement in the team on the boards. Everyone is now pretty similar and when Ed (Clancy) has one of his good days, he’s better than everyone in this event. The same with Brad. And then you have the rest of us and there isn’t much between us and its going to be difficult for the selectors.”
“I would love to perform well here being with riders I have grown up with.”
Steve has come a long way since the Track Worlds were last at Manchester in 2000 and he was working for BHW part time. “I was like a lost first year senior at that time going out and doing things that weren’t ideal for being a bike rider!”
“Because I had been a good junior (British Junior road champion) I think that held me back because I could in the junior races ride how I want and you miss out on learning the technical side and then all of a sudden you go senior and there are 200 guys the same and it comes down to technique.”
On his decision to turn away from the road and go to what was a track endurance programme with a road element, how does he feel about that now?
“It was my dream to be a professional and do the Grand Tours but back then that all seemed a long way away – almost impossible. With the track it gave me a new focus and complimented the road in the end. We had a good group and the best thing for me was going to that track squad and being with older riders. I learned the trade from them, from the likes of Chris Newton and Paul. They were all crafty racers as well as being strong and powerful and I learnt from John Herety (team manager) as well.”
Overcoming Injury
Now, after a break and a period of getting some miles in on the road in Italy with his Barloworld team, Steve is back and battling for that place in the Team Pursuit. His form this season so far has been really good despite starting off with an injury worry.
“At the end of last season, I had three days off after Lombardy and went straight to a Track training camp which wasn’t ideal. I was going okay on the track in Sydney and in training I was a little bit up and down but that was more down to the nature of the training we were doing.”
“In Beijing I was struggling a bit and when I came back changed a few things in my training and that didn’t really work for me so I went to the team and asked to be do what I thought I needed to do and that was what I did. Over Christmas, I had a knee problem and I went to a training camp after not being on my bike for three weeks and although I had a little pain, it was getting better every day. I came home from the training camp, trained hard for three weeks, had three days off and then raced.”
“I was flying, it was easy”.
Finding his Niche
“I think Italy is great for me and I think I have found what I am best at which are climbs under 1,000 metres, whether there be three or four of them in a race. And after the bunch gets whittled down, you’re left with a selection, 30 or so riders, and after that its down to following the right moves.”
Asked about the Italian race, Tour la Goossetto, where he won a stage and finished second overall, Steve explained “I wasn’t really thinking about myself. Last year I always had a job and never raced for me, always for some one else. That’s Discovery – you either win or pull for someone else. I had got into that mindset and Barloworld wanted me to stay with Baden (Cooke) so on the first day it was a little bit tricky and as I was trying to stay with Baden, that kept me in front.”
“Then on the second day, it just split following moves. I continued to follow the moves and he (Baden) wasn’t there. At that point, he was still the leader on the road so I was doing as little as I could get away with in the break and I just kept following attacks and the group was getting smaller and smaller. It was on a difficult circuit and I attacked with 3 k to go and they pulled me back but I won the sprint.”
“Then the next day, it was fantastic because the win changed everything. To be a good pro you have to find your niche whether it be a Time Trialist, mountain goat or a domestique. I had settled on being a good work horse because you can make a lot of money doing it and I enjoy it. But now its like I’m too good to be just a work horse and it has forced me to come out of my shell a bit more. I had an opportunity, I took it and came away delighted.”
“The next day after the tour was over, I was thinking I could have won that after being fifth on the stage sprinting with the likes Di Luca and Baden who are no slouches. It has given me a new confidence to not settle for that work horse role even though I know I can do it.”
The End of Discovery
At the end of 2007, Steve had to deal with the disappointment of the team Lance Armstrong brought to the attention of the world, Team Discovery, folding and having to find a new team. Did he have any doubts going to a small team like Barloworld which were on the up after their exploits in the Tour de France?
“No, not at all. I knew people were going to be struggling for teams at the end of the year and was gutted that Discovery had finished because in March they had said ‘you have a job for life’ and then it all finished and I was at home with a broken arm. Then the opportunity with Barloworld came up and I was quite pleased to be going there.”
“At Discovery, I was having to fit in around some one else like if the leader gets a sore knee, you go to the race and you were always having to fit in with some one else’s programme. At Barloworld I have my own programme and am a bit higher up the pecking order now that I have won.”
Talking about his programme for 2008 he admits he is quite relaxed now about the Track Worlds and after that is over with, he’s been told he’ll do the classic Leige-Bastogne-Leige for training which makes Steve smile as he admits “you don’t do Leige for training! Then it’s the Giro.”
“I have to see how the Track Worlds go because if that goes to plan, then I’ll try to get to the Olympics but if I don’t, I’ll look at other avenues like the Tour.”
Asked what road races he feels will suit him, Steve picks out an Italian classic in the Tour of Lombardy as one he’d like to do well in. “I was quite good there last year even though I finished in the back group. I had a job to do for a rider in the team and I was in bad condition but I still felt good in it. Maybe I’ll look at the semi classics just below that because I know I have to go a step at a time. Last year I did a lot of big races and finished a lot of them and I think the next step is to start finishing them in the front group and be sprinting for victories”.
Finally, I asked Steve how did it feel changing teams and going to a new one like Barloworld and he explains “It was fine because it doesn’t get any more difficult going into a room full of stars like I did at Discovery and there’s me, the new kid on the block. And coming from Discovery, everybody knows who you are and they respect you just because you have been in that team.”
“I loved the whole time with Discovery – it was a great team to be in, a great atmosphere, never a dull a moment and always a laugh. I feel very sorry for a lot of the riders and what is happening with Astana. I think it is sad because Astana seem to have gone out of their way to clean up and get rid of the bad guys and put into place an anti doping thing. I think they deserve more of a break.”
We wish Steve all the best in his quest to make the line-up for the Team Pursuit at the Manchester Track Worlds later this month.
RELATED LINKS
British Cycling Websites World Track Championships Home Page
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