Olympic Academy Programmes Now Recruiting
Source: British Cycling
Posted: 1st August 2008
British Cycling's Olympic Academy Programmes are now recruiting for a new intake of riders in the following cycling disciplines:
- Track Sprint
- MTB XC
- Women's Endurance
- Men's Endurance
The Men's Endurance Academy was the first of these Programmes to take its place in the pathway to the Olympic Podium. The first Academy intake onto this programme was in January 2004 when the focus was on track goals, whilst using the road for training and preparation. As that programme matured, the men's endurance Academy settled into a pattern of spending winters in Manchester in Academy apartment style accommodation fine tuning track skills and competing in Track World Cups, and spending summers in communal accommodation in Italy working on road skills and training. The graduates and existing members of this programme have achieved significant success on both the track and the road, and seeks riders looking for careers along both those routes.
Learning from the successes of the Men's Endurance Academy, parallel programmes were developed for Track Sprint, MTB XC and Women's Endurance. Not a one size fits all model though; in recognition of the specific needs of the different cycling disciplines each programme differs slightly. The Track Sprint Academy is fully residential and based in Manchester year round with all the track time needed on Manchester Velodrome; the MTB XC riders benefit from sharing apartments and training rides with other talented young riders during the winter before the XC season kicks in. The Women's Endurance programme follows similar principles to the Men's Endurance with individualised road based race programmes for the riders in the summer including kermesses and road racing on the continent.
The Academy programme is full time regardless of cycling discipline, requiring a strong work ethic; to survive / progress young riders need to live and breathe cycling and devote their next years to the achievement of challenging goals.
The support provided, and commitment of the Olympic Programmes staff to assisting riders to achieve these goals is as high as the commitment expected from the riders. No stone is left unturned to provide the best coaching, sports science input, equipment appropriate to the stage of development, nutrition support, medical and hygiene advice, educational support, clothing, injury prevention and rehabilitation, tactical advice, race support, mental preparation; the list continues to grow in the unending quest for excellence.
Places on the Academy Programmes are reserved for only those riders with the ability to make significant progress towards 2-3 year goal of a medal at U23 / Senior European or World Championships. It is anticipated that riders from our Academy programmes have the strong potential to form the backbone of our 2012 Olympic medal winning teams.
Competition for places is, of course, high with a very limited number of places reflecting the limited number of Olympic medals available at the top of the sport, so only riders with truly exceptional ability will earn membership.
Follow the links below for information and application form for each of the programmes:
U23 Male Road and Track Endurance
Applications for membership need to be with Alison Johnson (e-mail, post, fax etc) by 3rd September 2008. It is anticipated that shortlisting will be completed by mid September when we plan to communicate the outcome to all applicants.
AlisonJohnson@britishcycling.org.uk or British Cycling, National Cycling Centre, Stuart Street, Manchester M11 4DQ or faxed to 0161 274 2095.
