Great Britain Cycling Team: Para-cycling performance pathway

Great Britain Cycling Team: Para-cycling performance pathway

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The Great Britain Cycling Team's goal is to win world and Paralympic medals across all disciplines.

This will be achieved by identifying, confirming and developing riders through the following stages:

Paralympic Podium Programme - Podium

The pinnacle of the performance pathway, the Paralympic Podium Programme is dedicated to supporting highly-skilled elite cyclists as they aim to win medals in major competitions, such as world championships and Paralympic Games. Riders are full time on the programme and generally based near the team's Manchester headquarters.

Paralympic Academy Programme - Podium Potential 

The academy is the finishing school that fine tunes athletes to make the jump to the podium programme and prepares them for future medal success. Riders are generally based remotely from the team’s Manchester headquarters, with a mix of full and part-time athletes.

Paralympic Development Programme - Foundation

The focus here is for riders to develop their skills, strategies and fitness to cope with the demands of racing. Recruitment onto the development programme is selective and progress is continuously monitored.

Riders at each stage of the pathway receive support appropriate to their stage of development, including discipline-specific coaching from Great Britain Cycling Team coaches, individual training programmes, a structured race programme, and support and education from GBCT’s performance support team.

Entry into the performance pathway

There exist a number of routes into the Performance Pathway as outlined below:

  • Talent transfer – Athletes that are currently members of another sport’s World Class Programme that are looking to change sport for performance reasons. During this process GBCT staff will conduct appropriate testing and assessment of new athletes to ensure that they meet the demands of the sport and can demonstrate medal competitiveness for the next Paralympic Games.
  • Talent acceleration – Athletes that have been identified by GBCT staff or partner organisations that meet the demands of the sport and can be medal competitive at the next Paralympic Games. Athletes must demonstrate significant potential which is identified by appropriate testing and assessment.

You can find out more about Talent ID and the Talent Development Para-Pathway by clicking here