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Success for Britain’s Alex Dowsett
Story posted July 21, by Larry Hickmott
Dowsett wins European Time Trial Title
On the top of Europe, Alex Dowsett. Photo: SplitSecondImages.co.uk
After 11th place in last year’s Europeans and then 7th in the World Time Trial championships for Under 23 riders, Britain’s Alex Dowsett made a big step up at the recent European Time Trial Championships where he won Gold. It was the second year in a row that a rider from East Anglia has stood on the top step of the podium after Joe Perrett won the European title for Juniors in 2009.
The victory, says Alex, was unbelievable and even after a few days to think about it, the win has yet to sink in. After having won the championship last Friday, Alex is now competing in America having made a dash around the world to get from Turkey to a six day stage race, the Cascade Cycling Classic, on the West Coast of the US.
British Cycling spoke to Alex after he’d been out to look at the prologue course for the Cascade event, a training ride that proved fruitful as he later that evening raced to second place in a field of well over 100 riders. His podium place on Tuesday night and the European title that preceded it, is a continuation of the success he has been having this year.
Success that was interrupted by a crash in Holland in May. Back then, Alex and his team Livestrong-Trek, were dominating the race until a crash sent Alex tumbling out of the race and back to the UK to help the broken bones recover.
Astride his Trek with the British stripes on it, Alex Dowsett gets set for the start of a winning ride in Turkey. Photo: SplitSecondImages.co.uk
Asked whether that crash hindered his preparation for the European championships where he was the sole Great Britain rider racing, Alex replied he wasn’t sure and it was a bit of both good and bad. Because of the crash, Alex missed out on some big races in Europe and a good result in Holland where he was looking for a podium place. But he says, post crash he had to deal with the cards that were dealt to him and that on the up side, he was given the opportunity to focus 100 per cent on the time trial in Turkey.
“Last year, I hadn’t really prepared for the championships and rode it on the back of my road form. This year, since my crash where I broke my shoulder blade on May 20, I got back on the bike fairly quickly (two to three weeks) and it was a case of except for the National Road Race Champs (where he had more bad luck), there was no road racing in my programme so I had six or seven weeks to prepare for the European Time Trial championship.”
Talking about the course for the European’s Alex says “It was quite similar to a British style course although a bit lumpier. The whole course was either up or down but I was never out of the big ring and never out of the tri bars. I was either doing 60 to 70k an hour downhill or 40k uphill. The course was out and back on a three lane motorway but there were no trucks!”
Alex rode his trade team bike, a Trek TTX with GB Squad wheels, Zipps, with his Livestrong-Trek wheels as spares. The measure of his win at the Euros can be seen by the fact that the rider who was third, finished second in the Worlds last year. Going into the race, Alex knew he was up against it for the victory.
“I thought I could win it and had a chance but I also knew that the opposition was strong. The fella who came second in the Worlds last year was riding and so I knew it would be hard. With the times I was doing in training on my local 10 course, I knew I was in the ball park and going a little better than I was at the Worlds. I just went into the race to do my best and would have been happy with a medal but to get the win was unbelievable and still hasn’t sunk in really.”
“It is such a major championship you never really think it is going to happen to you.”
Prior to racing for Trek-Livestrong, Alex had been a member of the Great Britain Cycling Team’s Under 23 Academy in Italy and he explained that he has a lot to thank the academy for. It is, he says, a very highly strung and intense place to be but the academy taught him a lot about himself and how to be as quick as he could be on a bike.
Since the World Road Championships last year, despite not being a resident member of the academy, Alex has been coached by new GB Under 23 coach Paul Manning, the Gold medallist from Beijing 2008. His help, says Alex, has been fundamental in his success and Paul has helped him iron out little problems in his training. Like stopping Alex from going too hard on day one of a three day training block and instead, spreading the effort out.
His trade team, managed by Axel Merckx and owned by none other than Lance Armstrong, too have been incredibly supportive. Riding with them he says is quite different to his academy days and very relaxed. It is an environment that suits him well and one he’ll be getting plenty of in the coming weeks where has two stage races in the US before he hopes to gain selection in the GB Academy team for the French classic stage race, the Tour de l'Avenir.
Then, he hopes to be sent to Melbourne (Australia) for the Under 23 World Time Trial Championship and also to be selected for the Commonwealth Games in India.
In the meantime, Alex has a time trial coming up soon in the stage race he is riding right now where he’ll be wearing the British Champion’s skinsuit until a European one is made for him by his team. Depending on how the road stage goes before that time trial, who knows, perhaps Alex may well be swapping jerseys around again should he earn the right to wear the race leader’s one. Whatever the outcome, it has been some year for Alex and we wish him luck for the rest of the season.
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Interview in March 2010
