Feature: trainSharp Inspires Talent

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trainSharp helping young riders to fulfil their potential and live their dreams in the sport of cycling

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Feature: trainSharp Inspires Talent

With so many Brits making it into the pro peloton in Europe, or even the British one, there is the chance for many a young cyclist to realise their dreams and potential.

For those old enough to remember what it was like to try and do that on their own, as I did, seeing the opportunities for young riders these days is inspiring especially with company’s like trainSharp with people like Sean Yates who has unrivalled experience in the peloton both here and abroad and the sports scientists led by Jon Sharples.

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Just over a year ago, trainSharp launched their Inspire Talent Program (ITP) where the aim was and still is to help develop, nurture and ultimately inspire aspiring cyclists to become professionals.

They of all people, knew that this was not an easy task because they had been there and done it or not done it as the case may be. Bottom line is they knew what it was like to have ambition and pedal a bike in anger to try and fulfil those ambitions as well as their potential.

As much as they would like to wave a magic-wand and gift individuals with the power of Ian Stannard, or the skills of Peter Sagan, it’s not as simple as that. Cycling isn’t an easy sport, just because you want to be a professional, doesn’t always mean that you can.

Traditionally, to make it as a professional cyclist in the UK, the only reasonable pathway was through British Cycling and their drive to achieve gold medals in Olympic Games. Since trainSharp’s conception, they were noticing more and more cyclists tossed onto the scrapheap, cyclists that were good, even great, but didn’t meet the stringent criteria that was required of the Olympic Academies.

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Above: Tim Torrie

There was no clear pathway after this point, you either went on to succeed on your own – usually by living out of a rented bedroom in a family home in Belgium or France. Or like many, talented youngsters, would lose faith in the system and drop out of the sport.

Up until last year, trainSharp were working with several young cyclists that hadn’t made the cut for the British Cycling route, and deemed not suitable, one of which has gone on to sign for a World Tour team, Lotto Soudal, another has won the prestigious Belgian Interclub, Ghent Starden and became Under 23 national Time Trial Champion.

At this point, there wasn’t anything specific in place to cater for these riders, just trainSharp’s own drive and commitment to provide these riders with the best coaching that they could. They quickly realised that there needed to be a pathway, which ran parallel to the British Cycling model; it didn’t need to compete but to offer another route for those that didn’t want to, or couldn’t go down the BC pathway.

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James Shaw riding hard at the front of the British Road Race Championships with Mark Cavendish no less chasing!

There is no quick fix to success, no easy way around it, only hard graft and dedication over a succession of years. To that end, trainSharp had budgeted and continued to stress to each of their riders that the pathway needs around four years to bear fruit. Along this pathway, riders progress at different rates, as well as taking on riders at different stages of their careers. However, each of their riders on the ITP have notable successes to shout about…

Success Stories

Tim Torrie and James Mitri have recently signed for one of the best supported Junior Development teams in the UK, even Europe, HMT Cycling Team. As second year Junior’s they will continue to work under trainSharp’s wing and use this opportunity to gain experience in the toughest most prestigious junior races in Europe.

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HMT academy being tested at trainSharp’s base

Inspire Talent’s Tom Scott-Collins has recently signed for the Spirit Tifosi Racing Team. Tom’s commitment to training whilst working full time in the bike trade is second to none, with his numbers backing up this dedication.

One of trainSharp’s Under 23 riders, Joshua Haasz has also signed with Catford Banks Elite Team. This under 23 squad will be focusing on National Races and trainSharp are using this opportunity with Josh to showcase his talent. Josh is a natural power-house and over the season they have been working to develop his race-craft and tactical nous, build his palmares (CV) to make him even more attractive to UK elite and UCI teams.

Where next?

One year into the official ITP pathway and trainSharp have already started to show success with several riders being picked up by teams for the 2017 season. It is important to stress that the pathway to becoming a pro is not a quick and easy one. They are working closely with all their ITP riders to ensure they get the best out of themselves and continue to make a consistent progression in the sport.

trainSharp has a great network with professional and amateur teams alike. Their catalogue of riders includes Eddie Dunbar who is riding for Axel Merckx’s, Axeon team, Joey Walker has signed for a UCI team for the 2017 season, James Gullen, who has had a standout season, will be stepping up with JLT Condor next season.

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European champion in 2015, Joey Walker

trainSharp have also started working with Puck Moonen, a talented Belgian riding for the Women’s World Tour Team Lotto Soudal in 2017. trainSharp have a good relationship with the teams they work with offering their strongest riders and in turn the teams they work with trust them to provide a good word for only the riders they believe to fit into their setup.

Having gained experience from the ITP, next season trainSharp will be looking to increase their support to the riders, taking them abroad to race. Selected riders will have the opportunity to travel with Senior Coach at trainSharp, Sean Yates and head Soigneur Andy Hillman over to France & Belgium to race. In other, exciting news, trainSharp are upgrading premises over Christmas and this will enable us to host workshops and have even better testing facilities.

trainSharp currently has limited spaces remaining for their “2017 Cohort”, and places are subject to a testing process. If you are interested on embarking on this pathway, please contact them via the link below

EMAIL THEM HERE –  inspire@trainsharpcyclecoaching.co.uk

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