Q & A: Stephen Dent (Spokes RT)

Junior Scottish Road Race Champion Stephen Dent (Spokes RT) takes the VeloUK Q & A and reveals his first road race was a Belgium classic!

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Q & A: Stephen Dent (Spokes RT)

Stephen Dent rides for Spokes Racing Team and says “the best part of being part of the team is being given the opportunity to race abroad and be given invaluable experience”.

1. How did you get into cycle racing …
Stephen: I got into bike racing through my dad as he used to race at a high level.

2. What’s your favourite discipline in cycling?
Stephen: My favourite discipline in cycling is road.

3. What is the best thing about bike racing?
Stephen: I really like that feeling with 5 miles to go in a race, when I am in a position to win.

4. What was the highlight of 2016 for you and why?
Stephen: The highlight of 2016 for me was winning the Junior Scottish Road Race Championships as it was a hard race and it was great to pull it together on the day.

5. What was your favourite/most fun race of 2016
Stephen: My favourite race of 2016 was the Junior Kurnne – Brussel – Kurnne.

6. What was the toughest race of 2016 for you and why?
Stephen: The toughest race for me was also the Junior Kurnne – Brussel – Kurnne as it was my first ever road race, so it was all a new experience. I was certainly thrown into the deep end.

7. If there was one thing you learned most in 2016 to help you go faster/better, what was that?
Stephen: I learned that even when you are really suffering in a race, and you aren’t the best there, you can still win.

8. What is the best piece of equipment (clothing/bike/gadget) to do with racing you are proud of most?
Stephen: It will soon be my Trek Emonda team bike.
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9. What is your warm up routine for races – rollers or turbo? Music or no music?
Stephen: I usually warm up on the rollers and prefer to warm up without music.

10. Will you stay in the UK to prepare for next season during the winter or get in a training camp or two abroad to get in some serious miles?
Stephen: I will be staying in sunny Fort William over the winter, getting a lot of my training done on the turbo.

11. When will you start training for 2017 and what comes first – long steady miles or a mix of miles and efforts?
Stephen: I started training for 2017 very soon after the season finished, for me a mix of miles and efforts constitutes a lot of my training.

12. What are the goals for 2017?
Stephen: The goals for 2017 are to win a few Junior British National series races and to hopefully get a top five result abroad in a UCI race.

13. Does winter training consist only of riding the bike or running/swimming/gym work (cross training)
Stephen: Most of my winter training consists of riding my bike but I do a bit of gym work too.

14. Finally, what have you learnt over the years to best deal with the winter months on a bike!
Stephen: That I need to keep reminding myself why I’m putting in the hard work.

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