After a super strong second place in the tough Ryedale Grand Prix last Sunday, Canyon Eisberg’s Max Stedman’s next goal is a good GC place in the Tour of Britain starting on Sunday
![]() |
Feature Interview: Max Stedman (Canyon Eisberg)
Max is set to make his debut in the eight-day stage race following a strong twelve months in the saddle. The 22 year old tasted maiden UCI stage and general classification triumphs in the Tour of Quanzhou Bay in China last December and since then has shown his strengths at the Tour de Yorkshire as well as doing his country’s jersey proud in his Great Britain debut at the Tour of Alsace.
Talking about the run up to the Tour of Britain, Max says “I’ve had a mega run. It is the consistency I have been looking for and maybe mentally I have started to concentrate a bit more.”
Max has had moments in the past year which help his motivation for racing with the World Tour riders like the Tour of Almaty in 2017. “The Tour of Almaty was probably a big moment for me. I was really proud of that because I was only a minute-and-a-half down on Jakob Fuglsang on a big climb. Then (the win) in China (Quanzhou Bay) was a nice surprise and maybe a turning point in my head. I am now going into these races knowing I can perform at this level.”
“Tim (Elverson, team boss) has seen me through these steps and helped me grow as a rider, which is pretty cool. He has always had faith in me. I don’t really know what to expect from my first Tour of Britain. It is going to be hard. It is a stacked startlist, with three of the top four from the Tour de France!”
“Maybe 10th to 20th on GC would be a good ride. I know it’s a cliche but, to be honest, I am quite excited just to take it all in and take each day as it comes. I know Tim will want to get a good GC result and I want to do that for the team as well. It will be good to show myself over eight days. It is a big race with some really cool stages, so it is a great platform and a chance to put myself in the spotlight.”
Stedman completed his preparation for the Tour of Britain with a superb second place behind Graham Briggs in the Ryedale Grand Prix on Sunday. In grim conditions, he was outnumbered in the breakaway before jumping past British RR champion Connor Swift (Madison Genesis) to snatch second spot in the uphill sprint.
Stedman added: “I was very happy. I sort of knew that sprint was going to be Brigga’s cup of tea but to outgun Connor up that was pretty good.
Max has also had some advice from a legend in the sport, former Pro champion Keith Lambert: “Ater stage one of Alsace, the first thing Keith (now GB academy coach) said to me I did way too much work in the break. I had that in the back of my mind (at Ryedale), so I was playing it quite cannily. It was probably one of the smartest races I have ridden and I was dead chuffed with the result”.
“I have been putting in some hard hours, so it is nice seeing that pay off. I knew the form was pretty good but it is always nice to test it in a hard race like that.”
A good GC result in a race eight days long though means backing up the rides day-after-day. What is Max’s strategy? “I am learning not to spend too much, too early on as it’s long and hard. I know though how the legs respond after a few days and they don’t seem to get any worse”.
“Fatigued yes so when I wake up, I have that dead feeling in my legs but on the bike, once we get going, they seem to be fine. So I am quite excited for the race as it’s quite hilly, better than last year. I know I can do eight days and am looking forward to the Tour of Britain.”
The course for Max won’t be unknown territory either? “I have already done five stages!” he told me at the Ryedale GP. “I did the last eight k of the TTT at Whinlatter, and looked at the Bristol and Leamington Spa stages and know a lot of the Devon stage (profile above) as well through them being my uni training roads. The toughest I think is the Devon stage. It’s dead grippy with a lot of climbing in it and the last 60 k is scattered with a few punchy climbs along with some longer ones so I think that will be hard.”
The one climb everyone is talking about is Whinlatter (Cumbria) (Profiles above) which is used twice in the race, the first time in a short sharp Team Time Trial (14k) and then for the Summit Finish of stage 6 as well as a KoM climb mid stage.
“Whinlatter is steep on one side and the other pretty shallow with a steep bit in the middle, evened out by two false flats before and after” says Max. “I don’t think it will be too bad. The summit finish is an eight to ten minute climb but I reckon there will be days before that which will do GC damage as well so we won’t be going into the finish climb fresh at all. Of the two sides, the shorter steep side of that climb is my favourite …” Max added.
Talking about having experienced the highs and lows of being selected for the race, Max admits last year, whilst it was disappointing, it wasn’t unexpected. “Last year I wasn’t too gutted I wasn’t selected because the course didn’t suit me and I’d rather go well and do it than and do it half-heartedly. This whole Tour of Britain qualification thing makes it seem the whole season is dominated by this one race but it isn’t for me as there are loads of important races before it to get results in”.
Max finished by saying the preparation for the Tour of Britain has gone well, which his result at Ryedale showed. “The Tour of Alsace (12th on GC) with GB was good. I was in a jersey there for a few days and then after the race I had a few days easy and the last two weeks had a big block where I was using most races as training. We also had a race in Belgium which was like a nat B but with World Tour guys.”
That hard work is now done for Max, and having done the homework with the road book and his days on the Tour of Britain roads, the task now is just to arrive at the race fresh, healthy and ready to go. Whilst he has done races of this length before, the quality of the line-up is higher than anything he has had to race against and that just spices up the challenge for Max even more. Good luck to him and his team Canyon Eisberg.
Cycle Division’s Shop
Send your results as well as club, team & event news here
Other Results on VeloUK (including reports containing results)
- Result: British Men’s RR Championship
- Result: British Women’s RR Championship
- Features, Reports, Results
- Result: Ilkley Town Centre Races
- Result: Royal Navy & Marines CA 10m TT
- Result: City Road Club Hull 10m TT
- Result: Essex Roads 11.5m TT
- Result: Lichfield No Frills 2
- Result: Team LDN – Brother UK Summer Crit Series 3
- Result: Henstridge Circuit Races 4
- Result: Harvey Hadden Crit Series 5
- Result: Isle of Man Youth League
- Result: Mens Otley Grand Prix
- Result: Santini Women’s Otley Grand Prix
- News: Shimano 105 Di2 Ribble Range
- Result: SACA Salt Ayre Tuesday 12
- Result: West Thames League 14
- Result: Tameside Tuesday League 10
- Result: Lotus Cars Cycle Race League 9
- Result: Brooks Cycles Track League
- Result: Hove Park Crits 2
- Result: Port Talbot Wheelers TTT
- Result: Warrington RC TTT
- Result: Severn RC 10m TT
- Result: Salford CC 25m TT
- Result: ECCA 10m TT
- Result: Utag RT 10m TT
- Result: LRRA 10m Time Trial
- Result: VC Glasgow South 10m TT
- Result: Cliff Pratt Deca Community Crits 5
- Result: Kent Valley RC 10m TT
- Result: Sussex CA 50m TT
- Result: Thanet RC 25m TT
- Result: Colchester Rovers CC 47m TT
- Result: Kent Valley RC 25m TT
- Result: Oxonian CC 25m TT
- Result: Houghton CC 25m TT
- Result: Giant Helston 25m TT
- Result: King and Queen of the Bowl 4
- Result: Santini Bovingdon Bomber Summer Series
- Result: Castle Combe Summer Series 7
- Result: L’Etape de la Defonce 2-day
- Result: Omega Circuits
Other News on VeloUK
- News: Shimano 105 Di2 Ribble Range
- News: Ben Healy wins Irish national time trial
- Events: Fort Vale Colne Grand Prix is back!
- News: Pedal Club Lunch, June ‘22
- Latest Podcast: Brother Cycling UK
- Commonwealth Games: UK Islands
- Commonwealth Games: Wales
- News: British Championships on TV
- Commonwealth Games: Team England
- Startlist: Stockton Grand Prix Women
- Preview: 2022 Cicle Classic Day 2
- News: Mildenhall Cycling Mini-Fest
- News: Scottish CX Champs for Dundee
- Events: Bath CC Women’s Road Race
- Startlist: 2022 CiCLE Classic (Women)
- Startlist Stockton Grand Prix Men
- Startlist: Junior Men’s CiCLE Classic
- Riders: British Road Championships
- 2022 Women’s Tour
- Next Week: Women’s Tour
- New Shoes Anyone?
- News: Sammie Stuart goes UCI!
- News: Brother UK Sponsors Biggest UK Races
- Scottish Team for Commonwealth Games
- Events: BikeStow Three-Day
- Startlists: Junior Road Championships 2022
- Feature: The Pedal Club Lunch May
- Barnsley Road Club Races This Sunday
- Sunday: Proper Northern Road Race Series 2
- This weekend: 48th Totnes Vire Two Day
- 2022 British Road Championships Venues
- TOUR SERIES: Round 3 (Sunderland) (Men)
- Startlist: Tour Series Round 1 Guisborough
- 2022 Tour Series Rider Squads Revealed
- News: Simon Yates to Vuelta a Asturias
- Events: Shrewsbury Sports Village
- News: 2022 Women’s CiCLE Classic Saved!
- Startlists: 2022 Rapha Lincoln GP
- Startlist: Oakenclough RR
- News: ŠKODA DSI Cycling Academy