News: Herety Patron to Halesowen Academy

Former Great Britain road manager and JLT-Condor head honcho John Herety takes on the role of patron to the West Midlands young rider development project Halesowen Cycling Club’s academy which will include five first-year juniors

News: Herety Patron to Halesowen Academy

Now in its fifth season, Halesowen Cycling Club’s academy expands to 12 riders for 2019, with main sponsor Wenlock Spring mineral water renewing along with previous backers OTE, ProVision and Epic Cycles. The former Great Britain road manager and JLT-Condor head honcho John Herety takes on the role of patron to the West Midlands young rider development project which will include five first-year juniors. Among the quintet is the Great Britain cyclocross team member Simon Wyllie, who rode the world championships in Copenhagen last month.

“This is the youngest team we’ve ever had,” said the Halesowen cycling supremo Dave Viner, “it’s also the largest the academy has been, and someone of John Herety’s record and status agreeing to help us out is a vote of confidence in what we have done here in the last four years and what we are trying to do. We have an excellent youth development system based on the track at Halesowen and the academy is providing a top tier to that.”

“There are various strands to what we are doing,” said team manager William Fotheringham. “We are trying to help riders who come through the club’s development system to achieve their goals in cycling, but we are trying to do that in a supportive way, without pressure and ensuring that they develop a love of cycling which will keep them in the sport long after they leave us.”

“What that means in practice is that rather than just looking at their results we are trying to give them racing opportunities and the chance to develop as a group. We have a consistent record of giving the riders the chance to ride stage races in and outside the UK, and that’s worked really well. We’re also conscious of the need to put back into the UK race calendar so we organise the riders are encouraged to help out at our road race and handicap. All in all we run about 22 days of racing a year as a club.”

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“Having John agree to help us is a massive plus because of the experience he has. He’s basically there as a mentor if required, without us wanting to take up too much of his time, so he came to our training weekend recently, and was able to hand out some really good advice. Part of the weekend was a session at the velodrome, and he was invaluable when it came to supporting the coach who was leading that.”

The team has seen two of 2018’s line move-up to teams which are just below UCI level, with Cameron Biddle moving up to Morvelo-Basso and Matt Clarke joining Wheelbase, which also includes another former member in Jack Stanton-Warren. New for 2019 is a women’s arm to the team, which includes GB Apprentice Kinga Ingram and promising first-year senior Hannah Lancaster.

Principal sponsor Wenlock Spring mineral water backs the Halesowen team for a fourth year running, while original backers OTE (nutrition) and Provision clothing have been a constant presence since the team was formed in 2015. Epic Cycles, one of the West Midlands best known bike shops, continue for a second season, while the team is also supported by Ludlow deli Broad Bean, whose special flapjacks supplied for the initial training weekend were rapidly gobbled up.

Halesowen Academy-Wenlock Spring: Nick Clayton, Jonathan Cull, Josh Field, Patrick Fotheringham, David Hird, Kinga Ingram, Hannah Lancaster, Oscar Laight, Henry Lloyd-Langston, James Pheysey, Lorna Sharples, Simon Wyllie