Q&A: Ollie Wood (Canyon DHB)

Fourth in the Under 23 Road Worlds (2017) and second in the Team Pursuit at the Track Worlds (2019), Ollie Wood of Canyon DHB is a high achiever aiming to get himself to the Olympics in 2020

Q&A: Ollie Wood (Canyon DHB)

Fourth in the Under 23 Road Worlds (2017) and second in the Team Pursuit at the Track Worlds (2019), Ollie Wood of Canyon DHB is a high achiever. Back in 2017, Ollie also won one of the toughest road races in Britain, the Ryedale GP beating new signing for Lotto Soudal Matt Holmes.

In 2019, he won one of the toughest crits of the season, the Sheffield GP and if that wasn’t enough, he won the ever hilly first stage in the Tour of Reservoir. Not bad for a ‘trackie’ in an event known for needing very fast riders.

In 2020, the big aim is the Olympics on the track in the Team Pursuit – we quiz him on 2019 and his 2020 goals.

– Overall, 2019 with Tim, how do you rate it success wise for you?
Ollie: I really enjoyed 2019 with the team and overall the team had massive amounts of success all over Europe and the UK. I also had some personal success within the team with a few wins which is always nice.

– What are your 2019 highlights?
Ollie: The highlight of the year for me within the team has to the way the whole team rode throughout the circuit series and with my individual win in Sheffield.

– Will the Olympics in 2020 take you away from the road a lot do you think?
Ollie: Obviously the Olympics are a big goal of mine in 2020 and have been for a number of years now but I think in the lead up, road racing is a good part of the jigsaw to make it a successful campaign. There’s also a couple of months after that I will still be racing too.

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– What races in 2020 are ones you really want to work towards being part of with the Canyon DHB team?
Ollie: I am really keen to do more of what I did in 2019 with a mix of UCI events and also some in the UK too. It would be good to see success coming for the team in the UCI races across Belgium and Holland for the team.

– What will your early season be based around – Track Worlds?
Ollie: Early season for me will be aiming towards the track worlds as it’s the only opportunity of racing Olympic events before Tokyo for me.

– Finally, does the training for the Track Worlds include a lot of road riding which then helps you on the road later in the season?
Ollie: Road riding makes up the bulk of the training for the track along with strength work in the gym and some track too so that will carry me through the road races as well.

Good luck to Ollie in 2020!