Team News: New for Saint Piran – Under 23 Team

Saint Piran is excited to provide a platform and a pathway into the continental squad through their Under 23 Saint Piran Uskis* team, representing a significant opportunity for riders.

Team News: New for Saint Piran – Under 23 Team

Saint Piran is excited to provide a platform and a pathway into the continental squad through their Under 23 Saint Piran Uskis* team, representing a significant opportunity for riders. * Uskis is the Cornish word for fast! Saint Piran love to add a Cornish touch to their team and club names.

Additionally, Saint Piran is interested in extending further support to its riders through performance coaching. This will be conducted in-house with Holohan Coaching, or through a coaching set-up that they find suitable for their purposes. Over the years, Saint Piran has observed a strong alignment between the rider-coach dynamics and team goals. Their aim is to strengthen this connection, creating a performance pathway that yields positive results. They are collaborating closely with British Cycling Performance, Welsh Cycling, and other relevant agencies to adopt best practices in their approach. They intend to continue this collaborative effort.

In addition to their commitment to performance, they are eager to provide guidance to the Conti team for their Under 23 squad. Joint training and coaching sessions will be scheduled through out the season. Riders will benefit from access to world-class technologies and practices through their performance nutrition partners, with a special emphasis on the importance of Maurten sports nutrition. This support will extend from their Continental team to their Under 23 team.

Moreover, they will offer a selection of bikes and equipment at cost through their Saint Piran Service Course website during the season, providing riders with choices that suit their preferences. They are delighted to announce that they can also offer safeguarding and pastoral care, exemplifying best practices. To manage this aspect, they have brought in John Trott to their team, further reinforcing their commitment to the well-being and development of their riders.

Ricci Pascoe: “There has been much speculation about the domestic road scene and we felt at Saint Piran it was a time to provide more opportunities to younger riders at the elite level especially as several teams have disappeared over the last few months. Our rationale has been several fold. Firstly, our younger riders in the UCI squad and certainly those track riders we have had from BC in some cases weren’t getting a ride.

Partly due to the fact they needed more development in terms of endurance and that pushing for places against established riders like Alex Richardson and Harry Birchill was proving difficult. Therefore, an Elite team gives competition on a weekly basis that allows them to flourish alongside coherent training plans. Secondly, we felt learning to win is an important environment and an Elite team allows riders to enter National B races as a team and develop those skills needed within a UCI team.

In addition, we felt that the UK elite scene needed strengthening even to the extent to compete against the Saint Piran UCI team. Fourthly, there is a number of new exciting young riders who would benefit from a professional team environment and are amazing prospects in their own right. Finally, we wanted to offer a UK based platform with a clear development pathway onto a UCI team.”

Saint Piran is looking to showcase numerous examples of supporting under 23 riders. In the last year we all saw Jack Rootkin Gray and Harry Birchill in this space and watching them fulfill their potential that has lead to this new initiative. It also allows Saint Piran to develop a learning environment for staff, managers, DS and soigneurs, media etc. This is also crucial for sustaining our sport. Saint Piran have agreed to a number of benefits listed on their website which further increases the rationale behind the team. The benefits have to be about performance focus in the right protective environment. Saint Piran also like the fact that being UK based, it’s easier for our riders to be closer to home as they progress their careers.

New signings
Our first announcement is Welsh rider Rhys Britton who takes the roll as a road captain in 2023. He rode for the UCI team and is a top quality rider looking to increase his performance pathway over longer races but also complete his track ambitions in 2024.

Rhys Britton “I had a tough year in 2023 and along with my performance coach felt a chance to be at the forefront of the team is the motivation I need. Incidentally, I love the ethos and open door policy of being back into the UCI team subject to myself or any other team rider winning races.”