Q&A: Thomas Portsmouth (Bingoal WB)

Stepping up from the development team to the pro team, Tom Portsmouth is heading into 2024 facing a season of big pro races after having had a taste of them this year – we quiz Tom on his 2023 season to get an insight into his racing

Q&A: Thomas Portsmouth (Bingoal WB)

The Portsmouth family at the Dave Rayner Foundation dinner this month

1. After your time in the dev team, what was your reaction to getting a place in the pro squad for two years?
Thomas: Getting a place on the pro roster of Bingoal WB for the 2024 & 2025 seasons means a great deal to me. They showed belief in me by integrating me for La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in January of this year, before then incorporating me once again for Il Giro di Sicilia–my two professional experiences for the 2023 season. Both races gave me good levels of confidence going into my first professional year due to the insight I gained into what professional racing was like. I enjoyed those couple of weeks amongst some of the best pro teams in the peloton – UAE, Bahrain and Astana in Sicily for example. Getting the contract is exciting because I get to do that week in and week out.

2. What does it mean to you and others you know, to get a place in a pro team in Europe when the elite events in Britain are struggling in many ways? Relief. The feeling of achievement…
Thomas: A place in a professional team is an affirmation of the work that I’ve put into my sporting life. All the lessons from Rugby, Swimming, Gymnastics, Hockey and Football coming together into this singular passion for cycling. That’s what it means for me. To my parents, I think the logistical side–or lack thereof in 2024–is one of the things they’re looking forward to most. We, at Team Portsmouth, always had to organise our travel to Europe around their work. Often we had to plan quite a long way out from a particular race weekend. Now the logistics are delegated to the team somewhat, I think they can relax and enjoy watching the racing a bit more than they already have.

I don’t feel relief. I only feel excited because it affirms my particular process is one that works for me. I’ve always wanted to be in Europe for no other reason than it calls to me. Belgium is the one place on this planet where you learn to feel the racing. It has been a privilege for my education in cycling to have taken place on the continent. I’ve loved every second, and so there has never been the thought of ‘escaping the British scene.’ I’ve just wanted to race amongst my mates full gas, from start to finish. There is no correlation between my feelings for obtaining a professional contract and the dwindling British scene.

With that said, It is very sad to see the British Domestic scene in dire straits. A lot of those grassroots just aren’t the same as they were after the Olympic boom.

Presentation at Paris-Tours for Thomas and his team

3. During your career, you spent your junior days mostly in Europe but during the Covid days, time also doing British races. Was the time in Europe more a ‘living the dream’ than the British racing … IE; closed roads in Europe, strength in depth against open roads and less of a pro feel to the British events?
Thomas: The quality of the races in Europe isn’t comparable with those in Britain: the field size, the race distances and the atmosphere are all unrivalled–especially in Belgium. This is the case throughout the youth and junior categories. The prevailing reasons why I chose to continue my education in racing a bike on the concrete slabs of Northern Belgium. I was extremely selective about which races I wanted to do in England. They all had a reason for being there. For example, Jock Wadley is essentially a Belgian Kermesse on British shores. A super safe, aggressive and windswept race offers itself to my type of physiology. The others I competed at all had their reasons for why I started on the start line. If they didn’t appeal, European racing covered my racing requirements just fine and besides, I would probably benefit from having a weekend off.

I will comment briefly on the road closures in Europe. They are rolling roadblocks just like that of a National A event. That means cars do, occasionally, slip past controls and onto the course. But it’s the attitude of the drivers and the community around the race–everyone with a beer in hand, cheering–that makes the race safe, inviting and aggressive. We want to put on a show. The British races, I believe are capable of this. We just need to encourage locals to make a day of it and spectate the events.

4. Going into the pro team for next season, what are the ambitions you have for 2024?
Thomas: I like to keep my specific ambitions close to my chest in any of these Q&As. Only my closest support team needs to know the ins and outs. Though, on a general basis–just like my first year u23–next year is about learning and absorbing everything that comes along with being a professional athlete. Be that ADAMS, Radios or learning how to perform in the new style of racing, which notoriously holds a degree of structure when compared to the, sometimes, kamikaze Under 23 category.

5. Your season in 2023 started in Gabon in JANUARY! Was that a shock to the system racing that early and how was that stage race event as a season kickstarter?
Thomas: I enjoyed it. I’d completed two training camps with the professional outfit of Bingoal WB. I felt prepared for the season ahead, and they rewarded that with the opportunity to experience the trip, and race of a lifetime. I found it a fairly low-risk race, where there was little pressure. We, Bingoal WB, were one of the top teams there alongside Team Total Energies and Burgos BH. I could experience a professional environment early doors, and that to me was exciting. There was no shock, given in previous years–I’m thinking about 2017, 2018 and 2019–where I competed in January around Hog Hill or Hillingdon as part of their winter series.

What I did find a shock was then returning to the regimented, and highly structured nature of the training camp. This was due to riding as part of the development team in February for my third camp of the winter period. Once I started racing, I just wanted to keep that frame of mind. Though, in the context of the professional, this wouldn’t necessarily be the case, it was in 2023. I accepted that and produced a nice training camp–before, unfortunately, being hit with Covid-19.

Life of a pro….

6. You were riding a lot of stage races this year in each of the months in the first half. What sort of role in the team did you have on the road?
Thomas: In the stage races that I started alongside the full-time professional riders, my role was to watch, absorb and help out wherever I could. Be that riding on the front, fetching bottles or listening to conversations down the radio–learning when the best time is to communicate live racing tactics with my teammates and directeur sportif. If an opportunity came up to bag a result, I would of course take it. That’s what happened in Il Giro di Sicilia. When amongst the development team, I had more of a leadership role due to my experience racing in the u23 category–a few years separated me and the majority of the team; Most were first or second-year riders in 2023.

7. What do you feel was your best performance (regardless of result) in 2023?
Thomas: There are two races in the running for my best performance of 2023. The first was Paris Tour Espoirs, which was the last race of the season. My performance in this race marked a return to form, I had found the legs that I knew would arrive, it was just a matter of when–and if that would be this (2023) season. The second up for my best performance was Il Giro Di Sicilia Stage 2 where I placed a respectable tenth place. I know the result doesn’t mean much, but it did show me what I was capable of at the professional level in the sprints. Especially when you consider the fact I was meant to lead my teammate–who lost the wheel in the final, technical, three kilometres.

8. Lots of racing in Poland, Netherlands, Italy, France and especially Belgium – what was the toughest bike race you did in 2023 and does the travel make such races harder?
Thomas: Bwoah. That is a tough question to answer. The most challenging race of the season? Due to the sheer quantity of races in a racing season, there will always be a few challenging days that stick out in the memory. Again for a multitude of reasons. Most of those reasons are personal, and I don’t feel comfortable going into any sort of depth on this Q&A. Again, reserved for my innermost circle of support.

9. Has the time in the Dev team helped you get comfortable with the routine of being a pro bike rider (the travel, helping teammates etc) which will help in the coming seasons?
Thomas: I’ve been well acquainted with travel for some years now. When I first raced in Belgium, my parents and I would drive out via the Eurotunnel on Saturday morning–around six in the morning–before arriving to sign on around one in the afternoon. Once I competed, we’d find a hostel or Airbnb and eat an appropriate meal in Kortrijk. On Sunday, after the second race–which would typically be completed around four in the afternoon–my parents would drive me home, again via the Eurotunnel, whilst I was completing my homework for the following week. Landing at around ten at night, I would head straight for my covers, and ensure I would be awake for six forty the following morning for school to begin eight forty sharp.

This continued throughout my time competing in Belgium. So that covers the last seven years since 2016. So I’ve been going at it for a while now. As a result, I’m well-practised and the routine of a pro bike rider, I’d argue has been going on for years.

11. Out of all those races this season, what event was the most fun to do in 2023?
Thomas: The one event that jumped out as the most fun was the two professional experiences. There isn’t a rider or staff member who came back from Gabon without a grin on their face. There is a bond between everyone who attended that race that is unkindled in any other troupe or any other race throughout the entire season. Sicily too was a special event. I met my idol. The views were incredible and our results as a team were strong in both events. Those two are the most fun events this season. (you can read about both on my website https://thomasportsmouth.substack.com)