Barriers to entry: an uncomfortable absence for British Cycling

All images: Tonke Berg

This coming weekend, the World Cyclo-Cross Championships takes place in Liévin, France. Many federations have picked great teams and there’s going to be a tonne of talent on display. It is the pinnacle of the sport, so for any rider to participate is a huge opportunity. However, the British delegation has caused consternation, as you can read in this very balanced article from Ryan Mallon at road.cc. 

This upset is caused by British Cycling electing to have no entrants for the Under-23 Men’s or the Elite Women’s category. Of the six contested categories (Junior, U-23, Elite - one each for men and women), two of them will take place with no British interest. To me that is a huge shame, and a conscious decision made on the part of the national governing body for cycling that will have adverse effects on the future of the discipline, in this country. Let me explain…

For a select few, the goal at the World Championships is to win; for the many, being selected is the objective itself - the chance to represent your country is an end in and of itself; a huge honour and also a just reward, for many years invested in honing your skills and sacrificing a great deal to become the best of the best, in your nation. It’s the least Xan Crees deserves - while she may not be challenging at the front end of Belgian races like Lucinda brand or Fem van Empel, she proved herself the best that Britain has to offer by winning the national championships in Gravesend just two short weeks ago. What more could she do? Her male counterpart, Cameron Mason, was selected to represent the men, along with Thomas Mein - but Crees and her predecessor in the champions’ stripes, Anna Kay, have, incomprehensibly, been left out.

Being able to put on your national jersey is surely a special feeling, but that feeling has been withheld from the British elite women and under-23 men this year. For the individual it is incredible to be selected and no-one is entitled to be picked - but equally the riders being left at home deserve to have been given a chance. For some of them it could have been make or break and it is difficult to understand why the national governing body for the sport wouldn’t take a rider who’s very willing to go. They spend their winters working, ploughing savings into travelling and competing in the sport - with help from friends, partners, family members, ensuring they have a pit-crew and anything else they need. The Worlds is when the federation can give back, and they’ve chosen not to. All that passion put in with limited received in return. Indeed, with many riders living out in Belgium, the costs associated with selecting riders are minimal, where they exist at all.

And it’s not as if the participation would give nothing back to the federation. If participation was treated as an investment, should British Cycling pick two riders for the Women’s Elite race, and they both finish on the lead lap (which with the options available to them is likely), then each rider would receive a minimum of the equivalent amount of  ranking points as they would for winning a National Trophy race. That would then improve their world ranking, giving them better gridding in races, and better opportunities, that in turn could represent publicity, in the form of results, with the ripple effect of facilitating easier qualification and multiple entries into races in the following years. It seems to be at odds with logic for any nation to intentionally avoid that, even if their position is comfortable. 

In many cases, especially the U-23 category, the World Championships represents something of a shop-window. Some teams might show up for World Cups or the C1 and C2 classification of events, but it’s likely to be quite limited and scouting for the future might not be at the top of the to-do list. However, Worlds will be when teams are going to be looking for the next big thing, when everyone is bringing their best, and a result on the biggest stage of all can elevate your name and profile in front of a range of potential suitors. There is easily a world where a rider might be considering their future in the sport, or wanting to take the next step in their development, needing the support of a team. A good performance in the Championships would certainly help your case and help your personal development, which is the credo of any national federation.

Developing the current riders, but also developing the future and the grassroots is at the heart of British Cycling, but how does the grassroots grow and develop if there’s nothing at the top to aspire to? One of the best parts of being a cycling fan is just how accessible it all is, and how human the stars are. I’ve been to National Trophy races and casually chatted with riders like Anna Kay. For all the galactico-level sportspeople there are in the world, the brilliance of cycling is in the contrast it provides. Being able to chat with Anna and find out how she found the race, and that she’s just a normal person with hopes and struggles, make her achievements all the more aspirational.

As the adage goes:  “You cannot be what you cannot see”, and to any aspiring British cyclists, turning on the Women’s Cyclocross and not seeing anyone from their country, is a body blow. And lest you think that this year is an anomaly, in a year or two, Zoe Bäckstedt will be racing at elite level - but there are no guarantees she will continue on her current career trajectory. For contrast, Evie Richards was seen as the successor of Helen Wyman and Nikki Brammeier (nee Harris) who was double World U-23 women’s champion and she hasn’t raced any cyclocross since 2021. To employ an extended metaphor, why hold back the fruits of everyone’s labour for potential ‘jam tomorrow’ when the fruit is still good today and there’s no guaranteed sugar with which to preserve it. 

In the case of the women’s race, it is the pinnacle - the elite even, of women’s cyclocross. The best of the best and the headline event of Saturday’s racing. To have no representation in the race means no-one is talking about British Cycling during that race. Any race report, if written, would have to acknowledge that there were no British riders in the event. And I still cannot countenance how non-selection benefits anyone in the long-term. That’s the part that causes the most upset, from my perspective. Despite gracious posts on social media, it’s difficult to imagine how the riders impacted by the decision must be feeling as they will be forced to sit out of what should have been one of the proudest moments of their careers.