We caught up with Capernwray road race winner Ollie Peckover to discuss the closure of Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, his new team and his ambitions for 2023
It might have been tempting for 24-year-old Ollie Peckover to turn his back on his cycling career at the end of last season.
He had just finished his second year at UCI Continental level after stints first with SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling in 2021 and then Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling in 2022. He acquitted himself well too. After joining SwiftCarbon part way through 2021, he finished the fearsome Volta a Portugal, bagged 7th at the Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix, before completing the Tour of Britain, finishing with a top ten on the final stage in a chaotic sprint won by Wout van Aert.
I’ve always been a rider that says ‘look, if you give me some kit, give me a bike, I will ride for you, ride my heart out no matter what’
When SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling then folded, Peckover switched to Ribble Weldtite in 2022. And despite a lack of UCI-level road racing opportunities, he had another strong season, coming second in the RTTC National 25 Mile Championships, winning his first Tour Series round in Barking a few days later, and then finishing 7th in the national time trial championships. At the season’s end, however, he found himself scrabbling for a contract once again with the news that Ribble Weldtite would also close.
He may have stepped down a level this year, joining a strong trainSharp elite squad, but his motivation appears undiminished, as a win in his first road race of the season at Capernwray proves. We were pleased, then, to catch up with him shortly afterward.
We started by asking him about the end of last season, when he found out that Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling was going to fold. He is philosophical about the team’s demise, regarding it as a sign of the times.
It’s just unfortunate. It’s the way that UK racing has been going for the last few years, as we know
“I have no bad words to say about that team at all. The amount of support they had for all the guys, everyone meshed really well. It’s just unfortunate. It’s the way that UK racing has been going for the last few years, as we know. Each year there’s been less and less teams actually competing on the scene,” he told us.
“A couple of sponsors pulled out, and the cash just wasn’t there. So last year, it was running on quite a skeleton budget. And obviously, we didn’t really go overseas to do many races because the money just wasn’t there. So then when the funds got cut further, it just wasn’t possible [to continue].”
Ollie Peckover after his Sportsbreaks.com Tour Series win at Barking, East London. Image: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
With the number of men’s British UCI Continental teams down to just three this year, finding a new squad was not easy, but he credits Colin Sturgess (then DS at Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, now at AT85 Pro Cycling) with helping him with supporting his search.
“I was having quite a few chats with him throughout the last couple of months of the season, as we’d found out by then that the team wouldn’t be continuing on into 2023. So at that point, it’s, well, where do we go from here? You have to start making those conversations. I got on quite well with Colin, he’s really local to me, and he helped me through.”
He was not without choices when it came to teams – RoKIT-SRCT also courted him, but as he explains, in the end, he felt trainSharp’s offer better suited his twin interests of time trialing and road racing.
There were a couple of options. But just looking at the level of support that the options were going to provide, trainSharp was just coming out on top
“So there were a couple of options. But just looking at the level of support that the options were going to provide, trainSharp was just coming out on top. It was a super hard decision to actually make that call in the end. The other team that I was potentially going to be joining was SRCT. Obviously, they’ve got a good calendar, they’ve already been racing abroad a few times this year.
“But trainSharp is still going abroad, we’re going away later this month, in fact. And at trainSharp, I get two race bikes provided and a time trial bike, which obviously is a big part of what I do. I love a good time trial. So yeah, it fitted more into what I was interested in.
“The coach at trainSharp, Chris McNamara, he’s really into his time trialing as well. So we can essentially be, like, quite good buddies in that sense; we relate to each other. So yeah, it works out really well.”
When I ask him if it was a disappointment to lose his UCI Continental status, Peckover’s response indicates that he is a rider who tries to look on the bright side when he encounters a setback. He appears modest too.
“It is a bit disappointing to be stepping down from a continental contract. But at the end of the day is what it is. I’ve always been a rider that says ‘look, if you give me some kit, give me a bike, I will ride for you, ride my heart out no matter what.'”
Ollie Peckover wins the 2023 Capernwray road race. Image: Ellen Isherwood
Peckover was hopeful of a result going into his first road race this season at Capernwray but was unsure quite what to expect.
“I came fourth on that circuit a few years ago, I think it was 2021, when I was riding for SwiftCarbon. So I knew it was a circuit, which, even if it doesn’t exactly suit me, I knew that I could sort of replicate that. And I’m going much better now than I was back then. But honestly, going into it, I had no idea what to expect, I was just hoping that something was going happen.”
Happen it certainly did, with Peckover taking a convincing win after a 55-mile two-up break with Jack Crook (Richardsons-Trek DAS). Moreover, Peckover is pleased that the team has started well this season, helping the squad to get over the disappointment of not being selected as a British Cycling Elite Development Team this season, which he says was “a bit of shock”.
“We’ve come out the gate screaming,” he says. “I’ve picked up the win at Capernwray, we had Tim Torrie up there at Jock Wadley. In think in total, including my coach Chris McNamara, who doesn’t ride for trainSharp but is a trainSharp coach, we had five in the top 20 at Jock Wadley.”
Peckover feels these early season results bode well for the bigger targets coming up, especially with the squad having gelled well together so far.
“The season looking good”, he says excitedly. “Everyone at trainSharp has been super supportive. It’s a really great group of guys that we’ve got in the elite team. We were in Tenerife at the start of February and it was amazing to see how fast everyone clicked. Not a single bit of bickering. Everyone got on, everyone was helping out. Hopefully, it’s going to be the start of something good with the team. Getting results early doors, getting names put out there, getting more publicity, helping it grow.”
What about his and his team’s plans for 2023, then?
“It’s only March, only very early season but the CiCLE Classic is quite soon, 23rd of April. So it’s not long before the big events actually start to come through. We are going abroad a couple of times but for the most part, it is going to be mainly UK based. Obviously, with the [National Road Series] there is a reduced calendar, but at least we’ve still got a calendar of some sorts.
I’m not an under-23 anymore, but you can still make a mark there, get in the right moves, show your face where you need
With the national champs, that would be quite the event that I’d be looking to focus on and prove a point at. It’s the biggest one of the year, the national champs, the one that everyone’s looking at, international teams too. I’m not an under-23 anymore, but you can still make a mark there, get in the right moves, show your face where you need.”
Peckover leads Jack Crook at the 2023 Capernwray road race. Image: Ellen Isherwood
Peckover still has ambitions then, and his victory and Capernwray has already got him some attention.
“I’ve already had a couple of people message me that wouldn’t have normally messaged just out of the blue saying ‘nice win’. So it’s definitely getting some notice already. There is still support in the UK from other team managers. Everyone does pay attention to it, no matter what the event is; a win is a win. UK racing is at such a high level now as well. Nat Bs are some of the hardest races to win. In the [National Road Series races] you have bigger teams with up to eight riders each, you can get a bit more control. But in the Nat Bs, you tend get four riders per team at most. So it’s very much a free for all essentially; it can be a lot harder, you don’t have teammates there so you can’t cover all the moves. That’s where it all starts to come from, getting your name out there, getting a couple of early season results. And the notice comes.”
Ollie Peckover (Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling). 24 April 2022. The 2022 Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic. Credit: Joe Cotterill/The British Continental
He may already be grabbing the attention of other teams and riders, but Peckover has bigger targets in his sights than just the National B calendar. The Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic, the UK’s only one-day UCI race, and the national championships, are his big two goals in the coming months.
I want to try and actually make a point now this year, because obviously, it’s the only UCI race in the UK now
“Moving into the next part of the season, the nationals, they’re going to be the big focus. But after last year at the CiCLE Classic, where I was out front all day doing a team worker’s job, giving the guys in the bunch an easier ride, I want to try and actually make a point now this year, because obviously, it’s the only UCI race in the UK now. It’s one where international teams come over, there’s a lot more focus on it, there’s a lot more publicity. A good result there goes a lot further than like your normal premier calendar [National Road Series] event.”
We will be keeping a close on Peckover in the coming months to see if he can continue his fine early season form. And by the sounds of it, if it works for him, so will a number of domestic – and possibly international – teams too.
It might have been tempting for 24-year-old Ollie Peckover to turn his back on his cycling career at the end of last season.
He had just finished his second year at UCI Continental level after stints first with SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling in 2021 and then Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling in 2022. He acquitted himself well too. After joining SwiftCarbon part way through 2021, he finished the fearsome Volta a Portugal, bagged 7th at the Ryedale Grasscrete Grand Prix, before completing the Tour of Britain, finishing with a top ten on the final stage in a chaotic sprint won by Wout van Aert.
When SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling then folded, Peckover switched to Ribble Weldtite in 2022. And despite a lack of UCI-level road racing opportunities, he had another strong season, coming second in the RTTC National 25 Mile Championships, winning his first Tour Series round in Barking a few days later, and then finishing 7th in the national time trial championships. At the season’s end, however, he found himself scrabbling for a contract once again with the news that Ribble Weldtite would also close.
He may have stepped down a level this year, joining a strong trainSharp elite squad, but his motivation appears undiminished, as a win in his first road race of the season at Capernwray proves. We were pleased, then, to catch up with him shortly afterward.
Featured image: Ellen Isherwood
We started by asking him about the end of last season, when he found out that Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling was going to fold. He is philosophical about the team’s demise, regarding it as a sign of the times.
“I have no bad words to say about that team at all. The amount of support they had for all the guys, everyone meshed really well. It’s just unfortunate. It’s the way that UK racing has been going for the last few years, as we know. Each year there’s been less and less teams actually competing on the scene,” he told us.
“A couple of sponsors pulled out, and the cash just wasn’t there. So last year, it was running on quite a skeleton budget. And obviously, we didn’t really go overseas to do many races because the money just wasn’t there. So then when the funds got cut further, it just wasn’t possible [to continue].”
With the number of men’s British UCI Continental teams down to just three this year, finding a new squad was not easy, but he credits Colin Sturgess (then DS at Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, now at AT85 Pro Cycling) with helping him with supporting his search.
“I was having quite a few chats with him throughout the last couple of months of the season, as we’d found out by then that the team wouldn’t be continuing on into 2023. So at that point, it’s, well, where do we go from here? You have to start making those conversations. I got on quite well with Colin, he’s really local to me, and he helped me through.”
He was not without choices when it came to teams – RoKIT-SRCT also courted him, but as he explains, in the end, he felt trainSharp’s offer better suited his twin interests of time trialing and road racing.
“So there were a couple of options. But just looking at the level of support that the options were going to provide, trainSharp was just coming out on top. It was a super hard decision to actually make that call in the end. The other team that I was potentially going to be joining was SRCT. Obviously, they’ve got a good calendar, they’ve already been racing abroad a few times this year.
“But trainSharp is still going abroad, we’re going away later this month, in fact. And at trainSharp, I get two race bikes provided and a time trial bike, which obviously is a big part of what I do. I love a good time trial. So yeah, it fitted more into what I was interested in.
“The coach at trainSharp, Chris McNamara, he’s really into his time trialing as well. So we can essentially be, like, quite good buddies in that sense; we relate to each other. So yeah, it works out really well.”
When I ask him if it was a disappointment to lose his UCI Continental status, Peckover’s response indicates that he is a rider who tries to look on the bright side when he encounters a setback. He appears modest too.
“It is a bit disappointing to be stepping down from a continental contract. But at the end of the day is what it is. I’ve always been a rider that says ‘look, if you give me some kit, give me a bike, I will ride for you, ride my heart out no matter what.'”
Peckover was hopeful of a result going into his first road race this season at Capernwray but was unsure quite what to expect.
“I came fourth on that circuit a few years ago, I think it was 2021, when I was riding for SwiftCarbon. So I knew it was a circuit, which, even if it doesn’t exactly suit me, I knew that I could sort of replicate that. And I’m going much better now than I was back then. But honestly, going into it, I had no idea what to expect, I was just hoping that something was going happen.”
Happen it certainly did, with Peckover taking a convincing win after a 55-mile two-up break with Jack Crook (Richardsons-Trek DAS). Moreover, Peckover is pleased that the team has started well this season, helping the squad to get over the disappointment of not being selected as a British Cycling Elite Development Team this season, which he says was “a bit of shock”.
“We’ve come out the gate screaming,” he says. “I’ve picked up the win at Capernwray, we had Tim Torrie up there at Jock Wadley. In think in total, including my coach Chris McNamara, who doesn’t ride for trainSharp but is a trainSharp coach, we had five in the top 20 at Jock Wadley.”
Peckover feels these early season results bode well for the bigger targets coming up, especially with the squad having gelled well together so far.
“The season looking good”, he says excitedly. “Everyone at trainSharp has been super supportive. It’s a really great group of guys that we’ve got in the elite team. We were in Tenerife at the start of February and it was amazing to see how fast everyone clicked. Not a single bit of bickering. Everyone got on, everyone was helping out. Hopefully, it’s going to be the start of something good with the team. Getting results early doors, getting names put out there, getting more publicity, helping it grow.”
What about his and his team’s plans for 2023, then?
“It’s only March, only very early season but the CiCLE Classic is quite soon, 23rd of April. So it’s not long before the big events actually start to come through. We are going abroad a couple of times but for the most part, it is going to be mainly UK based. Obviously, with the [National Road Series] there is a reduced calendar, but at least we’ve still got a calendar of some sorts.
With the national champs, that would be quite the event that I’d be looking to focus on and prove a point at. It’s the biggest one of the year, the national champs, the one that everyone’s looking at, international teams too. I’m not an under-23 anymore, but you can still make a mark there, get in the right moves, show your face where you need.”
Peckover still has ambitions then, and his victory and Capernwray has already got him some attention.
“I’ve already had a couple of people message me that wouldn’t have normally messaged just out of the blue saying ‘nice win’. So it’s definitely getting some notice already. There is still support in the UK from other team managers. Everyone does pay attention to it, no matter what the event is; a win is a win. UK racing is at such a high level now as well. Nat Bs are some of the hardest races to win. In the [National Road Series races] you have bigger teams with up to eight riders each, you can get a bit more control. But in the Nat Bs, you tend get four riders per team at most. So it’s very much a free for all essentially; it can be a lot harder, you don’t have teammates there so you can’t cover all the moves. That’s where it all starts to come from, getting your name out there, getting a couple of early season results. And the notice comes.”
He may already be grabbing the attention of other teams and riders, but Peckover has bigger targets in his sights than just the National B calendar. The Rutland-Melton International CiCLE Classic, the UK’s only one-day UCI race, and the national championships, are his big two goals in the coming months.
“Moving into the next part of the season, the nationals, they’re going to be the big focus. But after last year at the CiCLE Classic, where I was out front all day doing a team worker’s job, giving the guys in the bunch an easier ride, I want to try and actually make a point now this year, because obviously, it’s the only UCI race in the UK now. It’s one where international teams come over, there’s a lot more focus on it, there’s a lot more publicity. A good result there goes a lot further than like your normal premier calendar [National Road Series] event.”
We will be keeping a close on Peckover in the coming months to see if he can continue his fine early season form. And by the sounds of it, if it works for him, so will a number of domestic – and possibly international – teams too.
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