Olympic Games hopeful Will Perrett has enjoyed a remarkable rise in recent years, going from riding British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) races with the University of Derby to winning a bronze medal in the omnium at the 2023 UEC European Track Championships. After rising to prominence as part of the Huub Wattbike Test Team with the likes of Dan Bigham and John Archibald, the 27-year-old gave up his job as an environmental consultant last year, riding the UCI Track Champions League and joining Embark Spirit BSS – now called the Spirit TBW Stuart Hall team – on the road.
I’d like to go to the world championships and be fighting for medals and a world title there
TheBritish Continental spoke to Perrett on the eve of his emphatic points race victory at the National Track Championships to find out about his Olympic ambitions, becoming a full-time athlete, and combining both track and road racing.
2024 British National Track Championships – National Cycling Centre, Manchester, England – Men’s Points Race Final – William Perrett of Spirit TBW celebrates win. Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Is the main objective this season to be selected for the Paris Olympics?
Yeah, that is an aim. In a few weeks time I’ll go out to Hong Kong for the Nations Cup. I’ll ride there, do the madison, hopefully have a successful time, and that will be me putting my claim forward for the Olympics, really. Only a small squad gets to go to the Olympics, so the world championships in October, that’s a big aim as well. I’d like to go to the world championships and be fighting for medals and a world title there.
How much has giving up work and becoming a full-time cyclist changed for you?
It makes a massive difference in the sense that you can be so focused on the cycling itself, and the recovery time is so much better. My first year hasn’t gone that smoothly because I had glandular fever for, unfortunately, a long period during that. So it was a bit like ‘oh yes, I’ve got this chance to train full time’, to, all of a sudden I can’t even train. I had a couple of months off the bike, and it’s been a while getting back and trying to regain my fitness, but now I’m back.
Before this, I’ve been out in Tenerife for three weeks. I’ve had a really good volume block and endurance block out there riding up [Mount] Teide. It makes such a difference rather than getting back from work and going on the turbo trainer, and even going out in the wet and cold – you just can’t do the same amount of hours with the daylight in Manchester and the UK. So hopefully, in a few weeks time, it all pays off.
Are we going to be seeing you racing on the road this season?
2024 British National Track Championships – National Cycling Centre, Manchester, England – Men’s Points Race Final – William Perrett of Spirit TBW celebrates win, Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
It’s just going to be the domestic scene, I’ll be riding for Spirit TBW Stuart Hall. I’ll be doing most of the prems [Ed: National Road Series races], a couple of the Irish stage races, and a couple of UCI races. I’m looking forward to the road season, actually. Last year, like I said, it was quite scuppered by the time off the bike I had, it will be nice to have a full season with some good races, I’m looking forward to it.
How compatible is racing on the track and the road?
I’d say they’re pretty compatible, really. A lot of your fitness is built on the road with the hours that you put in, then to get really good on the track you have to come back to the track and do a lot of conditioning to get used to the speed, the accelerations, even just riding in position. But I think the main building of your engine comes from what you do on the road and your road season.
So I think it’s very compatible, as long as you can prioritise what you want to prioritise, I think that’s where some people may struggle more, their road team may want them to prioritise a certain race, but, for example, coming into the track world’s if I want to do a load of track work, I won’t want to go to a stage race.
Are Spirit TBW Stuart Hall on board with your track ambitions?
Yeah, they said they are. They are a great group of guys out to support me, and I’m very happy racing with them.
Olympic Games hopeful Will Perrett has enjoyed a remarkable rise in recent years, going from riding British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) races with the University of Derby to winning a bronze medal in the omnium at the 2023 UEC European Track Championships. After rising to prominence as part of the Huub Wattbike Test Team with the likes of Dan Bigham and John Archibald, the 27-year-old gave up his job as an environmental consultant last year, riding the UCI Track Champions League and joining Embark Spirit BSS – now called the Spirit TBW Stuart Hall team – on the road.
The British Continental spoke to Perrett on the eve of his emphatic points race victory at the National Track Championships to find out about his Olympic ambitions, becoming a full-time athlete, and combining both track and road racing.
Is the main objective this season to be selected for the Paris Olympics?
Yeah, that is an aim. In a few weeks time I’ll go out to Hong Kong for the Nations Cup. I’ll ride there, do the madison, hopefully have a successful time, and that will be me putting my claim forward for the Olympics, really. Only a small squad gets to go to the Olympics, so the world championships in October, that’s a big aim as well. I’d like to go to the world championships and be fighting for medals and a world title there.
How much has giving up work and becoming a full-time cyclist changed for you?
It makes a massive difference in the sense that you can be so focused on the cycling itself, and the recovery time is so much better. My first year hasn’t gone that smoothly because I had glandular fever for, unfortunately, a long period during that. So it was a bit like ‘oh yes, I’ve got this chance to train full time’, to, all of a sudden I can’t even train. I had a couple of months off the bike, and it’s been a while getting back and trying to regain my fitness, but now I’m back.
Before this, I’ve been out in Tenerife for three weeks. I’ve had a really good volume block and endurance block out there riding up [Mount] Teide. It makes such a difference rather than getting back from work and going on the turbo trainer, and even going out in the wet and cold – you just can’t do the same amount of hours with the daylight in Manchester and the UK. So hopefully, in a few weeks time, it all pays off.
Are we going to be seeing you racing on the road this season?
It’s just going to be the domestic scene, I’ll be riding for Spirit TBW Stuart Hall. I’ll be doing most of the prems [Ed: National Road Series races], a couple of the Irish stage races, and a couple of UCI races. I’m looking forward to the road season, actually. Last year, like I said, it was quite scuppered by the time off the bike I had, it will be nice to have a full season with some good races, I’m looking forward to it.
How compatible is racing on the track and the road?
I’d say they’re pretty compatible, really. A lot of your fitness is built on the road with the hours that you put in, then to get really good on the track you have to come back to the track and do a lot of conditioning to get used to the speed, the accelerations, even just riding in position. But I think the main building of your engine comes from what you do on the road and your road season.
So I think it’s very compatible, as long as you can prioritise what you want to prioritise, I think that’s where some people may struggle more, their road team may want them to prioritise a certain race, but, for example, coming into the track world’s if I want to do a load of track work, I won’t want to go to a stage race.
Are Spirit TBW Stuart Hall on board with your track ambitions?
Yeah, they said they are. They are a great group of guys out to support me, and I’m very happy racing with them.
Featured image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
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