Alex Richardson interview: the race that got away

There are no domestic road races are as iconic and demanding as the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix. For Alex Richardson, a two-time winner at Lincoln, this year’s race promised another chance to etch his name in history. However, a momentary lapse led to a premature celebration, turning his quest for a third victory into a poignant tale of what might have been.

The British Continental spoke to the 34-year-old Saint Piran rider the day after the race to delve into Richardson’s perspective on that fateful moment, exploring the nuances of his experience and his reflections on the incident. Beyond recounting what happened, Richardson opens up about adjusting to life balancing a professional career with the demands of competitive cycling, his impending retirement plans, his decision to leave Alpecin-Fenix, the special relationship he developed with Jack Rootkin-Gray and Zeb Kyffin last season and his love for British road racing.

The race that got away

Richardson was in prime form ahead of the Lincoln Grand Prix, recent wins at the Timmy James Memorial and the PNE National B road races proof of his shape. Gunning for his third win, Richardson had been riding a tactically acute race. On the penultimate lap he made it into lead group alongside Adam Lewis (Team Skyline) and three others, eventual winner Holmes in a chasing group behind. And then, as the five hit Michaelgate, Richardson put in a stinging attack, with Lewis the only rider able to stay within touching distance.

I looked at Strava after, and I rode that same segment eight seconds quicker than Matt did on the last lap. But when you empty it, you really empty it

Crossing the finish line at the top of the climb, Richardson raised his arms in celebration, believing he’d won the race for a third time, before realising he had another lap still to race. An unanticipated two-up time trial with Lewis ensued but the pair were caught, Richardson eventually finishing fifth.

Alex Richardson (Saint Piran) celebrates a lap early at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix 😬 pic.twitter.com/4FFPGcaszp

— The British Continental (@BritishConti) May 12, 2024

He explains that his attack up Michaelgate on what he thought was the final lap was an all-out effort designed to win the race, one that he believes may have matched or bettered his rivals had he only saved himself for one more lap.

“I looked at Strava after, and I rode that same segment eight seconds quicker than Matt did on the last lap,” Richardson says. “But when you empty it, you really empty it.”

From his perspective, the premature move not only cost him valuable energy but also altered the race dynamic, affecting how he had to ride on the final lap and diminishing his race-winning odds.

“It’s twofold, because I emptied it going up the climb, and then I’m like 500 metres up the road from, or three, four hundred metres up the road already,” he says. “I look back and I’d made a huge gap with 25 seconds from the group that I could have used to get to the finish line, you know? And that group could have left Matt Holmes in the wind longer because he was coming across.”

The big one was there were bells at the finish. The spectators were ringing bells and I interpreted that as a bell lap

The big question, of course, is what led him to his early celebration. Richardson says there were two factors involved.

“There were two things I had in my mind why it was the final lap,” he reveals. “So with two laps to go, there was no feeding. And I’m not sure whether that happened with one or two laps to go previously.

“But that was subconscious. I was like, right, no feeding. But the big one was there were bells at the finish. The spectators were ringing bells and I interpreted that as a bell lap.”

The city centre roadside at the Lincoln Grand Prix has become a chorus of cowbells in recent years, title sponsor Rapha selling them to spectators to help create a carnival-like atmosphere.

“Yeah, look, I’m sure there were bells every lap,” Richardson concedes. “But for one reason or another, I…” he tails off, the implication being that when you are racing your mind is juggling a host of considerations, the noise from the roadside just one of them.

Once he’d realised his mistake, however, he still felt a win was possible.

“We had a 25-second gap,” he reflects. “And I thought even though I had gone deep – and physiologically speaking it’s quite hard to come back from that – but even so I actually thought it would still be okay, considering we had half a minute over the top there, I thought it might be okay. But they got together behind and brought us back.”

What I can tell you is I would have been extremely confident to be on the podium and with a very good chance of winning

Richardson is cautious about saying his mistake cost him the win but clearly believes he would have been close at the very least.

“Look, what I can tell you is I would have been extremely confident to be on the podium and with a very good chance of winning,” he asserts. “I’m not going to say absolutely I would have won, but riding around controlled for another lap would have made a big difference to how I felt at the end, rather than going absolutely emptying the tank up there and having to ride a half lap in the wind.

“I could have ridden that [penultimate] climb 10 seconds slower and kept the group together, and doing a minute effort after 3 hours 45 minutes – 100 watts more than you need to – it makes a massive difference. I mean, it was a maximal effort. It was the only time I ever went above threshold in the race. I was feathering the pedal all day, all day, never in the red, always in control. Especially in the heat, you’ve got to keep a lid on it even more. But I was just managing that all day and applying pressure as and when I needed to, slightly, but never too much. And it’s such a shame because, look, I mean, I felt great.”

Despite his mistake, Richardson finds solace in his performance: “I’m really happy with the performance. I’m not even annoyed today.”

“And do you know what? I’m pleased it didn’t happen in that monstrosity of a helmet that I was wearing the week before,” he jokes, referring to the POC Procen helmet he won the Timmy James Memorial road race. “I mean, because that really would have been embarrassing. And I would have welcomed a fourth cat license from BC this morning.”

I think it’s also really good that someone outside of Saint Piran won because it adds competition to the sport and I think it’s good for British cycling to challenge Saint Piran’s monotony, its monopoly

Holmes’ win is also something Richardson celebrates, not just for Holme’s sake but because it marked the end of a period of extreme dominance by Richardson’s Saint Piran’s team.

“I think it’s great that Matt Holmes won,” Richardson enthuses. “He’s a great rider, super talented. And I think it’s also really good that someone outside of Saint Piran won because it adds competition to the sport and I think it’s good for British cycling to challenge Saint Piran’s monotony, its monopoly, whatever you want to call it, of dominance.”

A new balance

Richardson may not have had the result he was aiming for at Lincoln, but he’s still enjoyed plenty of success in 2024, winning three National B road races so far. And he’s managed it despite returning to work this year, no longer dedicating himself to training and racing full-time.

“I’m amazed at how I’ve actually been able to keep 17 to 18 hours a week going, which is within an hour or two of what I was doing before,” he says. “So that definitely won’t affect anything physiologically speaking.”

While he has maintained his training volume, Richardson says the switch has entailed a challenging mental readjustment.

“What I did find was going into the really early season races was the importance of recalibrating mentally, you know, switching off from work and then having to train the day before and go to racing,” he reflects. “And you’re highly strung going into the race because you’ve had pressure at work all week. So the mental side of it and recalibrating, that was really important.

In that early period, there was no margin for error. If I missed a day, I couldn’t just roll it to the next day. I’d have to not lose any time and press on

“In that early period, there was no margin for error. If I missed a day, I couldn’t just roll it to the next day. I’d have to not lose any time and press on. If I punctured or whatever, there were a couple of punctures I had early season, which I had to just get home and get on the turbo.”

Richardson is well-known for his dedication and attention to detail but he admits that with work and family commitments to juggle alongside racing, he wants to cut himself some slack in the coming months.

“Going into nationals, I’m going to leave that margin a little bit more flexible with the cycling and allow myself to be a little bit kinder to myself.”

Retirement beckoning

Although his desire to race remains undiminished for the time being, Richardson believes that there is only so long he can continue his new juggling act.

“It’s limited as to how long you can do that for, because I’m not making sacrifices after Nationals, that’s for sure,” he says.

That’s the finish line for me. Nationals. I’ll do one more Nationals and then I’ll knock it back and just stay fit

Does that mean retirement beckons, I ask?

“Yeah, I mean, that’s the finish line for me. Nationals. I’ll do one more Nationals and then I’ll knock it back and just stay fit. Because there’s no point. There’s no upsides for me. After that, I will probably call it a day.”

Such is Richardson’s enthusiasm for racing, I wonder aloud if he might be tempted to ride the Tour of Britain, or look to other targets, after the Nationals. Is the Nationals a definitive finish line?

“Um, good question. I’ll say I’m going to stop after Nationals. But then, you know, you might present that idea and I might think, ‘I’ll do it for a few more months’. So it’s, it’s always rolling.”

Richardson is keeping the door ajar, then, especially as he has been enjoying a new lease of life on the bike lately. “I’m feeling really good at the moment. I’ve gone back in the last 12 months to a smaller frame and it just fits my body a lot better. I was sort of always a bit restricted on that bigger bike. I’m actually enjoying riding the thing as opposed to doing the process.”

Regardless of his eventual retirement date, Richardson stresses that his racing life will come to an end sooner rather than later, keen to turn his attention more to his family.

“I’ll keep being involved, I’ll keep riding around Richmond Park,” he says. “It’s something I enjoy doing. I absolutely love it, but I can’t afford to go into each day so tired and it takes away from other people’s utility, like the kids and [my wife]. It’s non-stop. And I don’t want to be that guy anymore, you know. I’m not a 20-year-old boy that thinks he can go pro. I’m 34 now.

“And I think a lot of the older guys they feel that more and more. You know, you see someone like Luke Rowe, that’s a big reason for him [retiring] – he wants to spend more time with his family.”

Career reflections

Richardson can look back on a proud career when he does hang his wheels up, one which started late after his transformation from shipping broker to full-time racer in 2015. He can count three UCI road race wins, two Lincoln Grand Prix victories, a podium at the Nationals just two years ago and two years with Mathieu van der Poel’s Alpecin-Fenix team among his many achievements.

I’m a competitor, I’m not doing it for the money. It’s a great thing to say you’ve done and been a part of. But, you know, it’s not all it’s hyped up to be

A racer at heart, he says he ultimately left Alpecin because he didn’t enjoy life on a ProTeam. Racing changed from being a hobby, a passion he enjoyed pursuing, to a job, an environment where he felt constrained and unable to enjoy the sport.

“I really didn’t like the international travel,” reveals Richardson. “And I’m a competitor, I’m not doing it for the money. It’s a great thing to say you’ve done and been a part of. But, you know, it’s not all it’s hyped up to be.

“At that level, it’s a job. And for me, it’s a hobby. So I think that’s the easiest way of putting it, actually. And that’s why I have no interest to do it at that level. Even if now I was offered good money to do it at that level, I absolutely wouldn’t. I have no interest in it. You could put lots of money on the table, but it wouldn’t change.”

That’s not to say Richardsons doesn’t enjoy a team environment. He highlights how much he took pleasure in riding with teammates – and friends – Jack Rootkin-Gray and Zeb Kyffin last season. They formed a bond and an understanding that Richardson clearly treasures.

“It was a privilege to ride with Jack and Zeb,” he says. “I had a similar thing riding with Yanto [Barker] and Richard Todd the year before in Le Col. It’s just that fluidity and knowing when to counter and how to manipulate a situation on the road. And when it’s happening, it’s like art. It’s just beautiful and so fluid to watch, it’s effortless, just one thing rolling after another.

“It gets to a point where there’s just this overwhelming like loyalty to one another. It’s not even loyalty, it’s friendship and loyalty, where you want someone – they’re your friends – so you want them to do good. And that’s really powerful on the road and you can feel and see it.

It’s fluidity and understanding that Richardson says the 2024 version of Saint Piran, infused with youngsters from now-closed USKIS squad, is still learning.

“This squad is not quite there yet. It’s coming. It’s better than it was at the start of the season. It was a lot better yesterday. But then there’s the actual skill side and knowing how to ride in a certain way. Yesterday at Lincoln, not that it would have particularly affected the end result, the team lacked that fluidity and operationally working together,” he says.

That said, he is also quick to praise his teammate Will Roberts’ performance. “I have to mention Will Roberts because he is very good at that. He was exceptional yesterday. He knew exactly where he needed to be, what to do, and it shows his experience. For me, he would be one of my first picks to ride in a Tour of Britain squad, for example, because he’s just reliable and you know what you’re getting. And if you’ve got a good team that knows exactly what one another is going to do, you can always overachieve instead of underachieve.”

To race well in Britain you actually need to be a good bike rider. I absolutely love it

Richardson closes the conversation highlighting his real love for domestic road racing.

“I have to say that I really do like British racing,” he says. “And I think for all our terrible weather that we’ve had, riding in Britain is great because the roads are quite small, they’re undulating, you have to think about them. and you can ride them quite fluidly, whereas abroad that’s not always the case, it comes down to other things. To race well in Britain you actually need to be a good bike rider. I absolutely love it.”