Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne interview: riding an unconventional path
From the boathouses of Putney to the roads of the National Road Series, Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne is forging her own way in cycling. A Tokyo Olympian turned two-wheeled powerhouse, the former GB rower has signed as Raptor Factory Racing’s sole female rider for 2025 – a move as unorthodox as it is fitting.
It is perhaps fate that a clubhouse sitting on the banks of the River Thames in Putney, famed as the starting point for the boat race, is the scene where Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne begins a new chapter in her cycling journey. A former rower who represented Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics, the 28-year-old becomes Raptor Factory Racing’s sole female rider for 2025, an unconventional approach for an unconventional rider: an independent focused on doing cycling her own way.
“It was just a really organic, natural process,” she says of the decision to ride for Raptor, having spent the previous twelve months riding for DAS-Hutchinson, picking up two National B wins in the colours of the women’s UCI Continental squad only two years after taking up the sport.
I decided going into this season I wanted to focus more on what I was doing individually, and have the freedom to choose my own schedule
“I decided going into this season I wanted to focus more on what I was doing individually, and have the freedom to choose my own schedule,” she explains, her London base meaning she was already familiar with the Clubhouse, a hub for sport buzzing with local athletes, and the team behind Raptor. “I live in Putney, literally the street behind them. We got on really well, had a few conversations, I found out they were starting a team and we had a bit of a chat about it, and I told them I was going to ride as an independent this year. They said, well do you want to be an independent woman, but ride for us, we could work together and have a really good relationship?”
Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com – 14/05/2023 – British Cycling – National Road Series – Women’s Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix presented by Wattbike – Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England – Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne of Team Boompods
It was an offer which appealed to a self-styled unconventional rider still finding her way in cycling, a second place in the 2023 Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix evidence of her potential. “I’ve come across from rowing and I have a really big sporting background, but the whole ‘bike thing’ is a bit of a different world and it’s taking a little bit longer to figure out,” she explains. “I just kind of wanted that freedom to really target the races that I want to do and be able to ride the way I want to. I work full-time as well so I need flexibility to do what I want to do.”
I’ve come across from rowing and I have a really big sporting background, but the whole ‘bike thing’ is a bit of a different world
An under-23 world record holder and multiple under-23 world championship gold medallist, Hodgkins-Byrne turned to cycling for a new challenge, having been focused on the water for so long. “I wasn’t enjoying rowing anymore and for me, I don’t see there’s any point to doing something you’re not loving,” she states. “I’d achieved a lot in rowing and I couldn’t see myself staying there and loving it, so I thought it would be good to switch over. And I’m also not very good just like doing something I’m not passionate about, because it’s just soul destroying,” she points out, having found a new love in cycling.
“Its bloody hard!” she laughs, when asked how she found the transition between sports. “Cycling is a lot more, yeah, the leg strength is good and the physicality is there, but the race craft and everything to learn around that is a lot more. It takes time to develop the right physiology for cycling. For rowing you’ve got a lot more upper body mass, you’ve got a lot more muscle mass in general, you’re used to a lot lower rpm as such, so it takes a bit of time to figure it out, but it’s good fun, I love it.”
2024 – Rapha Women’s Lincoln Grand Prix – Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne of DAS-Hutchinson-Brother UK (centre) climbs Michaelgate. Image: Craig Zadoroznyj/SWpix.com
Hodgkins-Byrne has thrown herself into the sport, riding across the disciplines under coach Monica Greenwood. “When I swapped over I went to focus on the track and then ended up doing a bit more on the road and really enjoying that as well, so I’m trying to do all forms of cycling a bit more,” she explains.
If it’s just like a race where I can go pretty hard, it’s a little less technical, more just kind of strength and fitness, physicality and being really tough that kind of suits me well
Now with three years of experience in cycling, Hodgkins-Byrne is beginning to come to terms with the sort of rider she is, her natural strength and physicality a major asset. “If it’s just like a race where I can go pretty hard, it’s a little less technical, more just kind of strength and fitness, physicality and being really tough that kind of suits me well,” she explains,
Her second place in the Rapha Lincoln GP two years ago was early confirmation of her potential, her stage win in the Ronde van Wymeswold last year a demonstration of her improved race craft, taking a win from a two-up sprint having placed herself in the winning move, demonstrating her strength by powering up the harsh climbs littered along the route. “I’m decent in a sprint, if it’s again not very technical! But yeah, anything where I can go hard basically!” she summarises.
Independents are a growing number in cycling, seizing the chance to take control and prove that there is no one size fits all formula in the sport. With a link to her rowing past at Raptor’s riverside Clubhouse, 2025 will see if Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne can replicate the likes of Matt Holmes and Ben Chilton as independents who have taken the domestic scene by storm. An unconventional path, for an unconventional rider.
It is perhaps fate that a clubhouse sitting on the banks of the River Thames in Putney, famed as the starting point for the boat race, is the scene where Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne begins a new chapter in her cycling journey. A former rower who represented Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics, the 28-year-old becomes Raptor Factory Racing’s sole female rider for 2025, an unconventional approach for an unconventional rider: an independent focused on doing cycling her own way.
“It was just a really organic, natural process,” she says of the decision to ride for Raptor, having spent the previous twelve months riding for DAS-Hutchinson, picking up two National B wins in the colours of the women’s UCI Continental squad only two years after taking up the sport.
“I decided going into this season I wanted to focus more on what I was doing individually, and have the freedom to choose my own schedule,” she explains, her London base meaning she was already familiar with the Clubhouse, a hub for sport buzzing with local athletes, and the team behind Raptor. “I live in Putney, literally the street behind them. We got on really well, had a few conversations, I found out they were starting a team and we had a bit of a chat about it, and I told them I was going to ride as an independent this year. They said, well do you want to be an independent woman, but ride for us, we could work together and have a really good relationship?”
It was an offer which appealed to a self-styled unconventional rider still finding her way in cycling, a second place in the 2023 Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix evidence of her potential. “I’ve come across from rowing and I have a really big sporting background, but the whole ‘bike thing’ is a bit of a different world and it’s taking a little bit longer to figure out,” she explains. “I just kind of wanted that freedom to really target the races that I want to do and be able to ride the way I want to. I work full-time as well so I need flexibility to do what I want to do.”
An under-23 world record holder and multiple under-23 world championship gold medallist, Hodgkins-Byrne turned to cycling for a new challenge, having been focused on the water for so long. “I wasn’t enjoying rowing anymore and for me, I don’t see there’s any point to doing something you’re not loving,” she states. “I’d achieved a lot in rowing and I couldn’t see myself staying there and loving it, so I thought it would be good to switch over. And I’m also not very good just like doing something I’m not passionate about, because it’s just soul destroying,” she points out, having found a new love in cycling.
“Its bloody hard!” she laughs, when asked how she found the transition between sports. “Cycling is a lot more, yeah, the leg strength is good and the physicality is there, but the race craft and everything to learn around that is a lot more. It takes time to develop the right physiology for cycling. For rowing you’ve got a lot more upper body mass, you’ve got a lot more muscle mass in general, you’re used to a lot lower rpm as such, so it takes a bit of time to figure it out, but it’s good fun, I love it.”
Hodgkins-Byrne has thrown herself into the sport, riding across the disciplines under coach Monica Greenwood. “When I swapped over I went to focus on the track and then ended up doing a bit more on the road and really enjoying that as well, so I’m trying to do all forms of cycling a bit more,” she explains.
Now with three years of experience in cycling, Hodgkins-Byrne is beginning to come to terms with the sort of rider she is, her natural strength and physicality a major asset. “If it’s just like a race where I can go pretty hard, it’s a little less technical, more just kind of strength and fitness, physicality and being really tough that kind of suits me well,” she explains,
Her second place in the Rapha Lincoln GP two years ago was early confirmation of her potential, her stage win in the Ronde van Wymeswold last year a demonstration of her improved race craft, taking a win from a two-up sprint having placed herself in the winning move, demonstrating her strength by powering up the harsh climbs littered along the route. “I’m decent in a sprint, if it’s again not very technical! But yeah, anything where I can go hard basically!” she summarises.
Independents are a growing number in cycling, seizing the chance to take control and prove that there is no one size fits all formula in the sport. With a link to her rowing past at Raptor’s riverside Clubhouse, 2025 will see if Charlotte Hodgkins-Byrne can replicate the likes of Matt Holmes and Ben Chilton as independents who have taken the domestic scene by storm. An unconventional path, for an unconventional rider.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
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