Esther Wong interview: “All I cared about was just to race”

Esther Wong has been racing bikes since she was six years old, following in the wheel tracks of her father and older brother. At nineteen, her cycling journey has reached a pivotal moment: stepping up to the under-23 ranks, changing her racing licence from Great Britain to Ireland, and navigating a challenging winter transfer that saw her leave the troubled Hess squad to find stability at Torelli. These practical decisions – each quietly significant – reflect a rider who knows how to adapt when circumstances shift.

I know I’m still young, so I do have time – people develop at different rates, and there’s always different pathways to getting to the WorldTour

The day after the East Cleveland Classic, The British Continental caught up with Wong to discuss the decision to switch nationalities, the emotional and practical challenges of leaving Hess, and how she’s learning to embrace uncertainty as she builds towards her ambitions on the road ahead.

Wong’s cycling story began practically from the moment she could pedal. Growing up in a dedicated cycling family in Lancashire, she was immersed in the sport as a child. “I started racing when I was six years old,” she says simply​. Her father coached the local club, her older brother raced nationally, and young Esther eagerly tagged along to compete in under-8 events. Weekends were spent crisscrossing the country to attend her brother’s races – and if there was a kids’ race on offer, she was on the start line. What began as a little sister’s pastime quickly ignited into a genuine passion.

By age ten she had followed her curiosity onto the velodrome, making her debut at Manchester’s famous track​. Not long after, she ventured into cyclocross for “something to do in the winter,” only to discover she relished the mud and grit as much as the tarmac​. Before long, Wong was competing year-round – road races in summer, muddy cyclocross circuits in winter, and track championships whenever she could fit them in. It was an all-encompassing cycling childhood, one driven not by pushy parents or podium obsessions, but by a sheer love of riding and racing in any form.

I prefer racing hard, obviously pushing myself. I don’t mind racing with them because I can get more out of it

As Wong entered her teens, her love for cycling translated into burgeoning talent. She joined the newly-formed junior Shibden Apex Race Team at the beginning of 2023, a squad that quickly became a hotbed of British cycling prospects. “There were a lot of strong riders, so I knew it was gonna be a strong team,” she says of signing on without hesitation. “I already knew all the girls from racing together,” she adds, “most of us were on the NSR [National School of Racing] for the British programme, so I didn’t give much thought about what junior team to go to. The offer was there and it felt great”​.

The roster included several of the country’s top juniors—future stars who often grabbed headlines. Wong found herself in illustrious company, racing alongside the likes of Cat Ferguson and Imogen Wolff, whose exploits sometimes stole the limelight. Rather than resenting it, Wong embraced the challenge. Having such fierce peers “makes the racing harder and it pushes you more,” she reflects. “I prefer racing hard, obviously pushing myself. I don’t mind racing with them because I can get more out of it”​.

Shibden’s atmosphere was just what she needed at that stage: equal parts competitive and fun. Team founder Tim Ferguson (father of her teammate Cat) assembled the girls with a clear vision. Training camps were filled with teenage laughter and friendly rivalry in equal measure. “We’d always push each other and learn off each other—from what you do pre-race to recovery strategies. We’d always have fun and have a laugh,” Wong recalls fondly. “It wasn’t a really serious atmosphere; it was enjoyable”​. It wasn’t a pressure-cooker; it was a launching pad. Within that supportive environment, Wong quietly flourished.

We’d always push each other and learn off each other. We’d always have fun and have a laugh

Her first year as a junior began strongly, winning the MAS Design Yorkshire Classic, and she built impressively on that momentum in 2024. She shone in the National Series, securing a fantastic fourth place at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, another fourth at the Otley Grand Prix, and reaching the podium at the Curlew Cup. Her promise extended beyond the domestic scene, too.

Wong lights up when recalling a breakthrough moment towards the end of 2024, when she earned her first UCI podium at the Watersley Ladies Challenge Nations Cup race. “I’m quite proud of the Watersley Nations Cup,” she says. “It was a two-day event with three stages. The time trial didn’t go well, I’m not really a time trialist, so I wasn’t expecting much from that, but I wanted to go in for the road races.” On a scorching day in that prestigious junior stage race, she fought her way into a decisive breakaway and hung on for third on the stage, securing third place overall—validation that she could compete with Europe’s best. “It was my first podium on a UCI level… I was really happy with that,” she says, the pride evident in her voice​.

By the end of her junior years, Wong had established herself as one of Britain’s most promising all-rounders—a puncheur and climber with a diesel engine, even if she was rarely the rider raising her arms in victory. As she prepared to leave the junior ranks, Wong found herself at a crossroads that would shape her next chapter far beyond mere results on paper.

Wong’s decision that winter was both deeply personal and boldly strategic: she would no longer race under a British license, but an Irish one. It was a move she’d considered since she was fifteen, initially postponed when she joined Great Britain’s Junior Academy. “I was very nearly going to do it before I started as a junior,” she explains, “but then I got onto the programme for the Junior Academy with GB, so I carried on through the pathway until the end of junior. When it came to moving up to under-23, it seemed like a natural time to make the move”​.

Her motivation went beyond performance: it was an opportunity to reconnect with her heritage. “I just want to learn more about my heritage with Ireland—my grandma is Irish,” she explains of the choice​. For a young athlete developed entirely within British Cycling’s structure, switching allegiance was significant. But Wong felt strongly that the Irish pathway aligned better with her ambitions. “The development with the Irish pathway better suits me than with the British pathway,” she says, adding candidly, “I think the support is just better for me as well”​.

The development with the Irish pathway better suits me than with the British pathway

Almost immediately, she noticed the difference. The Irish cycling community welcomed her warmly, providing racing opportunities she may not have otherwise experienced. “I’ve already raced with them on the track in Grenchen and at the Euros, and I’ve raced with them for cyclocross too, and they’ve been really good experiences,” she notes. “I’ve learnt a lot by being with them, and it was really cool to wear the Irish jersey”​. Pulling on the green kit became a powerful symbol for Wong, a tangible link to a piece of her identity previously unexplored.

The change has also sharpened her ambitions. Suddenly, an Olympic dream felt within reach. “I have the ambition to go to the Olympics,” she declares without hesitation. “As a group, we’re working towards LA with the team pursuit. That’ll be my goal – to hopefully be part of that team pursuit in LA”​. It’s a lofty ambition, one that demands years of dedicated effort, but for Wong, embracing her Irish side was never about turning away from Britain. Instead, it was a deliberate move towards a future shaped by her own choices.

There was little communication about what was going on, if we were racing. We didn’t have a race calendar… the future of the team just seemed really uncertain

Yet even as she secured her new national colours, the winter of 2024–25 tested Wong in other ways. Moving up to the senior ranks, she needed a professional team to race for. She signed with the ambitious UK-based UCI Continental squad – Hess Cycling Team – in October, thinking her immediate future was sorted. It didn’t take long for those assurances to unravel, however. By January, alarm bells were ringing: “There was little communication about what was going on, if we were racing. We didn’t have a race calendar… the future of the team just seemed really uncertain,” Wong recounts.

She continues, “By this point it was March, and we still had no idea what was going on. All I cared about really was just to race. That’s all I wanted to do, and it was getting a bit stressful”​. What should have been an exciting step into the senior world turned into a nightmare of limbo.

For a young rider desperate to prove herself, the waiting was agonising. “I was a bit like, why didn’t I do something else? Why didn’t I [sign with another team]? But it is what it is,” Wong says with quiet resignation. “I wouldn’t have known at all back in October that this was gonna happen”​. She found herself watching the season begin, legs itching to compete while her inbox remained empty. The stress mounted each day the uncertainty dragged on. It’s the kind of turmoil that can derail a fledgling career: funding falls through, opportunities slip away, and a once-bright talent can fade into obscurity through no fault of her own. Wong was determined not to let that happen.

In March, with the season already underway and still no clarity from Hess, Wong made a gutsy call: she left. Technically, it meant walking away from a contract and into the unknown, but staying with a team that might never even pin on a number felt riskier. “I thought I would be proactive and get out of the team, to then get into a team that can actually race and start racing,” she says decisively. “By this point it was March and we still had no idea what was going on. All I cared about really was just to race”​. It was a crash course in the precarious reality many young riders face – teams can fold overnight, promises evaporate, and you often have to fend for yourself. Wong admits, “The teams in the sport are very unstable at Continental level. Just the funding and everything isn’t great”​.

It was March and we still had no idea what was going on. All I cared about really was just to race

Her proactivity paid off. A lifeline came via Torelli, an Irish club team with a strong international race programme willing to take her on last-minute. Wong grabbed the opportunity without hesitation. “This opportunity with Torelli came up, so I took it, and here I am now. I’ve been able to go out to Europe a couple of times already and race for them,” she says with evident relief​. Within days, she finally had a race calendar, a plan to pin her hopes on.

The start to her senior career hasn’t been the smooth, pampered neo-pro transition she might have once envisioned. In fact, it she says it looks a lot like her junior days all over again: parents footing the travel bills, long drives in the family car to far-flung races. “At the minute, my parents have been helping me out a lot, travelling to Europe, basically funding myself,” she says matter-of-factly. “My bikes are always breaking, so we’re always going to bike shops. It is a bit stressful at times because you always have to plan, always have to book things and figure out when you are going to travel”​. It is far from glamorous.

But oddly, once she took control of her fate, Wong has felt a weight lift off her shoulders. “It is a lot harder than it would have been in a team, but I feel less stressed now, because I know what to expect – whereas before, I didn’t know if I was gonna race or not,” she reflects​. In trading the false security of a team that failed her for the tough freedom of a more flexible arrangement, she has reclaimed her peace of mind.

With a number finally pinned on her jersey, Wong threw herself into racing with relief and relish. Her baptism into the elite peloton was, by her own admission, a shock. In her first UCI race in Belgium, the chaotic frenzy of UCI-level racing left her clinging on in the bunch for dear life. The flat, fast roads and jostling elbows were a world apart from the junior races she knew. She finished far down the result sheet, humbled and wide-eyed at the step up. But a week later, given a hillier course more suited to her strengths, she was right up in the mix, sprinting to a commendable 12th place in France. She was already finding her feet.

Back in Britain, Wong has wasted no time making her mark. In her first domestic races of the year, she seized the chance to win—not once, but twice. She took a stage win at the Peaks 2 Day in March and then soloed to victory in the Capernwray Road Race this month on familiar training roads near her home in Lancashire. After rarely getting to savour a win as a junior, these early-season triumphs carried a quiet but deep significance. They weren’t internationally renowned races, but to Wong, they meant the world.

It was good to see that my training has been going well and that I still had a sprint at the end

“Doing the Peaks Two-Day was my first race of the season and I wasn’t really knowing what to expect,” she admits, adding, “I’ve just been training out on my own, not really knowing where I am with all the other riders, so it was good to see that my training has been going well and that I still had a sprint at the end”​.

Capernwray held even greater personal meaning. “Capernwray is my home race, I train on that finishing climb [Sunny Bank] a lot,” Wong explains. “I basically went into it thinking, ‘I know this climb, I’ll sit on the front and put a hard pace on every lap and see how many riders are left.’ Once it got down to a select group, I was just waiting until the bottom of that climb, then went full gas.” Her strategy worked perfectly, and crossing the line alone brought deep satisfaction. It was a moment of genuine validation—a clear sign that despite the rocky start to her senior career, her commitment and perseverance were beginning to pay off​.

Still, the learning curve of independence has been steep. Last weekend, she lined up at the National Road Series East Cleveland Classic without teammates to back her. Keen to prove herself again, Wong perhaps tried too hard. “I’m quite disappointed with East Cleveland… in hindsight, I think I did too much work,” she says of that day, where she spent energy chasing down almost every attack​. As the only Torelli rider amid well-drilled teams, she felt it fell on her shoulders to cover moves: “because I was a solo rider and all the teams were working together… I took that responsibility too much,” she reflects. By the final lap, her legs were leaden from all those efforts; when the decisive climb came, they seized with cramps. Swarmed by fresher riders, her race was over. It was a stinging disappointment for someone not used to coming up short on a hill. But in it lay a valuable lesson. “I think I have to be a bit more smart with my tactics… Cleveland wasn’t that smart of me,” she says with a self-deprecating grin​. Every setback was becoming fuel for growth.

Through each twist and turn of her young career, Wong has been piecing together a profound education – not just in racing, but in resilience. In the span of a few months, she has gone from a structured junior programme to forging her own way as an under-23, from representing Great Britain to donning the Irish green, from having a contract in hand to effectively racing as a semi-privateer. It’s not the seamless trajectory that some of her celebrated peers have enjoyed. Riders like her former teammate Cat Ferguson leapt straight into the elite ranks with big-name contracts and agents to pave the way. For Wong, the path will be more circuitous. She knows that to reach the same destination she’ll have to shout a little louder with her results. “I think the main thing is results… I’m not the type of rider that has amazing power numbers. I’m a racer… it’s just results, it’s the obvious one,” she says, acutely aware that her performances must do the talking​.

I just take my time and try not to let it stress me out too much

That knowledge could become a crushing weight if she let it, but Wong is learning to balance ambition with patience. Yes, she dreams of turning pro on a WorldTour team within the next couple of years. “I’ll be doing the best I can to make that dream come true,” she says, determined. “Getting to the teams that will help me get to that WorldTour status, that’s the goal”​. And yes, she feels internal pressure every time she clips into the pedals, driven by a constant urge to justify her potential. “I do feel a bit of pressure because I just always want to do well,” she confides​. However, Wong doesn’t let that pressure consume her. Instead, she holds onto a perspective both wise and grounded. “I know I’m still young, so I do have time – people develop at different rates, and there’s always different pathways to getting to the WorldTour,” she reminds herself. “I just take my time and try not to let it stress me out too much”​. In other words, there is no single script for success in cycling. Her journey might not resemble anyone else’s – and that’s perfectly okay.

Featured image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com