Alex Beldon interview: how Trinity’s collapse forged a tougher talent
From A-level exam halls to Girona’s testing climbs, 19-year-old Yorkshire rider Alex Beldon has already felt the ups and downs of life beyond the junior ranks. Our exclusive interview traces how Trinity Racing’s collapse, a timely offer from Muc-Off-SRCT-Storck and a steadfast Plan B have forged a tougher, hungrier rider intent on reclaiming his place on the UCI ladder.
When Alex Beldon had completed his A‑levels last summer, he wasted little time in his bid to become a professional cyclist. His rite of passage was not a lads’ holiday to sunnier skies, but a move to the cycling hotspot of Girona. While many of his peers were preparing to start university, his summer plans centred on a block of European races with the renowned development team Trinity Racing. The first‑year under‑23 rider’s apprenticeship was about to begin.
I knew that’s where I wanted to go right from the start of juniors, really. Just the people that have come out of that team, it was a no‑brainer
“I knew that’s where I wanted to go right from the start of juniors, really. Just the people that have come out of that team, it was a no‑brainer,” Beldon explains, the 19‑year‑old recalling the moment he was offered a dream ticket by Trinity supremo—and now his agent—Andrew McQuaid, who offered him a place on the Trinity Racing roster for 2024. “Obviously, I took it immediately,” he adds with little surprise.
In many ways Trinity – the team that has produced the likes of Tom Pidcock and Ben Turner – was a natural path for the prodigiously talented Yorkshireman, who had impressed as part of the all‑conquering Fensham Howes MAS Design team, guided through his two junior seasons under the watchful eye of McQuaid.
Arm aloft at the 2024 Lloyds Bank Tour of Britain with his TRINITY Racing team. Image: Will Palmer/SWpix.com
“It was a pretty big experience for me really,” he says about his time with Giles Pidcock’s team, racing an enviable calendar across the UK and Europe. “I’d say that’s where I got most of my UCI experience from, and race experience too, because the level that’s now been proven from those years—it was really high,” Beldon continues, counting the likes of Matthew Brennan, now a multiple WorldTour winner, as a teammate, and Giro d’Italia stage winner Josh Tarling as a rival, in what will be seen as a golden age for the sport in Britain in years to come.
Even though you don’t want to take that plan B, it’s always there for me, now I’ve got my A‑levels done
However, Beldon’s season with McQuaid’s UCI team got off to a slow start. Like most teenagers in their final year of education, he was spending more time in exam halls than in the peloton, a diet of domestic action his only sustenance as far as racing was concerned. “Andrew immediately said to me, I know you’ve got school, I know you’ve got commitments outside of cycling, and I want you to pursue them just as much as you want to pursue cycling,” he explains, grateful for the team’s priorities in the unpredictable world of cycling – a sensation he would experience first‑hand as the season drew to a close. “Even though you don’t want to take that plan B, it’s always there for me, now I’ve got my A‑levels done,” he continues. “If something was to happen, even next week, I can always fall back on my A‑level results; if I had just pursued cycling, it would be much more of a risk for me ahead of anything else.”
At the 2024 Lloyds Bank National Individual Time Trial Championships. Image: Elliot Keen/British Cycling via SWpix.com
With his education completed, Beldon was able to focus on cycling for the remainder of the season, starting with the move to Catalunya. “Basing myself [in Girona] for training, and being in a professional environment, it was great for me,” he explains, the mountainous region, punctuated by a glorious coastline, offering him the perfect preparation to kick‑start his season on an international front, describing a race programme that would be the envy of many young riders.
“Limousin, L’Ain and Alsace – those sorts of races – they were great for building confidence and gaining experience,” he says, selection for the team’s biggest ticket, the Pro Tour of Britain, still up for grabs in late August. “Then we went on a trip to Belgium, where I proved to the team I was good enough to be at the level I needed to be for the Tour of Britain, maybe a week before it, which was great,” he beams.
It was a whirlwind time for the Yorkshireman, his plan B a valuable asset by mid‑August as the future of Trinity Racing became uncertain, confirmation of the team’s closure coming during September’s Tour of Britain, where Beldon was garnering attention as the race’s youngest rider.
We did our best to try to find another team, but the market was completely saturated; there were so many riders with other teams folding
“It was a disappointing time really, a bittersweet ending to the year,” he says, spending the days racing the likes of Remco Evenepoel and the nights searching for a new team. “We did our best to try to find another team, but the market was completely saturated; there were so many riders with other teams folding. If you didn’t have a standout result – unfortunately, like me – you didn’t really have much choice in where you wanted to go, so it was hard to find another team that would take you on so late.”
Beldon wins the 2025 PB Performance Espoirs Road Race. Image: Gary Main
Naturally, Beldon and McQuaid, now acting as the Yorkshire rider’s agent, wanted to stay at UCI level – the smoothest path for young riders and the one he had started on at Trinity. However, with nothing on the table, a change of plan was required. “Muc‑Off saved the day really, with Adam Ellis and Scott Redding,” he says with gratitude. “They said there was a place on the team available and they’d like me to come and join the team for next year, so I took that, and I think it’s been a really good decision for me.”
Beldon has started the season in fine form, taking victory in the first round of the under‑23 National Road Series in March, sprinting home from a small group, before adding his name to the Danum Trophy alongside some of the best, grittiest riders Britain has produced in April. “It’s obviously a step down from the UCI races, but it gave me a focus and put me in the race‑winning mindset, and that has actually done wonders for my training,” he reflects. “I’m not training just to roll in five minutes down on the front peloton; I’m now winning races, so I’d say it’s been a step up in performance since joining Muc‑Off – even though it’s not quite the level I aspire to be at, I don’t think that’s a bad thing for me now.”
I’m not training just to roll in five minutes down on the front peloton; I’m now winning races, so I’d say it’s been a step up in performance since joining Muc‑Off
Beldon’s first victory of the year was an emotional one, his goal with the Muc‑Off‑SRCT‑Storck team ultimately different from the one he had in his year with Trinity. “Everyone knows how well they’re going in training, but it’s different when it comes to racing, especially the first few of the year,” he explains. “To win that, it was more of a weight off my shoulders than anything; it proved to me that I was going well, and I can win races this year.
“I was given a confidence boost when I went with the MyPad Racing team to Greece. I was performing well there but not getting the results, but I knew when I got back to the UK there was the chance to get some results, so to win the first race—that was great for me.”
Beldon, something of a breakaway specialist, took on three UCI races in Rhodes with the ad‑hoc squad, a valuable experience he admits he wouldn’t have had without team manager Ewan Mackie’s vision. “I think it’s important to the whole of the UK really,” he says boldly, acknowledging that the need for UCI race days is felt across the domestic scene. “Ewan’s done a great job setting it up and organising it to get races. Finding guest spots this year is hard because there are so many UK riders who want to do UCI races. So to have a team that hasn’t got set riders and can do a bunch of races – it’s great for the UK.”
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
Beldon’s next foreign odyssey comes in the shape of the Tour de la Manche in France with his Muc‑Off‑SRCT‑Storck team, organised by Phil Maddocks. It is another key experience for the 19‑year‑old who hasn’t ruled out a move to France as he fights to get back on the path to the professional ranks. “I want to make that step up to where I know I belong,” he says with conviction, confidence clearly high. “My aim is to hopefully make that step up back to UCI level; a WorldTour development team would be ideal, so just to get noticed by those teams, or a French team when we go over there.”
As the exam season rolls around again, Beldon has excelled in his biggest tests so far this year, now a more confident and better rider than the one who moved to Girona last summer. In the unpredictable world of cycling, a plan B is essential, and although Beldon didn’t envisage himself riding in the UK as much this season, the experience is proving valuable on his journey through the sport.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
When Alex Beldon had completed his A‑levels last summer, he wasted little time in his bid to become a professional cyclist. His rite of passage was not a lads’ holiday to sunnier skies, but a move to the cycling hotspot of Girona. While many of his peers were preparing to start university, his summer plans centred on a block of European races with the renowned development team Trinity Racing. The first‑year under‑23 rider’s apprenticeship was about to begin.
“I knew that’s where I wanted to go right from the start of juniors, really. Just the people that have come out of that team, it was a no‑brainer,” Beldon explains, the 19‑year‑old recalling the moment he was offered a dream ticket by Trinity supremo—and now his agent—Andrew McQuaid, who offered him a place on the Trinity Racing roster for 2024. “Obviously, I took it immediately,” he adds with little surprise.
In many ways Trinity – the team that has produced the likes of Tom Pidcock and Ben Turner – was a natural path for the prodigiously talented Yorkshireman, who had impressed as part of the all‑conquering Fensham Howes MAS Design team, guided through his two junior seasons under the watchful eye of McQuaid.
“It was a pretty big experience for me really,” he says about his time with Giles Pidcock’s team, racing an enviable calendar across the UK and Europe. “I’d say that’s where I got most of my UCI experience from, and race experience too, because the level that’s now been proven from those years—it was really high,” Beldon continues, counting the likes of Matthew Brennan, now a multiple WorldTour winner, as a teammate, and Giro d’Italia stage winner Josh Tarling as a rival, in what will be seen as a golden age for the sport in Britain in years to come.
However, Beldon’s season with McQuaid’s UCI team got off to a slow start. Like most teenagers in their final year of education, he was spending more time in exam halls than in the peloton, a diet of domestic action his only sustenance as far as racing was concerned. “Andrew immediately said to me, I know you’ve got school, I know you’ve got commitments outside of cycling, and I want you to pursue them just as much as you want to pursue cycling,” he explains, grateful for the team’s priorities in the unpredictable world of cycling – a sensation he would experience first‑hand as the season drew to a close. “Even though you don’t want to take that plan B, it’s always there for me, now I’ve got my A‑levels done,” he continues. “If something was to happen, even next week, I can always fall back on my A‑level results; if I had just pursued cycling, it would be much more of a risk for me ahead of anything else.”
With his education completed, Beldon was able to focus on cycling for the remainder of the season, starting with the move to Catalunya. “Basing myself [in Girona] for training, and being in a professional environment, it was great for me,” he explains, the mountainous region, punctuated by a glorious coastline, offering him the perfect preparation to kick‑start his season on an international front, describing a race programme that would be the envy of many young riders.
“Limousin, L’Ain and Alsace – those sorts of races – they were great for building confidence and gaining experience,” he says, selection for the team’s biggest ticket, the Pro Tour of Britain, still up for grabs in late August. “Then we went on a trip to Belgium, where I proved to the team I was good enough to be at the level I needed to be for the Tour of Britain, maybe a week before it, which was great,” he beams.
It was a whirlwind time for the Yorkshireman, his plan B a valuable asset by mid‑August as the future of Trinity Racing became uncertain, confirmation of the team’s closure coming during September’s Tour of Britain, where Beldon was garnering attention as the race’s youngest rider.
“It was a disappointing time really, a bittersweet ending to the year,” he says, spending the days racing the likes of Remco Evenepoel and the nights searching for a new team. “We did our best to try to find another team, but the market was completely saturated; there were so many riders with other teams folding. If you didn’t have a standout result – unfortunately, like me – you didn’t really have much choice in where you wanted to go, so it was hard to find another team that would take you on so late.”
Naturally, Beldon and McQuaid, now acting as the Yorkshire rider’s agent, wanted to stay at UCI level – the smoothest path for young riders and the one he had started on at Trinity. However, with nothing on the table, a change of plan was required. “Muc‑Off saved the day really, with Adam Ellis and Scott Redding,” he says with gratitude. “They said there was a place on the team available and they’d like me to come and join the team for next year, so I took that, and I think it’s been a really good decision for me.”
Beldon has started the season in fine form, taking victory in the first round of the under‑23 National Road Series in March, sprinting home from a small group, before adding his name to the Danum Trophy alongside some of the best, grittiest riders Britain has produced in April. “It’s obviously a step down from the UCI races, but it gave me a focus and put me in the race‑winning mindset, and that has actually done wonders for my training,” he reflects. “I’m not training just to roll in five minutes down on the front peloton; I’m now winning races, so I’d say it’s been a step up in performance since joining Muc‑Off – even though it’s not quite the level I aspire to be at, I don’t think that’s a bad thing for me now.”
Beldon’s first victory of the year was an emotional one, his goal with the Muc‑Off‑SRCT‑Storck team ultimately different from the one he had in his year with Trinity. “Everyone knows how well they’re going in training, but it’s different when it comes to racing, especially the first few of the year,” he explains. “To win that, it was more of a weight off my shoulders than anything; it proved to me that I was going well, and I can win races this year.
“I was given a confidence boost when I went with the MyPad Racing team to Greece. I was performing well there but not getting the results, but I knew when I got back to the UK there was the chance to get some results, so to win the first race—that was great for me.”
Beldon, something of a breakaway specialist, took on three UCI races in Rhodes with the ad‑hoc squad, a valuable experience he admits he wouldn’t have had without team manager Ewan Mackie’s vision. “I think it’s important to the whole of the UK really,” he says boldly, acknowledging that the need for UCI race days is felt across the domestic scene. “Ewan’s done a great job setting it up and organising it to get races. Finding guest spots this year is hard because there are so many UK riders who want to do UCI races. So to have a team that hasn’t got set riders and can do a bunch of races – it’s great for the UK.”
Beldon’s next foreign odyssey comes in the shape of the Tour de la Manche in France with his Muc‑Off‑SRCT‑Storck team, organised by Phil Maddocks. It is another key experience for the 19‑year‑old who hasn’t ruled out a move to France as he fights to get back on the path to the professional ranks. “I want to make that step up to where I know I belong,” he says with conviction, confidence clearly high. “My aim is to hopefully make that step up back to UCI level; a WorldTour development team would be ideal, so just to get noticed by those teams, or a French team when we go over there.”
As the exam season rolls around again, Beldon has excelled in his biggest tests so far this year, now a more confident and better rider than the one who moved to Girona last summer. In the unpredictable world of cycling, a plan B is essential, and although Beldon didn’t envisage himself riding in the UK as much this season, the experience is proving valuable on his journey through the sport.
Featured image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
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