Building riders, not results: Bob Lyons on Alba’s rise — and British racing’s troubles
A stage-race victory, a national title, and a WorldTour graduate marked Handsling Alba’s standout season. Yet beneath the success, Bob Lyons delivers a stark assessment of the UK’s racing landscape, arguing that without meaningful reform, Britain risks losing the riders it works so hard to develop.
The 2025 season was, by any measure, a defining year for the Handsling Alba Development Road Team. A UCI stage-race victory for Kate Richardson, a National Circuit Race title, and the graduation of Lauren Dickson to WorldTour team FDJ-SUEZ confirmed that the Scottish-based outfit is now delivering tangible results on the global stage. Yet, for team manager Bob Lyons, these achievements are merely the welcome consequence of a far deeper, more nuanced process.
Speaking after what he describes as a “manic season,” Lyons acknowledges the success but immediately pivots to the philosophy that underpins it. He explains the team’s guiding principle, one that sounds almost counter-intuitive in elite sport:
“Results are not important to us, which seems a bit of crazy thing to say, but that is the fact of the matter,” he says. “If we get that development piece right, then results follow. And we’ve now clearly demonstrated that, particularly this year. To be able to deliver some of the results that we have is just outstanding.”
For Lyons, the true measure of the season lies in the quieter, less visible gains — the “nuanced really good things” that don’t show up on a results sheet but demonstrate individual and collective advancement.
If you just have this focus on results, that it is all about results, that’s all people are thinking about – then that’s wrong
The complex jigsaw of rider development
The core of the Alba project is a philosophy that prioritises the athlete’s journey over the immediate sprint finish. Lyons is acutely aware that a singular focus on winning can be detrimental to the formative stages of a rider’s career.
“If you just have this focus on results, that it is all about results, that’s all people are thinking about – and now if you go back probably to the first conversation we had when I explained why I set up this team – then that’s wrong.”
Bob Lyons (left). Image: Jude Bytheway
There’s a reason he stresses this. He champions a methodology that embraces failure as a prerequisite for progress, arguing that the environment must allow for learning through trial and error. This is applied at the team level, where riders are actively encouraged to take calculated risks:
“Within races, you have to do things and fail because you learn from it. And do things and fail and then go and do it again and succeed.” He talks about the ‘specifics’ of rider development within each race. “There are specifics. Riders have done something specific in a race, whether it’s getting in an early break, whether it’s doing something within that race to assist either their own objectives within that race or the team’s objectives.”
This focus on internal improvement is necessary, Lyons says, because the Alba squad is, by design, a “complex jigsaw” of riders at very different stages of development. Lyons cites the contrasting journeys of three key riders to illustrate the flexibility required.
Within races, you have to do things and fail because you learn from it
First, there is Lauren Dickson, whose rapid rise led to her move to FDJ-SUEZ. Lyons describes her as “a bit unique, really. I’m not sure we’ll ever see the likes of her again.” Her trajectory is an extreme validation of the team’s ethos.
Second, the case of Mari Porton highlights the patient craft required for others. Porton joined as a first-year under-23 this season, and Lyons recalls the initial culture shock of racing in Europe:
“Mari was quite in awe when we first took her to Europe and she’s rubbing shoulders with Lotte Kopecky and people like that on the start line,” he recalls. “It’s quite intimidating. We worked very, very hard on taking baby steps with Mari and giving her that confidence and building on some things and she is a completely different rider now to where she was 12 months ago.”
“It was also her first UCI win and to be able to do it in a stage race was good as well because there’s a lot of moving parts in that and to be able to deliver… I think this just underlines, she just needs to be in the right environment to try and get the best out of her. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, very analytical, and she’s an excellent role model for the younger riders. She gives a lot to others in the team.”
Recruitment and cohesion
This individualised management starts with a highly selective recruitment process. Lyons revealed the team received “close to 200” applications for the 2026 season, many from international riders, but the core objective remains:
“We still have an objective and we want to keep our foundation as it is that we’re fundamentally British. We want to stay that way for now.”
Probably the most important piece of the jigsaw is speaking to the rider and understanding a bit about them
Selection goes beyond raw power data. Lyons emphasises that after the physiological assessment and race experience review, the human element becomes paramount:
“Probably the most important piece of the jigsaw is speaking to the rider and understanding a bit about them, about what they want to get out of the sport, where they want to go, what their objectives are. That overall balance has to be right. So, whether it’s 12, 13, 14 riders, whatever it is, it all needs to fit together.”
He stresses that even with the ideal physiological profile, if the rider doesn’t fit the collective spirit – the “gel” factor – the process stops. This meticulous approach has led to a retained core each season, providing stability. Lyons notes that the development of many riders is a “multi-year project,” and the continuity ensures that team identity is maintained as they expand the squad to account for an increased track programme and a 20% increase in race days for 2026.
ProTeam ambitions
The success of the development model dictates the team’s forward ambition: ProTeam status by 2027. This aspiration is underpinned by a “very structured business plan and associated budgets.”
However, the step up is defined by one colossal obstacle: money. The financial increase required is enormous, fundamentally altering the organisation’s operations. Lyons is candid about the figures:
“The budget is a million and a half. That’s around ten times larger than our current budget.”
Eleonora Camilla Gasparrini (UAE Team ADQ), Mara Roldan (Team Picnic PostNL), Elizabeth Deignan (Lidl – Trek), Lauren Dickson (Handsling Alba Development Road Team), Célia Gery (FDJ – SUEZ). Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
This massive disparity means the project is not a quick fix. “Can we achieve it in that timeframe? I don’t know. Can we achieve it period? I don’t know that either, but we’ll give it a good go.” Lyons says it means “fishing in a different pond” for sponsorship, demanding different conversations and a fundamentally different value proposition.
The current Continental operation is run on a lean model built on personal dedication and sacrifice, held together by Lyons’ reliance on meticulous organisation:
“I’ll tell you, you could not do this. Well, I couldn’t without my spreadsheet world, because there’s so many moving parts within this that we need to keep tabs on.”
The focus on budget allocation is ruthless. Lyons confirms that apart from the mechanics and soigneurs, other support roles are voluntary, relying on dedication and people seeking experience. The team is structured to operate with minimal overhead.
We’ll not do this half cocked. We’re not going to do it unless we can do it properly
The transition to ProTeam demands Lyons himself steps away from the day-to-day racing duties to focus on securing the financial engine: “I ideally need to take a bit more of a step back if we’re going to deliver pro [level] in 2027… I love being at races but there’s other stuff I need to be doing.”
Ultimately, the ambition is tempered by the guiding principle of integrity: “We’ll not do this half cocked. We’re not going to do it unless we can do it properly.”
Why UK racing is “withering on the vine”
For a team so committed to its “fundamentally British” identity – having supported every National Series event, road and circuit, for four years – Lyons’ critique of the UK racing scene is the most uncompromising part of the interview. Despite the team’s commitment, the manager is “exasperated” by the state of the sport’s foundation.
He is clear that the lack of vision and support from the top at British Cycling is having tangible consequences, arguing that things are “getting less and less” for Continental teams that commit to the domestic calendar.
Kate Richardson. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
Lyons expresses his enduring desire to support domestic events: “It is something that’s important to us, well to me I guess, I want to support British racing. The aim is still to do that.” However, when asked if the team will commit to a full domestic calendar for 2026, he admits he must wait “until we see the British calendar and how it all meshes,” before making any concrete promises.
He details the operational difficulty and cost involved in supporting British racing, recalling three occasions in 2025 where the team “came back to the UK for a weekend to race a British race just to go back to Europe again straight after.”
For all the optimism Lyons has about international women’s cycling, the tone hardens perceptibly when the conversation turns to Britain. The shift is immediate. Where he is measured talking about development and the Alba project, here he sounds genuinely weary.
“The UK, I think that’s a bit of a different thing. I’m not sure where that’s going,” he says. “I get exasperated sometimes with it because there’s some great racing in the UK… but races, you know, organisers are finding it difficult: from a money perspective, from the practical perspective of road closures and policing, things like that.”
You can’t just do one big event and everything else is rosy… because it doesn’t work like that
Critics have long argued that British Cycling is overly preoccupied with ‘big shiny events’ – the Worlds, the Tours of Britain, Grand Départs — while the domestic scene is left to fend for itself. Lyons doesn’t use that phrase, but he shares the concern.
“You can’t just do one big event and everything else is rosy… because it doesn’t work like that,” he says.
Lyons also expresses concerns about the potential dilution of the races themselves.
“You’ve got to be careful that things aren’t dumbed down,” he says. “The races this year, they were too short. You can’t dumb things down. That’s a different race, that’s a National B race. Your jewels in the crown — they need to be proper races.”
For Lyons, the National Road Series is supposed to be the proving ground — the place where riders like Lauren Dickson found their feet before graduating to Europe. A shortened race changes the entire character of the event: less attrition, fewer tactical phases, fewer chances to make mistakes or learn from them.
Even when the racing is good, Lyons believes too few people ever know it is happening.
“The promotion of these races is absolutely shocking,” he says flatly. “People — just local people — just, ‘Oh, what’s this then? I don’t know anything about it.’”
He goes further:
“Get the Curlew Cup – it’s a great race, it’s been there for years. But it starts and finishes in Stamfordham and you get one man and his dog come to watch.”
DAS – Hutchinson. Image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
That lack of profile gnaws at him. British road racing, he says, repeatedly fails to capitalise “on the back of the popularity of bike racing”. You can feel the frustration building as he talks.
“We have these great things – Tour de Yorkshire, the Worlds in Glasgow – and then… I don’t know. It just sort of fizzles out.”
Then there is the issue that continues to leave sponsors, riders and teams in the dark: the collapse of race coverage. Until 2019, British Cycling funded highlights of the National Road Series on Eurosport, while ITV broadcast the Tour Series through SweetSpot. None of that exists now. An attempt by Monument Cycling to revive coverage in 2024 briefly raised hopes, but the project didn’t continue in 2025.
“There is no… you know, two years ago we promised every race will be live,” he says. “I’m not sure what’s happened to that. I mean there was absolutely nothing last year.”
For a sport that lives or dies on visibility, Lyons sees this as symptomatic of a wider malaise.
If poor promotion weakens the sport’s visibility, Lyons worries that the cost base threatens its existence.
“There’s a lot of improvements that need to be made, without question,” he says. “Why does it cost so much in this country to close the road? I don’t know. I’ve asked countless people this and nobody can answer the question”
In Europe, rolling closures are routine. Municipalities absorb the costs. Here, organisers face invoices that can dwarf their entire race budget.
Task Force inaction
“God knows what happened to this Task Force,” he adds, referring to the Elite Road Racing Task Force whose recommendations were aimed at addressing many of the issues that Lyons raises.
It’s easy to have this Task Force and throw out all the issues. The more difficult bit is doing something meaningful on the back of that
The Task Force proposed measures to reduce race costs, improve the promotion and visibility of the National Road Series, and protect the quality and format of elite-level racing. But, as The British Continental reported a year after publication, little meaningful progress had been made – despite British Cycling’s assurances at the time of its launch that the group would not become another talking shop.
“It’s easy to have this Task Force and throw out all the issues,” Lyons says. “The more difficult bit is doing something meaningful on the back of that.”
A system failing riders before they even start
Perhaps Lyons’ biggest worry, however, isn’t Continental teams. It’s the youth pipeline.
“Go back 10 years, possibly 12 years,” he says. “In my local club up here in the youth section, there were a hundred riders… and it was capped because there wasn’t enough coaches. And I think now that youth section is 12 riders. So we’re getting things very wrong right at that level.”
Without vibrant club scenes, without domestic racing, without organisers able to run events, the next Lauren Dickson will simply not appear, argues Lyons.
“That’s where your next Lauren Dickson is going to come from,” he says. “There’s got to be a lot of work down there. It’s not just the racing bit — it’s the whole structure.”
Lauren Dickson wins the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix 2025. Image: Mathew Wells/SWpix.com
Crucially, he also directed criticism towards British Cycling, feeling they were failing to advocate for the domestic teams’ participation in their home tour, which he believes reflects a broader neglect of the foundational level of the sport. This ban, coupled with the logistical ‘rigmarole’ of post-Brexit customs carnets deterring WorldTour teams, created a pincer effect: British teams are excluded from their own national showcase while struggling to maintain viability by losing a primary platform for funding and talent progression.
Lyons says he has since that heard second-hand that someone within British Cycling argued that a lack British Continental team participation would not matter because “we’ve got enough WorldTour riders”.
“Well,” he says, “it’s great – they might know how many WorldTour riders we’ve got. But those riders are coming through because other people get a grip of it and do stuff.”
The irony: Alba needs the UK calendar too
For all the challenges, Lyons is emphatic that Alba needs British racing as much as British racing needs teams like Alba.
“It’s important,” he says. “It’s important for us as well. We can approach a UK race very different to a European race… it’s a great proving ground or experimental ground for us.”
I want to support British racing. I’ve always said that from the start
That dual purpose – support British racing, and use it as a development lab – is why Alba keep coming back, even when they’re in Europe the day before and the day after.
“I want to support British racing,” he says. “I’ve always said that from the start.”
But without structural change, he fears what comes next.
“Road racing in the UK — it’s withering on the vine a bit.”
The 2025 season was, by any measure, a defining year for the Handsling Alba Development Road Team. A UCI stage-race victory for Kate Richardson, a National Circuit Race title, and the graduation of Lauren Dickson to WorldTour team FDJ-SUEZ confirmed that the Scottish-based outfit is now delivering tangible results on the global stage. Yet, for team manager Bob Lyons, these achievements are merely the welcome consequence of a far deeper, more nuanced process.
Speaking after what he describes as a “manic season,” Lyons acknowledges the success but immediately pivots to the philosophy that underpins it. He explains the team’s guiding principle, one that sounds almost counter-intuitive in elite sport:
“Results are not important to us, which seems a bit of crazy thing to say, but that is the fact of the matter,” he says. “If we get that development piece right, then results follow. And we’ve now clearly demonstrated that, particularly this year. To be able to deliver some of the results that we have is just outstanding.”
For Lyons, the true measure of the season lies in the quieter, less visible gains — the “nuanced really good things” that don’t show up on a results sheet but demonstrate individual and collective advancement.
The complex jigsaw of rider development
The core of the Alba project is a philosophy that prioritises the athlete’s journey over the immediate sprint finish. Lyons is acutely aware that a singular focus on winning can be detrimental to the formative stages of a rider’s career.
“If you just have this focus on results, that it is all about results, that’s all people are thinking about – and now if you go back probably to the first conversation we had when I explained why I set up this team – then that’s wrong.”
There’s a reason he stresses this. He champions a methodology that embraces failure as a prerequisite for progress, arguing that the environment must allow for learning through trial and error. This is applied at the team level, where riders are actively encouraged to take calculated risks:
“Within races, you have to do things and fail because you learn from it. And do things and fail and then go and do it again and succeed.” He talks about the ‘specifics’ of rider development within each race. “There are specifics. Riders have done something specific in a race, whether it’s getting in an early break, whether it’s doing something within that race to assist either their own objectives within that race or the team’s objectives.”
This focus on internal improvement is necessary, Lyons says, because the Alba squad is, by design, a “complex jigsaw” of riders at very different stages of development. Lyons cites the contrasting journeys of three key riders to illustrate the flexibility required.
First, there is Lauren Dickson, whose rapid rise led to her move to FDJ-SUEZ. Lyons describes her as “a bit unique, really. I’m not sure we’ll ever see the likes of her again.” Her trajectory is an extreme validation of the team’s ethos.
Second, the case of Mari Porton highlights the patient craft required for others. Porton joined as a first-year under-23 this season, and Lyons recalls the initial culture shock of racing in Europe:
“Mari was quite in awe when we first took her to Europe and she’s rubbing shoulders with Lotte Kopecky and people like that on the start line,” he recalls. “It’s quite intimidating. We worked very, very hard on taking baby steps with Mari and giving her that confidence and building on some things and she is a completely different rider now to where she was 12 months ago.”
Third, the return of Kate Richardson to the team following a challenging 2024 season proved the efficacy of their approach. For Lyons, her overall win at the Tour de Feminin was a collective success:
“It was also her first UCI win and to be able to do it in a stage race was good as well because there’s a lot of moving parts in that and to be able to deliver… I think this just underlines, she just needs to be in the right environment to try and get the best out of her. She’s got a good head on her shoulders, very analytical, and she’s an excellent role model for the younger riders. She gives a lot to others in the team.”
Recruitment and cohesion
This individualised management starts with a highly selective recruitment process. Lyons revealed the team received “close to 200” applications for the 2026 season, many from international riders, but the core objective remains:
“We still have an objective and we want to keep our foundation as it is that we’re fundamentally British. We want to stay that way for now.”
Selection goes beyond raw power data. Lyons emphasises that after the physiological assessment and race experience review, the human element becomes paramount:
“Probably the most important piece of the jigsaw is speaking to the rider and understanding a bit about them, about what they want to get out of the sport, where they want to go, what their objectives are. That overall balance has to be right. So, whether it’s 12, 13, 14 riders, whatever it is, it all needs to fit together.”
He stresses that even with the ideal physiological profile, if the rider doesn’t fit the collective spirit – the “gel” factor – the process stops. This meticulous approach has led to a retained core each season, providing stability. Lyons notes that the development of many riders is a “multi-year project,” and the continuity ensures that team identity is maintained as they expand the squad to account for an increased track programme and a 20% increase in race days for 2026.
ProTeam ambitions
The success of the development model dictates the team’s forward ambition: ProTeam status by 2027. This aspiration is underpinned by a “very structured business plan and associated budgets.”
However, the step up is defined by one colossal obstacle: money. The financial increase required is enormous, fundamentally altering the organisation’s operations. Lyons is candid about the figures:
“The budget is a million and a half. That’s around ten times larger than our current budget.”
This massive disparity means the project is not a quick fix. “Can we achieve it in that timeframe? I don’t know. Can we achieve it period? I don’t know that either, but we’ll give it a good go.” Lyons says it means “fishing in a different pond” for sponsorship, demanding different conversations and a fundamentally different value proposition.
The current Continental operation is run on a lean model built on personal dedication and sacrifice, held together by Lyons’ reliance on meticulous organisation:
“I’ll tell you, you could not do this. Well, I couldn’t without my spreadsheet world, because there’s so many moving parts within this that we need to keep tabs on.”
The focus on budget allocation is ruthless. Lyons confirms that apart from the mechanics and soigneurs, other support roles are voluntary, relying on dedication and people seeking experience. The team is structured to operate with minimal overhead.
The transition to ProTeam demands Lyons himself steps away from the day-to-day racing duties to focus on securing the financial engine: “I ideally need to take a bit more of a step back if we’re going to deliver pro [level] in 2027… I love being at races but there’s other stuff I need to be doing.”
Ultimately, the ambition is tempered by the guiding principle of integrity: “We’ll not do this half cocked. We’re not going to do it unless we can do it properly.”
Why UK racing is “withering on the vine”
For a team so committed to its “fundamentally British” identity – having supported every National Series event, road and circuit, for four years – Lyons’ critique of the UK racing scene is the most uncompromising part of the interview. Despite the team’s commitment, the manager is “exasperated” by the state of the sport’s foundation.
He is clear that the lack of vision and support from the top at British Cycling is having tangible consequences, arguing that things are “getting less and less” for Continental teams that commit to the domestic calendar.
Lyons expresses his enduring desire to support domestic events: “It is something that’s important to us, well to me I guess, I want to support British racing. The aim is still to do that.” However, when asked if the team will commit to a full domestic calendar for 2026, he admits he must wait “until we see the British calendar and how it all meshes,” before making any concrete promises.
He details the operational difficulty and cost involved in supporting British racing, recalling three occasions in 2025 where the team “came back to the UK for a weekend to race a British race just to go back to Europe again straight after.”
For all the optimism Lyons has about international women’s cycling, the tone hardens perceptibly when the conversation turns to Britain. The shift is immediate. Where he is measured talking about development and the Alba project, here he sounds genuinely weary.
“The UK, I think that’s a bit of a different thing. I’m not sure where that’s going,” he says. “I get exasperated sometimes with it because there’s some great racing in the UK… but races, you know, organisers are finding it difficult: from a money perspective, from the practical perspective of road closures and policing, things like that.”
Critics have long argued that British Cycling is overly preoccupied with ‘big shiny events’ – the Worlds, the Tours of Britain, Grand Départs — while the domestic scene is left to fend for itself. Lyons doesn’t use that phrase, but he shares the concern.
“You can’t just do one big event and everything else is rosy… because it doesn’t work like that,” he says.
Lyons also expresses concerns about the potential dilution of the races themselves.
“You’ve got to be careful that things aren’t dumbed down,” he says. “The races this year, they were too short. You can’t dumb things down. That’s a different race, that’s a National B race. Your jewels in the crown — they need to be proper races.”
For Lyons, the National Road Series is supposed to be the proving ground — the place where riders like Lauren Dickson found their feet before graduating to Europe. A shortened race changes the entire character of the event: less attrition, fewer tactical phases, fewer chances to make mistakes or learn from them.
Even when the racing is good, Lyons believes too few people ever know it is happening.
“The promotion of these races is absolutely shocking,” he says flatly. “People — just local people — just, ‘Oh, what’s this then? I don’t know anything about it.’”
He goes further:
“Get the Curlew Cup – it’s a great race, it’s been there for years. But it starts and finishes in Stamfordham and you get one man and his dog come to watch.”
That lack of profile gnaws at him. British road racing, he says, repeatedly fails to capitalise “on the back of the popularity of bike racing”. You can feel the frustration building as he talks.
“We have these great things – Tour de Yorkshire, the Worlds in Glasgow – and then… I don’t know. It just sort of fizzles out.”
Then there is the issue that continues to leave sponsors, riders and teams in the dark: the collapse of race coverage. Until 2019, British Cycling funded highlights of the National Road Series on Eurosport, while ITV broadcast the Tour Series through SweetSpot. None of that exists now. An attempt by Monument Cycling to revive coverage in 2024 briefly raised hopes, but the project didn’t continue in 2025.
“There is no… you know, two years ago we promised every race will be live,” he says. “I’m not sure what’s happened to that. I mean there was absolutely nothing last year.”
For a sport that lives or dies on visibility, Lyons sees this as symptomatic of a wider malaise.
If poor promotion weakens the sport’s visibility, Lyons worries that the cost base threatens its existence.
“There’s a lot of improvements that need to be made, without question,” he says. “Why does it cost so much in this country to close the road? I don’t know. I’ve asked countless people this and nobody can answer the question”
In Europe, rolling closures are routine. Municipalities absorb the costs. Here, organisers face invoices that can dwarf their entire race budget.
Task Force inaction
“God knows what happened to this Task Force,” he adds, referring to the Elite Road Racing Task Force whose recommendations were aimed at addressing many of the issues that Lyons raises.
The Task Force proposed measures to reduce race costs, improve the promotion and visibility of the National Road Series, and protect the quality and format of elite-level racing. But, as The British Continental reported a year after publication, little meaningful progress had been made – despite British Cycling’s assurances at the time of its launch that the group would not become another talking shop.
“It’s easy to have this Task Force and throw out all the issues,” Lyons says. “The more difficult bit is doing something meaningful on the back of that.”
A system failing riders before they even start
Perhaps Lyons’ biggest worry, however, isn’t Continental teams. It’s the youth pipeline.
“Go back 10 years, possibly 12 years,” he says. “In my local club up here in the youth section, there were a hundred riders… and it was capped because there wasn’t enough coaches. And I think now that youth section is 12 riders. So we’re getting things very wrong right at that level.”
Without vibrant club scenes, without domestic racing, without organisers able to run events, the next Lauren Dickson will simply not appear, argues Lyons.
“That’s where your next Lauren Dickson is going to come from,” he says. “There’s got to be a lot of work down there. It’s not just the racing bit — it’s the whole structure.”
Lyons’ broader exasperation with the governing bodies has recent history. The most notable recent example was the UCI rule change for 2026, which effectively bars UCI Continental Teams from competing in Women’s WorldTour races, including the Tour of Britain Women. The move was described as “a bit of a slap in the face,” removing a vital shop window for sponsors.
Crucially, he also directed criticism towards British Cycling, feeling they were failing to advocate for the domestic teams’ participation in their home tour, which he believes reflects a broader neglect of the foundational level of the sport. This ban, coupled with the logistical ‘rigmarole’ of post-Brexit customs carnets deterring WorldTour teams, created a pincer effect: British teams are excluded from their own national showcase while struggling to maintain viability by losing a primary platform for funding and talent progression.
Lyons says he has since that heard second-hand that someone within British Cycling argued that a lack British Continental team participation would not matter because “we’ve got enough WorldTour riders”.
“Well,” he says, “it’s great – they might know how many WorldTour riders we’ve got. But those riders are coming through because other people get a grip of it and do stuff.”
The irony: Alba needs the UK calendar too
For all the challenges, Lyons is emphatic that Alba needs British racing as much as British racing needs teams like Alba.
“It’s important,” he says. “It’s important for us as well. We can approach a UK race very different to a European race… it’s a great proving ground or experimental ground for us.”
That dual purpose – support British racing, and use it as a development lab – is why Alba keep coming back, even when they’re in Europe the day before and the day after.
“I want to support British racing,” he says. “I’ve always said that from the start.”
But without structural change, he fears what comes next.
“Road racing in the UK — it’s withering on the vine a bit.”
Featured image: SWpix.com
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