After professional disillusionment and a return to domestic dominance, John Archibald look wasn’t looking for another chapter. Yet a phone call from a Para coach has placed him back on the boards - six rides into a partnership that could redefine the final act of his racing career.
“I got a few messages from people asking what I’m doing?” smiles John Archibald, something of a surprise entrant to this year’s National Track Championships, the former World Cup Team Pursuit winner not here to add to his multiple national titles in the individual pursuit and points race.
Instead he stands by a tandem and two turbo trainers, set up side by side, he and Chris McDonald preparing for the final of the Para B Pursuit later that evening: 16 laps of the track with Archibald the pilot – the opening act of a new chapter in the Scot’s storied career.
I got a few messages from people asking what I’m doing?
“It’s not been a long-term thing,” the 50- and 100-mile time trial competition record holder stresses, speaking enthusiastically to The British Continental as he explains his journey back to the velodrome.
“It was actually Andy Pink, who’s one of the Para coaches here – I’ve known him over the years – and he asked if I was interested in trying it out. They were looking for pilots,” explains Archibald. The retirement of Paralympic champion Steve Bate caused a shift in the pairings on the Great Britain squad, the newly combined Archibald and McDonald having ridden together only four times before their qualification ride earlier that day.
“Chris lives in Bristol, I live in Stoke, so I’m about an hour and a half away [from the Manchester velodrome], he’s about three hours away. So he might get the train up, stay overnight and we train together here. But that’s four times since the new year, so it’s not common,” the 35-year-old explains, the pair responsible for their own training. Former professional Archibald fits it around a digital marketing job he started almost three years ago, his transition back to balancing work and cycling eased by his steady progression to the full-time ranks.
McDonald and Archibald (left) on the podium at the 2026 national track championships. Image: Josh Wheeler / JoWSportsMedia
“I think I’ve got the benefit of having had a working career beforehand. I didn’t take up cycling full-time until I was 27,” he notes.
“I’m commuting to work, riding before and after. If I could keep living the life of a professional cyclist I’d do it forever – it would be great, I love it. But reality hits and you’ve got to make a living.”
If you go to the World Championships and win a medal, you’re then in the running towards the Paralympics
Although in its early stages, Archibald’s “project” could culminate in the Los Angeles Paralympic Games, the track not originally part of the plan for the pair.
“Let’s start with the short term,” he suggests, setting out a rough plan. “There’s going to be some road World Cups throughout the year – time trials, road racing – so see how they go. Maybe they could put you in the qualification realm for the World Championships, that will be the goal. And then if you go to the World Championships and win a medal, you’re then in the running towards the Paralympics,” he explains, the pursuit coming as a last-minute addition to their programme.
“Whilst we’re pairing up, we might as well do track, so this is a bonus, I think. But it’s all very new and it’s going well.”
Archibald’s tentative musing that the track may morph into something more may prove correct – he and McDonald pushing the favourites, the experienced Chris Latham, clad in his rainbow skinsuit, and his new partner, former rower Morgan Fice-Noyes, to the limit in the final, coming within a second of an unlikely national title. A remarkable result given the pilot’s inexperience.
“I wondered that too,” he admits when asked if riding the pursuit was as simple as both riders pushing as hard as they can for the 4km.
“There is an element of feeling each other’s input, but I think you’re basically relying on you both pacing the same way,” he reveals.
“So if, for example, I slowed halfway, Chris is going to feel that and it’s going to be like a bag of rocks on your back because you’re then pushing this 180kg bike. So we kind of agree on a strategy.
“The main thing is the coordination at the start. Because we’re starting off at 0rpm and getting up to 100rpm, and because there’s two of you, there’s a lot of flex in the bike. It’s a lot of forward-and-back motion, so that’s the main difference for me.
John Archibald on the track at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Image; Will Palmer/SWpix.com
“And also steering on the black line is like a double-decker bus – it’s less responsive than you think. It doesn’t flick about. I was quite nervous that if I overreacted the bike would suddenly jackknife and go everywhere, but it doesn’t. It floats. But I’m still perfecting that, really. As I say, it’s kind of new to me still, so I’m still figuring it out.”
There are few riders with the intricate knowledge of track cycling that Archibald possesses. The now 35-year-old was a silver medallist in the Commonwealth Games scratch race four years ago after disrupting the Team Pursuit world order with the Derby-based HUUB-Wattbike project prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s helped me in the initial stages of making this quick learning-curve progression,” the Scot theorises, admitting his initial rides weren’t as smooth as he was in the qualification heat earlier that day. “When I first got on I was rubbish, all over the track,” he says. “But within four training rides I’m a lot better.
I’m still a long way off – if you watch Chris Latham ride, he’s much more controlled on the black, very dialled – so I’ve got a long way to go
“I’m still a long way off – if you watch Chris Latham ride, he’s much more controlled on the black, very dialled – so I’ve got a long way to go. But it definitely helps having that experience of knowing how to ride a track bike. I know how it should feel, so I’ve got that level to reach, as such. I know where it needs to go.”
With the Para B Pursuit not part of the Commonwealth Games programme this summer, Archibald will miss out on the chance to ride a home Games, despite fellow Scot Jenny Holl proving it is possible to switch partners and be successful, taking gold with Libby Clegg four years ago.
“They have a kilo and a sprint, so not for me, and not for Chris either,” he smiles, his diesel engine having helped him to an epic win in the 2019 Stockton GP before spending two years in the Eolo-Kometa ProTeam under the guidance of Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador.
“I came out of that professional cycle a bit disheartened. I hadn’t lived up to what I wanted to do, and I didn’t quite fit in with that team,” he reflects, “bouncing back” for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. “I was happy with the Commonwealths, then kind of called it a day with professional sport.”
Since then Archibald has asserted his dominance over the UK time trial scene as well as gracing some of the country’s most prestigious road races, lighting up the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix in 2024 before finally conquering the Drummond Trophy with a trademark solo win last September.
“I’ll probably continue to do that, it’s less pressure,” he notes, turning his attention back to the tandem, the gold medal ride approaching.
I’m not looking to get back into professional sport at all, so this is like a new exciting project
“This is like a great bonus of a new target, a new goal. I’m not looking to get back into professional sport at all, so this is like a new exciting project. Essentially I’m on the British Cycling programme – they provide the bike, equipment, the training time.”
Archibald is no stranger to success, continuing to claim title after title even after leaving his life as a professional behind. It is early days – a total of six rides in – but judging by his and McDonald’s performance on Friday night there is every chance the pair could make the Paralympic Games in 2028: Archibald swapping the familiar surrounds of a dual carriageway, followed by tea and cake in a village hall, for one of the biggest stages of all.
“I got a few messages from people asking what I’m doing?” smiles John Archibald, something of a surprise entrant to this year’s National Track Championships, the former World Cup Team Pursuit winner not here to add to his multiple national titles in the individual pursuit and points race.
Instead he stands by a tandem and two turbo trainers, set up side by side, he and Chris McDonald preparing for the final of the Para B Pursuit later that evening: 16 laps of the track with Archibald the pilot – the opening act of a new chapter in the Scot’s storied career.
“It’s not been a long-term thing,” the 50- and 100-mile time trial competition record holder stresses, speaking enthusiastically to The British Continental as he explains his journey back to the velodrome.
“It was actually Andy Pink, who’s one of the Para coaches here – I’ve known him over the years – and he asked if I was interested in trying it out. They were looking for pilots,” explains Archibald. The retirement of Paralympic champion Steve Bate caused a shift in the pairings on the Great Britain squad, the newly combined Archibald and McDonald having ridden together only four times before their qualification ride earlier that day.
“Chris lives in Bristol, I live in Stoke, so I’m about an hour and a half away [from the Manchester velodrome], he’s about three hours away. So he might get the train up, stay overnight and we train together here. But that’s four times since the new year, so it’s not common,” the 35-year-old explains, the pair responsible for their own training. Former professional Archibald fits it around a digital marketing job he started almost three years ago, his transition back to balancing work and cycling eased by his steady progression to the full-time ranks.
“I think I’ve got the benefit of having had a working career beforehand. I didn’t take up cycling full-time until I was 27,” he notes.
“I’m commuting to work, riding before and after. If I could keep living the life of a professional cyclist I’d do it forever – it would be great, I love it. But reality hits and you’ve got to make a living.”
Although in its early stages, Archibald’s “project” could culminate in the Los Angeles Paralympic Games, the track not originally part of the plan for the pair.
“Let’s start with the short term,” he suggests, setting out a rough plan. “There’s going to be some road World Cups throughout the year – time trials, road racing – so see how they go. Maybe they could put you in the qualification realm for the World Championships, that will be the goal. And then if you go to the World Championships and win a medal, you’re then in the running towards the Paralympics,” he explains, the pursuit coming as a last-minute addition to their programme.
“Whilst we’re pairing up, we might as well do track, so this is a bonus, I think. But it’s all very new and it’s going well.”
Archibald’s tentative musing that the track may morph into something more may prove correct – he and McDonald pushing the favourites, the experienced Chris Latham, clad in his rainbow skinsuit, and his new partner, former rower Morgan Fice-Noyes, to the limit in the final, coming within a second of an unlikely national title. A remarkable result given the pilot’s inexperience.
“I wondered that too,” he admits when asked if riding the pursuit was as simple as both riders pushing as hard as they can for the 4km.
“There is an element of feeling each other’s input, but I think you’re basically relying on you both pacing the same way,” he reveals.
“So if, for example, I slowed halfway, Chris is going to feel that and it’s going to be like a bag of rocks on your back because you’re then pushing this 180kg bike. So we kind of agree on a strategy.
“The main thing is the coordination at the start. Because we’re starting off at 0rpm and getting up to 100rpm, and because there’s two of you, there’s a lot of flex in the bike. It’s a lot of forward-and-back motion, so that’s the main difference for me.
“And also steering on the black line is like a double-decker bus – it’s less responsive than you think. It doesn’t flick about. I was quite nervous that if I overreacted the bike would suddenly jackknife and go everywhere, but it doesn’t. It floats. But I’m still perfecting that, really. As I say, it’s kind of new to me still, so I’m still figuring it out.”
There are few riders with the intricate knowledge of track cycling that Archibald possesses. The now 35-year-old was a silver medallist in the Commonwealth Games scratch race four years ago after disrupting the Team Pursuit world order with the Derby-based HUUB-Wattbike project prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s helped me in the initial stages of making this quick learning-curve progression,” the Scot theorises, admitting his initial rides weren’t as smooth as he was in the qualification heat earlier that day. “When I first got on I was rubbish, all over the track,” he says. “But within four training rides I’m a lot better.
“I’m still a long way off – if you watch Chris Latham ride, he’s much more controlled on the black, very dialled – so I’ve got a long way to go. But it definitely helps having that experience of knowing how to ride a track bike. I know how it should feel, so I’ve got that level to reach, as such. I know where it needs to go.”
With the Para B Pursuit not part of the Commonwealth Games programme this summer, Archibald will miss out on the chance to ride a home Games, despite fellow Scot Jenny Holl proving it is possible to switch partners and be successful, taking gold with Libby Clegg four years ago.
“They have a kilo and a sprint, so not for me, and not for Chris either,” he smiles, his diesel engine having helped him to an epic win in the 2019 Stockton GP before spending two years in the Eolo-Kometa ProTeam under the guidance of Ivan Basso and Alberto Contador.
“I came out of that professional cycle a bit disheartened. I hadn’t lived up to what I wanted to do, and I didn’t quite fit in with that team,” he reflects, “bouncing back” for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. “I was happy with the Commonwealths, then kind of called it a day with professional sport.”
Since then Archibald has asserted his dominance over the UK time trial scene as well as gracing some of the country’s most prestigious road races, lighting up the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix in 2024 before finally conquering the Drummond Trophy with a trademark solo win last September.
“I’ll probably continue to do that, it’s less pressure,” he notes, turning his attention back to the tandem, the gold medal ride approaching.
“This is like a great bonus of a new target, a new goal. I’m not looking to get back into professional sport at all, so this is like a new exciting project. Essentially I’m on the British Cycling programme – they provide the bike, equipment, the training time.”
Archibald is no stranger to success, continuing to claim title after title even after leaving his life as a professional behind. It is early days – a total of six rides in – but judging by his and McDonald’s performance on Friday night there is every chance the pair could make the Paralympic Games in 2028: Archibald swapping the familiar surrounds of a dual carriageway, followed by tea and cake in a village hall, for one of the biggest stages of all.
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