Jack Rootkin-Gray: ‘I’ve never really told people the extent of the injury’
A year after a broken leg ended his time at EF Education–EasyPost and nearly ended his career, Jack Rootkin-Gray has spent 2026 racing British roads on his own terms. Now bound for Swatt Club for the rest of the season, he talks to Jack Beavis about Andorra, London, the injury he kept to himself, and why simply getting back to the WorldTour isn’t enough.
A year after a broken leg ended his time at EF Education–EasyPost and nearly ended his career, Jack Rootkin-Gray has spent 2026 racing British roads on his own terms. Now bound for Swatt Club for the rest of the season, he talks to Jack Beavis about Andorra, London, the injury he kept to himself, and why simply getting back to the WorldTour isn’t enough.
Jack Rootkin-Gray has booked the same hotel. Four years after he won the Beaumont Trophy from it, the 23-year-old is back in Northumberland, and the choice of lodging is not an accident.
“We’re staying in the same hotel as we stayed in that time when I won. I just put us there. I was like, ‘I’ve got good memories here—let’s go!’ I mean, probably Lancaster, Ryedale, and Beaumont—they’re my three favourites, because of the memories I’ve got.”
I think when I crashed, I kind of just took it as I needed a bit of time to reset after the first two years of being a professional
He is speaking to The British Continental in early August, a few days before the 2026 edition. The 2022 race turned his season: months after leaving the Great Britain Cycling Team’s senior academy and finding himself at a crossroads, he crossed the line first, with his Saint Piran teammate, friend, and sometimes mentor Alex Richardson second.
Jack Rootkin Gray (left) Takes the victory ahead of team mate Alex Richardson at the Beaumont Trophy. Image: Craig Zadoroznyj/SWpix.com
“I’m going with my friend. It’s his second prem, or whatever they like to be called now, and I’ve actually coached him for almost a year now, so it’s nice to see him doing that,” he says. The reference to the Premier Calendar—the name the top domestic series carried until 2016 and now called the National Road Series—is telling: an appreciation of the history of these races that belies his age.
He speaks with the enthusiasm of a rider who still loves the sport and is determined to make the most of it, and the reason is not hard to find. Less than a year ago, a broken leg sustained at the Giro della Toscana ended a difficult two years in the WorldTour with EF Education–EasyPost, and very nearly ended his career.
Hands off
“I think when I crashed, I kind of just took it as I needed a bit of time to reset after the first two years of being a professional. I hadn’t really carried on the trajectory that I was on before. I got worse, actually,” he admits.
The move to Jonathan Vaughters’ team, signed in September 2023, was the dream. The adjustment was the problem.
Everyone that’s going pro is coming from a development team, which, for all intents and purposes, is very similar to a WorldTour team, just on a slightly smaller scale
“Basically, everyone that’s going pro is coming from a development team, which, for all intents and purposes, is very similar [to a WorldTour team], just on a slightly smaller scale,” Rootkin-Gray explains. His own route had been different: just over a season with Saint Piran, a team he describes with affection as a club team.
“I prepared my bikes myself, had my own coach, maybe sometimes even got myself to the race. You know, all of these things—gear and nutrition—and I didn’t mind that. I could cover all the bases without any real problems.
“[But moving to EF was] a big adjustment. Essentially overnight going into ‘right, I’m going to completely go hands off here’.”
Image: EF Education-EasyPost
The decision to move to Andorra, the Pyrenean principality that is home to a good portion of the professional peloton, made the transition harder still.
In hindsight, it just didn’t really work for me. I have a really good group of people in London that when I’m around, things go well and I’m happy. Maybe I shouldn’t have left that, especially at the start of my career
“I think if I hadn’t done it, then I would be thinking now, ‘I wonder what that would have been like’. I don’t have any regrets,” he says.
“But in hindsight, it just didn’t really work for me. I have a really good group of people in London that when I’m around, things go well and I’m happy. Maybe I shouldn’t have left that, especially at the start of my career. I even said that I wouldn’t, and then changed my mind.”
Back in London
Back in London, Rootkin-Gray comes across as a rider who has learned from his mistakes and worked out what is right for him.
“A lot of people are like, how on earth do you train in London? [But] I think it’s my favourite place to train, and the place I train the best,” he explains. Friends inside and outside the sport offer perspective away from the bubble of elite cycling. So does being reunited with his training partner Zeb Kyffin.
“It’s massive,” he says of the support the pair offer each other. “We love training together. Ever since we were on Saint Piran we trained together, raced together—we’d see each other sometimes seven days a week, often not less than three or four, and that was fantastic.
Rootkin-Gray at the 2026 Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix. Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
“Obviously, when I moved away, we didn’t have that, and I think we both really missed that.”
The pair’s paths have run in parallel. Kyffin left the professional ranks at the same time as Rootkin-Gray, after two years with what is now the Unibet Rose Rockets, joining the Malaysia-based Terengganu Cycling Team over the winter. Rootkin-Gray, meanwhile, spent the off-season deep in physiotherapy and rehabilitation. His first victory of the year was simply making the start line of the Evesham Vale Road Race in March.
The extent of the injury
“I’ve never really told people the extent of the injury,” he says. Some of those around him at the time thought his career was over.
My team doctor from EF even said you’ve got three months to claim career-ending insurance. I was like, ‘what are you on about?’
“I mean, I don’t even really discuss it with the people that saw post-crash how bad it was. At the time, I was like, literally, that’s it? I’m out, I’m fine, I’ve just got a broken leg. But obviously, months later, people tell me how bad it actually was, and how they thought that was it. My team doctor from EF even said you’ve got three months to claim career-ending insurance. I was like, ‘what are you on about?’”
Gym work is still the order of the day, with two metal plates remaining in place, for now. “Other than that, it’s pretty good,” he smiles.
A different vintage
This season has been one of rediscovery on the roads where it all began, though the domestic scene he and Saint Piran dominated in 2023 is a different vintage now.
“I think it’s a great scene. There’s a lot of people putting a lot of effort into helping [the domestic scene] grow, but I think right now you can’t dress it up much—it’s not in a great way, in terms of depth of competition,” he reflects.
Image: Milan Josy/The British Continental
“It’s hard when no one can really train full time—maybe it’s just the track riders and me, I’m not sure—but the depth of competition when you’ve got 90% of the field at least with a part-time job isn’t the same.”
Riding as a private member, he has nonetheless been among the strongest in the country: a National B win at the Timmy James Memorial in May, second at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix behind Ollie Wood, and guest rides in international races with JAKROO Handsling Racing. Since this conversation, he has finished 10th at the Beaumont Trophy and second at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix, the final round of the National Road Series.
“Yeah, I mean it’s not all been fantastic,” he admits, looking back at his year as a whole. “But I did actually enjoy it once the pain had gone—I mean, it’s fun.” It is a refreshing answer from a rider who has experienced almost every extreme the sport can offer.
There was absolutely no expectation, never really any pressure—it’s almost like a second coming
“There was absolutely no expectation, never really any pressure—it’s almost like a second coming. Whatever happens now, it’s a bonus.
“My dream as a kid was always to be a pro cyclist. Obviously, that came with other things I’d have loved to do as a pro—winning races—but the overarching goal was to become a professional cyclist. So having done that, coming back was like there’s no pressure to really do X, Y, and Z. Now it’s just, each day’s a gift.”
Image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
Unfinished business
For all that, Rootkin-Gray is a rider with unfinished business, and a return to the WorldTour is not the target in itself.
I don’t just want to go back to the WorldTour. I want to go back and do a better job than last time
“I don’t just want to go back to the WorldTour. I want to go back and do a better job than last time,” he says.
“Everyone’s like, surely the goal is just to get back to the WorldTour? Well, not if it’s going to be the same as last time—then there’s no point. I’d rather go off and do something else.
“Whatever I do, I basically just want to win—in inverted commas,” he adds. “Obviously, winning in the WorldTour doesn’t always look like winning, but yeah, I don’t want to go back and for it to be the same. I intend to go back, but to do things slightly differently.”
The next step is already taken. For the remainder of 2026, Rootkin-Gray returns to the UCI ranks with the Italian Continental team Swatt Club, having signed the contract the day before our interview. His debut in the team’s white and pastel jersey brought bronze at the inaugural Lloyds National Gravel Championships at Ae Forest on 22 August.
It is not, despite appearances, a second spell with the squad. A report in an Italian publication at the start of the year, picked up by ProCyclingStats, had him joining Swatt Club in January. It wasn’t true. “On the same day as they tweeted that they don’t upload non-verified information, [they] uploaded non-verified information,” he says.
For now, the aim is modest. “Just make the most of the racing that’s left,” he explains. “Fitness-wise, I’m pretty good. But it’s just that kind of confidence within the group with racing that I know is going to take a bit of work. So just getting back to feeling comfortable, [where] my confidence doesn’t hold me back—that would be a great aim for the rest of the year.”
The last piece of paperwork anyone urged on him was a claim for career-ending insurance. This one was a contract.
A year after a broken leg ended his time at EF Education–EasyPost and nearly ended his career, Jack Rootkin-Gray has spent 2026 racing British roads on his own terms. Now bound for Swatt Club for the rest of the season, he talks to Jack Beavis about Andorra, London, the injury he kept to himself, and why simply getting back to the WorldTour isn’t enough.
Jack Rootkin-Gray has booked the same hotel. Four years after he won the Beaumont Trophy from it, the 23-year-old is back in Northumberland, and the choice of lodging is not an accident.
“We’re staying in the same hotel as we stayed in that time when I won. I just put us there. I was like, ‘I’ve got good memories here—let’s go!’ I mean, probably Lancaster, Ryedale, and Beaumont—they’re my three favourites, because of the memories I’ve got.”
He is speaking to The British Continental in early August, a few days before the 2026 edition. The 2022 race turned his season: months after leaving the Great Britain Cycling Team’s senior academy and finding himself at a crossroads, he crossed the line first, with his Saint Piran teammate, friend, and sometimes mentor Alex Richardson second.
“I’m going with my friend. It’s his second prem, or whatever they like to be called now, and I’ve actually coached him for almost a year now, so it’s nice to see him doing that,” he says. The reference to the Premier Calendar—the name the top domestic series carried until 2016 and now called the National Road Series—is telling: an appreciation of the history of these races that belies his age.
He speaks with the enthusiasm of a rider who still loves the sport and is determined to make the most of it, and the reason is not hard to find. Less than a year ago, a broken leg sustained at the Giro della Toscana ended a difficult two years in the WorldTour with EF Education–EasyPost, and very nearly ended his career.
Hands off
“I think when I crashed, I kind of just took it as I needed a bit of time to reset after the first two years of being a professional. I hadn’t really carried on the trajectory that I was on before. I got worse, actually,” he admits.
The move to Jonathan Vaughters’ team, signed in September 2023, was the dream. The adjustment was the problem.
“Basically, everyone that’s going pro is coming from a development team, which, for all intents and purposes, is very similar [to a WorldTour team], just on a slightly smaller scale,” Rootkin-Gray explains. His own route had been different: just over a season with Saint Piran, a team he describes with affection as a club team.
“I prepared my bikes myself, had my own coach, maybe sometimes even got myself to the race. You know, all of these things—gear and nutrition—and I didn’t mind that. I could cover all the bases without any real problems.
“[But moving to EF was] a big adjustment. Essentially overnight going into ‘right, I’m going to completely go hands off here’.”
The decision to move to Andorra, the Pyrenean principality that is home to a good portion of the professional peloton, made the transition harder still.
“I think if I hadn’t done it, then I would be thinking now, ‘I wonder what that would have been like’. I don’t have any regrets,” he says.
“But in hindsight, it just didn’t really work for me. I have a really good group of people in London that when I’m around, things go well and I’m happy. Maybe I shouldn’t have left that, especially at the start of my career. I even said that I wouldn’t, and then changed my mind.”
Back in London
Back in London, Rootkin-Gray comes across as a rider who has learned from his mistakes and worked out what is right for him.
“A lot of people are like, how on earth do you train in London? [But] I think it’s my favourite place to train, and the place I train the best,” he explains. Friends inside and outside the sport offer perspective away from the bubble of elite cycling. So does being reunited with his training partner Zeb Kyffin.
“It’s massive,” he says of the support the pair offer each other. “We love training together. Ever since we were on Saint Piran we trained together, raced together—we’d see each other sometimes seven days a week, often not less than three or four, and that was fantastic.
“Obviously, when I moved away, we didn’t have that, and I think we both really missed that.”
The pair’s paths have run in parallel. Kyffin left the professional ranks at the same time as Rootkin-Gray, after two years with what is now the Unibet Rose Rockets, joining the Malaysia-based Terengganu Cycling Team over the winter. Rootkin-Gray, meanwhile, spent the off-season deep in physiotherapy and rehabilitation. His first victory of the year was simply making the start line of the Evesham Vale Road Race in March.
The extent of the injury
“I’ve never really told people the extent of the injury,” he says. Some of those around him at the time thought his career was over.
“I mean, I don’t even really discuss it with the people that saw post-crash how bad it was. At the time, I was like, literally, that’s it? I’m out, I’m fine, I’ve just got a broken leg. But obviously, months later, people tell me how bad it actually was, and how they thought that was it. My team doctor from EF even said you’ve got three months to claim career-ending insurance. I was like, ‘what are you on about?’”
Gym work is still the order of the day, with two metal plates remaining in place, for now. “Other than that, it’s pretty good,” he smiles.
A different vintage
This season has been one of rediscovery on the roads where it all began, though the domestic scene he and Saint Piran dominated in 2023 is a different vintage now.
“I think it’s a great scene. There’s a lot of people putting a lot of effort into helping [the domestic scene] grow, but I think right now you can’t dress it up much—it’s not in a great way, in terms of depth of competition,” he reflects.
“It’s hard when no one can really train full time—maybe it’s just the track riders and me, I’m not sure—but the depth of competition when you’ve got 90% of the field at least with a part-time job isn’t the same.”
Riding as a private member, he has nonetheless been among the strongest in the country: a National B win at the Timmy James Memorial in May, second at the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix behind Ollie Wood, and guest rides in international races with JAKROO Handsling Racing. Since this conversation, he has finished 10th at the Beaumont Trophy and second at the North Yorkshire Grand Prix, the final round of the National Road Series.
“Yeah, I mean it’s not all been fantastic,” he admits, looking back at his year as a whole. “But I did actually enjoy it once the pain had gone—I mean, it’s fun.” It is a refreshing answer from a rider who has experienced almost every extreme the sport can offer.
“There was absolutely no expectation, never really any pressure—it’s almost like a second coming. Whatever happens now, it’s a bonus.
“My dream as a kid was always to be a pro cyclist. Obviously, that came with other things I’d have loved to do as a pro—winning races—but the overarching goal was to become a professional cyclist. So having done that, coming back was like there’s no pressure to really do X, Y, and Z. Now it’s just, each day’s a gift.”
Unfinished business
For all that, Rootkin-Gray is a rider with unfinished business, and a return to the WorldTour is not the target in itself.
“I don’t just want to go back to the WorldTour. I want to go back and do a better job than last time,” he says.
“Everyone’s like, surely the goal is just to get back to the WorldTour? Well, not if it’s going to be the same as last time—then there’s no point. I’d rather go off and do something else.
“Whatever I do, I basically just want to win—in inverted commas,” he adds. “Obviously, winning in the WorldTour doesn’t always look like winning, but yeah, I don’t want to go back and for it to be the same. I intend to go back, but to do things slightly differently.”
The next step is already taken. For the remainder of 2026, Rootkin-Gray returns to the UCI ranks with the Italian Continental team Swatt Club, having signed the contract the day before our interview. His debut in the team’s white and pastel jersey brought bronze at the inaugural Lloyds National Gravel Championships at Ae Forest on 22 August.
It is not, despite appearances, a second spell with the squad. A report in an Italian publication at the start of the year, picked up by ProCyclingStats, had him joining Swatt Club in January. It wasn’t true. “On the same day as they tweeted that they don’t upload non-verified information, [they] uploaded non-verified information,” he says.
For now, the aim is modest. “Just make the most of the racing that’s left,” he explains. “Fitness-wise, I’m pretty good. But it’s just that kind of confidence within the group with racing that I know is going to take a bit of work. So just getting back to feeling comfortable, [where] my confidence doesn’t hold me back—that would be a great aim for the rest of the year.”
The last piece of paperwork anyone urged on him was a claim for career-ending insurance. This one was a contract.
Featured image: Olly Hassell/SWpix.com
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