Part Two: A Family Affair
Timothy John
“Well, let’s rewind and go right back to the beginning. You’re from a cycling family, aren’t you? It’s funny: over Christmas, I ran into a chap called Simon Howes, who manages one of our sponsored teams. I mentioned that I’d been to the Rayner dinner and interviewed a lot of gifted young rider and mentioned your name. He said: ‘Wow, I used to race with his dad.’ Clearly, it’s in the blood.”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah, that’s the reason I got into the sport: through my dad; watching him race. I never really had to think about it. I played football when I was younger, but packed that in when I was 14, I think. From there, it’s just been racing, really.”
Timothy John
“What was your dad’s name?”
Oliver Knight
“Ian. Ian Knight.”
Timothy John
“Which team did he ride for?”
Oliver Knight
“Crikey. He raced for a few back in the Nineties, but, more recently, he raced for Corley Cycles when he came back to race in 2009, and that’s who I stay him racing for. It’s quite weird: that was a team that I ended up joining when I was 14, I believe. That’s who linked me with the coach I’m working with now, Roy Chamberlain. That’s how things have panned out. It’s quite weird.”
Timothy John
“Was your dad a First Cat? An Elite? How did his career pan out?”
Oliver Knight
“He was an Elite. When he was younger, he raced in France for a bit, and in Italy. He did a few races in Italy and lived there for a bit. He came back and raced in the UK as an Elite, and when he came back in 2009, he raced as an Elite as well for a few years doing Nat Bs and the odd Premier Calendar.”
Timothy John
“Well, your dad must be really well placed to give a perspective on the changing opportunities for young British riders. We’ll probably talk later about this myriad of pathways for somebody of your generation, whether that be the pathway that you’re on with a French amateur team, or the Olympic Academy, or a WorldTour team’s development squad. None of those options would have been available to your dad.”
Oliver Knight
“There are certainly a lot more ways to become a professional cyclist now than there was back then, and it’s nice that I can profit from that.”
Timothy John
“Does he ever talk about that? Does he ever pull your leg and say you’ve got it easy?”
Oliver Knight
“Not too much, to be fair. He’s happy with the way that I’m doing it: coming out to France and doing amateur races where you learn quite a lot, I think.”
Timothy John
“Was your dad your primary inspiration when you grew up?”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah, I think so. Watching his races: that was the first thing I saw of bike racing. Those races in the UK were those I initially thought that I wanted to do. From there, you grow up and you learn what your end goal is. He was certainly someone who I looked up to.”
Timothy John
“Your generation would have been the first to come up in a period in which British riders were household names: Wiggins, Cavendish; all the hype around the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Do you remember that period? And did it have a particular influence on your career?”
Oliver Knight
“I do, yeah. That’s certainly…I can remember quite well. I mean, I was only 11, but that’s when you’re the most influenced, I think. Watching Bradley Wiggins win the Tour de France, and then the Olympics at well.
“Seeing quite a lot of people get into the sport from that. I was doing cycling before then, but there was a mate from school was started cycling. The number of people who were into it certainly went up and, yeah, it really did spark quite a lot of guys coming into the sport, and I think you can see that now: the good British guys are all at that age that were most influenced by that period.”
Timothy John
“I’m trying to remember when I was that age, a long time ago, being a cyclist was to plough a lonely furrow, to put it mildly. It must have been amazing to go to school and find that cycling was cool.”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah, I wouldn’t go that far, but, yeah, people knew about it at least.”
Timothy John
“Continuing the context of 2012: the track riders were as revered as the road riders, if not more so. They were big stars. Was the track ever on their radar, or were you a roadie from the get-go?”
Oliver Knight
“A pure road man, to be fair. I thought about the track when I was a bit younger, but because of where we live, based in Bedford, so not too close to the track. It’s always going to be just over an hour. It was never super easy to get there.
“I think the road, for me, was going to be what I enjoyed the most. I can remember cyclo-cross being quite popular with the guys I grew up racing with. I did not even a full season of that
and realised I preferred riding my bike, not cleaning it.”
Timothy John
“Too much mud!”
Oliver Knight
“Exactly. Too cold, too much mud.”
Timothy John
“Who was your club growing up? You’re in the Milton Keynes area, I think.”
Oliver Knight
“That was Team MK. Team Milton Keynes. I raced with them from when I started, basically. I can’t remember how old I was: probably ten or eleven. I moved onto Corley’s when I was 14, until a second-year junior.”
Timothy John
“Was Corley Cycles your primary outlet for racing, perhaps more so than the club?”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah, I’d say so. When I think back to races when I was younger, I always think of being in Corleys.
“Before that, being in Team Milton Keynes, I can remember going down there for their Saturday morning training sessions, which were always good fun: doing track stand competitions and things like that; learning how to ride no-handed. That sort of thing.”
Timothy John
“And was Bob Varney involved in those days? The owner of Drops, or Lifeplus-Wahoo, I should say.”
Oliver Knight
“He was involved a bit before me. He was involved when Ian Stannard came through. He’s from Milton Keynes way. He’s rode for Team Milton Keynes as well.”
Timothy John
“And did Ian ever make any guest appearances?”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah, he did. Unfortunately, I missed it. I think just before I was really into it, he came and did a day with the club, which is on YouTube somewhere. He was the local guy out there doing what everyone was dreaming of doing, so he was a big influence as well.”
Timothy John
“I can’t imagine what that would be like for a young rider. I know Alex Dowsett used to turn up at his club ‘ten’ in full Movistar kit, which must have been mind-blowing for all the kids there.
“Were you ever coached by your dad? Or did he allow you to do things your own way?”
Oliver Knight
“Oh, I think me and my dad had a few fall outs early on when we would go out for rides. Stupid things, like if I didn’t know where I was, and I was suffering…
“It’s so hard. It’s such a hard sport, more mentally than anything. He pushed me past my comfort zone a few times, but I needed that.
“Luckily, I ended up having my own coach from about 13 or 14-years-old. That’s Roy Chamberlain, whom I’m still coached by now.”
Timothy John
“Can you quantify the effect that’s had on your career? The value of consistency must be immense.”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah, definitely. It’s good to have someone who knows what works for you and tries knew things, but also knows what works well, and things that we can look back on that have worked in that past, just to know the right process, but also try new things as well that might work.”
Timothy John
“Cycling has become a very data-oriented sport, with Training Peaks and all the rest of it. Is that the relationship you guys have? Or is it focussed on experience, feel, how you’ve performed previously at certain races, that kind of thing?”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah, it’s a bit of both, to be fair, I think. I think that’s the most important thing. Obviously, the numbers are super important, and it’s good to know the reason why you’re doing things, but also just good communication on how things are going. Mentally, is also really important. But he does a lot of research and looks into new sessions, which is really good.”
Timothy John
“And it’s that total commitment, isn’t it, that all-consuming approach, that separates a rider who wants to be a professional cyclist from a weekend racer. Would that be fair?”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah, that’s it. It’s one of those sports where you’re never not training. If you’re off the bike, you’re resting for the next session, and if you’re on the bike, you’re putting in the work for the races to come. That’s why I love it, really.”
Timothy John
“One of the things you mentioned when we chatted in Leeds, and really struck home with me, was your ambition to be a ‘professional cyclist’. It wasn’t to win the Tour de France, for example. I think for people who know the sport from the inside, that phrase, ‘a professional,’ really resonates.”
Oliver Knight
“Yeah. It’s strange. For as long as I remember, that has been the thing I’ve been aspiring to. I didn’t dream of winning the Tour, or winning these big races. I just really wanted to be a professional cyclist.
“Obviously, winning races is the best part of it, and that’s what I’m thinking of when I’m out training, but, at the same time, being a professional and having your hobby as your job, that’ the goal.”