News
Vern Pittanyon-Eisberg
team manager Tim
Elverson is confi dent
that newly signed track rider
Andy Tennant can gain some
results on the road in 2018.
Tennant, who has been
a fi xture of Great Britain’s
pursuiting squad for years but
missed out on selection for
the team pursuit squad at the
last two Olympics, signed for
Canyon-Eisberg from Team
Wiggins over the winter.
Elverson told CW: “Tennant
is itching to get out there, he’s
still getting picked by GB for
World Championships and
Commonwealth Games, he
has just done his best sprint
numbers and you might
see a few results out of him
[on the road].”
“I think he’s got buckets
to give. He’s not afraid
to get his elbows out and
he’s got a sprint that’s no
embarrassment on any level.
“I think he’s hungry.
He’s been effective for Chris
Latham [at Team Wiggins]
as the last man at a couple of
races; he’s got his own hunger
and desire to get his own
results as well.”
Elverson pointed to
Tennant’s previous road
results, which include
victories at the Wiltshire
Grand Prix in 2015 and the
Tour of the Reservoir in 2009,
arguing that he was capable
of big wins in 2018.
He said: “He’s not done
anything amazing [recently]but he won Wiltshire three
years ago. He’s got form and
wins on the road and if you
remove Chris Opie and Harry
Tanfi eld he’s probably got
more wins than any other
people on the team.”
Elverson said Tennant was
a rider that he had always
admired and his move from
Wiggins followed fairly
swiftly after the pair began
speaking at a race last year:
“I immediately thought this
is someone I can help get the
results he wants.
“I like what he does, the
way he conducts himself,
and I just asked if he was
interested in moving. He said
he had liked the team for a
while and the races we were
doing. We got on pretty well
straight away. He was the
type of rider I was looking for
— he’s a professional.”
Elverson said that as well
as providing sprint options
for the team, Tennant was
keen to race in Europe — a
major part of the Fleet-based
team’s programme.Tennant tipped
for road success
Track rider’s skills could translate
to road, says Canyon-Eisberg boss
Photo: [email protected]
We e k l y c olu m n
Katie Archibald
Olympic and world champion Katie Archibald got into cycling
after winning handicap races on a Highland Games grass track“Am I subconsciously keen to
enter so I have an excuse for
doing poorly in the pursuit, an
event I’m essentially afraid of?”
onight I must decide whether to enter the sprint at this
year’s Track Nationals. Or, I could pay £25 to delay the
decision by changing it to whether or not I withdraw.
The Championships take place in Manchester from January
26-28. So far I have entered the individual pursuit (Friday), the
scratch race and keirin (both Saturday) and the points race
(Sunday). The sprint is on the Friday and entering would be a
stupid thing to do. Best-case scenario is that I wouldn’t be too
deep into the sprint ladder before pursuit qualifying so I could
still put down a good time. But also that I do go far enough into
the sprint ladder before the pursuit qualifying to avoid being so
nailed from pursuiting that I go out the sprint really early.
Then I would hopefully have enough time to recover during
the lunch break, come back fi ghting in whatever sprint heats
I make, and accept one horribly painful and potentially quite
slow pursuit fi nal. The top eight pursuit qualifi ers race a fi nal
and if you qualify in the top four (I’m defending champion) you
ride a ‘medal fi nal’ and can only slip one place lower than your
qualifying place.
Why do I want to enter the sprint? Because it would be fun.
And I’m oddly keen to post a fl ying 200m time (something I
could kit up for and do in training — not the same). Crucially
though, the best omnium riders in the world are fast — like top
end, actually shifting, fast; not just fast-at-the-end-of-a-points-
race-when-everyone-else-is-on-their-knees kind of fast, but
straight-up quick — so if I’m training to compete in that fi eld I
should be able to give the national sprint a fair go.
Am I subconsciously keen to enter so I have an excuse for
doing poorly in the pursuit, an event I’m essentially afraid
of since putting so much into performing at the Worlds and
walking away with a result that refl ected almost no change in
two years? No, what an oddly specifi c thing to ask. Unrelated:
it’s rude to read other people’s diaries you know.Signing Tennant (left)
could pay off for Canyon10 | January 11, 2018 | Cycling Weekly