Friday, March 29, 2024

Steve Cummings – the New British TT Champion is ‘The Real Deal”

-

HomeInterviewsSteve Cummings - the New British TT Champion is 'The Real Deal"
Steve Cummings.

Steve Cummings, he’s the real deal.

Dues fully paid at low budget Landbouwkrediet and Barloworld, he’s also ridden with some of the biggest teams in the sport; Discovery, Sky and BMC – before finding what is the ideal squad for him, Dimension Data where letting him ‘do his own thing’ has paid off for both parties in spades.

Back in his Disco days, Alberto Contador once said he’d have Cummings in his team any day of the week.

Enough said.

British champion on road and track, Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Olympic Games silver medallist, Italian semi-classic winner, stage race winner and stage winner in the likes of the Basque Country, Dauphine and Tirreno; not to mention Grand Tour stage winner – and still the same humble, grounded, approachable man he’s always been.

Unfortunately Cummings suffered a fractured collarbone, scapula and sternum in a bad crash on stage four of the Tour of the Basque Country back in the spring.

Not many could say they won their first race back after a spill like that – especially when they had to beat a man like Movistar’s specialist ‘chronoman’ Alex Dowsett to do it.

But here’s what British Elite Time Trial Champion 2017, Steve Cummings (Dimension Data) had to say to VeloVeritas shortly after his victory.

Congratulations, Steve – the big questions first, did you have Manx kippers for breakfast on the day?

“No, I always stick to what I know – but I certainly saw them on the menu this morning.”

Your first race back after the crash?

“Yeah, I’m in not bad shape but maybe only 90% of my best – I’m sure that in two or three weeks I’ll be back to my best; I’m at stage in my recovery where I know I can build on the good base I have.”

What was the parcours like?

“Up or down all the time, a typically British ‘sporting’ course.

“There were no ‘proper’ climbs but the drags were long and you had to work hard on the downhill stretches too where normally you’d be looking for some recovery.”

Steve Cummings
Steve flanked by Alex Dowsett and James Gullen on the podium. Photo©Simon Wilkinson \ SWpix

And on your usual Cervelo TT rig?

Yeah, just as it was set up for the Basque Country, I had 56 x 11 top and 42 x 25 – or it maybe a 23 ? – bottom, and I needed it!

“I was on Continental tyres.

“I actually dropped my chain at one point, it’s a big jump, 42 to 56 but I was lucky not to have to stop, I managed to get it back on – it was at a bad spot where you should be trying to carry speed, not lose it.

“If I’d lost by a couple of seconds due to that I’d have been very disappointed.”

Did you have any team personnel with you?

“No, I just flew in with my bikes – it was only certain for the last few days that I’d be riding, a last minute thing.”

Were you getting time checks on anyone?

“No, I was off early – I was finishing more or less as Alex Dowsett was just getting under way.”

Steve Cummings
Steve during the Time Trial Champs. Photo©IOMToday

How did you judge your pace?

“I use everything, power, heart rate and ‘feel.’

“The day before I did 25 minutes at a power I reckoned I could handle for the duration on Wednesday and it worked out perfectly.

“It wasn’t the kind of course which wasn’t about ‘flat power’ you were doing 60 kph downhill so you can’t get the power down but then you have to go over threshold on the climbs.

“I was aggressive on the climbs without over-cooking it; I tried to surge over the little rises.

“Ultimately it’s about feel though – I guess if I’d been getting time checks on someone and it was close I may have been able to get a more out.”

It must have seemed like a long wait to see if you’d bested Dowsett’s time?

“I kept hearing that Dowsett was eight seconds up on me but I knew that I’d finished strongly.

“I lost a bit of time in the corners, I was cautious, not so much that you’re scared after the crash just that you’re race rusty.

“I was riding to the podium – I was going to be in at least second place – when I heard the announcement that I’d beaten Alex by eight seconds.”

When will you get to air your nice new British Champion’s skinsuit?

“Hopefully in Dusseldorf next Saturday – stage one of the Tour de France – the team will be finalised after the national road race championships on Sunday.

“I’m not at 100% so don’t believe I have the condition to win the road race – it’ll be perhaps another 10 days before I come into my best shape.”

Going back to that awful crash in the Basque Country, what happened?

“The road suddenly went from three lanes down to one; it was messy with traffic and bollards all over the place.

“There was a big crash in front of me and nowhere where for me to go, I crashed into the bollards and came down heavily on my shoulder.”

Steve Cummings
Steve is a talented time triallist. Photo©ASO/A.Broadway

There were complications to your recuperation though?

“I had my first operation in Cologne and things went well – I was thinking I’d be back in action at the Dauphine.

“But I slipped and fell at home and didn’t realise that I’d knocked my scapula out of line.

“It wasn’t until 10 days after that it was discovered that the joint was ‘stepped’ – when I’d gone in for a check up x-ray.

“They had to re-break and re-set the joint; that’s a much more difficult procedure than dealing with a broken collarbone.

“The collar bone is dealt with from the surface but they have to go in through your back to get to the scapula.”

It must have been a difficult time for you?

“Whilst it was nice to spend time with my family, there was a lot of frustration – and pain.

“I was on pain killers for 10 days – I’m not into taking things like that but I had to, I couldn’t move, couldn’t sleep.

“But they do take you out of yourself – you’re just ’not with it at all.’

“Day to day you don’t notice any improvement but after a week or so you think; “well, I couldn’t have managed to do that a week ago.”

“I mean, I couldn’t load the dish washer or hold our baby.

“When I got back on the bike it was a shock, I felt so unfit.

“I have aches and pains still but the doctor reckons it’ll be about another six weeks before I’m at a stage where it’s as good as it gets.”

What’s the goal now?

“Carry on recovering, have a good Tour, get the belief back and go for a stage win.”

VeloVeritas wishes Steve well and will be there for his prime ‘stage hunts’ from 10 through to 15.

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

Related Articles

Paul Martens – Tour of Luxemburg 2013 Winner

Who’s Paul Martens? He’s a solid professional, comes from Rostock in Germany and rides for Belkin. And back in June he joined that exclusive club of national tour winners, taking the Tour of Luxembourg – a result rather lost in the pre-Tour hysteria.

John Watson – Racing a Great (Five Year) Career in the ’60’s

John Watson started racing at 18 years-of-age in 1966, his first race was a ‘25’ which he won with a 1:00. By the following year he was National ‘100’ Champion; in 1968 he went to the Mexico Olympics; in 1969 he set a 12 hour record which stood for a decade; 1970 saw him set a ‘50’ record which sliced nearly four minutes of the previous fastest time for the distance and lasted for 13 years, win the BBAR, get fourth place in the prestigious GP de France time trial and get offered a place with ACBB.

Geert Omloop – “I went from unknown pro to Belgian Champion”

‘Coolness’ is hard to define, most professional riders are smart, well turned out but only a few are ‘cool.’ Belgian Geert Omloop was one such rider but not only was he cool, he was hard as nails, a master of the art of the kermis and on his day capable of beating Belgium’s very best to win the National Elite Road Race Championships.

Michael Mørkøv – Early Tour de France King of the Mountains

Men of the Tour, thus far ? Wiggins, definitely; Sagan, for sure; Greipel, yes - and, Michael Mørkøv. The Danish ex-World Madison Champion and six day star's stage one breakaway to grab the polka dot jersey and his defence of it for the first week was one of the talking points of the race. Not content with taking all the available points on stage one, he joined the break on stages two and three to make the jersey his own until the stage to La Planche des Belles Filles where the 'bigs' decided to fight it out. We caught up with him on the rest day at the team hotel in Mâcon.

At Random

Gary Coltman – ‘Head of Performance’ with Scottish Cycling

With the recent appointment of Gary Coltman as Head of Performance at Scottish Cycling, VeloVeritas thought it would be interesting to learn about the man and his plans – here’s what he had to say to us:

Katie Archibald – World Champion, Again!

Scotland had an exceptional World Championship in Apeldoorn with Mark Stewart and Jack Carlin both on the podium; Stewart in the points race and Carlin in the individual and team sprint – both boding very well for the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in ‘24 days 09 hours and 55 seconds’ at time of writing. And there was that that remarkable young lady, Katie Archibald taking team pursuit silver with the GB squad and Madison gold with Emily Nelson.

World Road Championships 2007 – Day 3: Road Race Parcours Preview

I got my Hugh Porter interview here at the World Road Championships 2007, it's not often that you get the chance to meet your hero, sometimes they disappoint, not Hughie, a cool guy who certainly doesn't live in the past, like many old pros do. Today was "course preview" day, I had hoped to borrow a bike, but eventually I thought; 'ach, I'll just walk!' for the first couple of hours this was fine, especially since there was lots to see; not least 'still banned' Danilo Di Luca, training with the Italian team.

Chris Smart – “the Tour de Trossachs is everything a time trial should be”

It was that master of the ‘sporting’ time trial parcours, Chris Smart who again took the honours in Sunday’s classic Tour de Trossachs time trial, adding his name once again to a roll call that read like a ‘who’s who’ of Scottish Cycling – Billy Bilsland, Robert Millar, Graeme Obree and the late, great Jason MacIntyre.