Sunday, April 28, 2024

Alfie George – 7th at the Junior World Road Championship

"...if a couple more had committed to chasing then we might have brought it back together for a sprint ..."

-

HomeInterviewsAlfie George - 7th at the Junior World Road Championship

It was a good Harrogate World Championships for Scotland with John Archibald taking 14th spot in the Elite Time Trial with little notice of his participation, ahead of names like Dylan Van Baarle, Edoardo Affini and Kasper Asgreen, all men with strong chrono pedigrees.

We had Anna Shackley in 12th spot in the Junior Ladies’ Road race and Stuart Balfour rode out of his skin to do his part in Tom Pidcock’s bronze medal winning ride in the u23 Road Race.

And last but not least, Alfie George took a fine seventh spot in the Junior Men’s Road Race just 12 seconds away from the bronze medal.

Alfie George
Alfie George. Photo©Martin Williamson

We let the 18 year-old from Dundee thaw and dry out after his Harrogate epic then had a word with him about a season which has seen him place highly in the Junior Paris-Roubaix, win a European title, three British Championships, and then cap it off with his sterling World Championship performance.

We kicked off by asking Alfie how he got into cycling…

“My parents are both cyclists so really, I’ve been cycling most of my life.

“I rode my first race at Caird Park track, Dundee when I was 11 years-old and it’s all just gone on from there.”

And you’re with the Discovery team from Dundee?

“Yes, but I’ve been with the GB Junior Academy and am hoping to move up to the Senior Academy which would mean living in Manchester under the auspices of Matt Brammeier.”

I remember Craig Maclean telling me that he regularly had to meet times to retain his place – is it still as rigid?

“You’re reviewed every three months but it’s not as black and white on the road as it is for the sprint track guys – as long as you’re performing as you should and making progress…”

Alfie George
Alfie George warms up before the Worlds Road Race. Photo©Martin Williamson

You’re a ‘Dundee Boy’ but spend a lot of time in Leeds?

“I was born in Leeds but moved up to Dundee when I was about a year-old.

“My granparents still live in Leeds which is very handy for Manchester, it’s only 40 minutes away – training and leaving for race trips abroad – so I spend quite a bit of time with them during the season.”

Junior Paris-Roubaix, fifth place and just a handful of seconds from the win

“Paris-Roubaix is my favourite race, it’s a dream come true to be able to ride it.

“I rode it last year but crashed; there’s always bad luck in that race – crashes, punctures.

“The last 80 K is the same as the pro race, all the same pave sectors.

“There was a break and my team-mate Lewis Askey (who won the Junior Paris-Roubaix last year) was chasing like crazy to bring it back to set it up for me for the sprint, but didn’t quite manage; if you look at the pictures of me finishing fifth it looks like there’s a guy just pipped me but that was us catching the fourth guy in the break right on the line.

“I won the sprint from a group of 15 – maybe if we’d got organised earlier we’d have caught the breakaway and I would have been sprinting for the win?”

Then your win in the European Junior Team Pursuit Championship – how do you go from road to track seamlessly?

“Even though we’re riding on the road we do regular five day long track training camps at Newport, Derby and Manchester velodromes.

“They’re long days of work; four hours on the track in the morning then four hours in the evening.

“Before The Europeans we had a week long camp to prepare.

“We did 4:01 in the final – we wanted to be the first team under four minutes but we were beaten to that with the Germans riding 3:58 in the final of the Junior Worlds in August at Frankfurt.”

Alfie George
Alfie George moves up to u23 next season. Photo©Martin Williamson

You won three British junior track title: Kilometre, Points and Madison.

“After the Euros my focus had been on the road and I was really training through the British Champs for The Road Worlds so whilst perhaps the points and madison weren’t too much of a surprise given I had been doing endurance work, the kilometre was.

“Although it seems that if I do a lot of endurance work it actually helps with my speed.”

Tell us about your preparation for the Road Worlds.

“We were doing four hour training days, intervals, efforts on hills and I was really paying attention to what I was eating to make sure my weight was going to be right.”

Seventh on that rainy day on Parliament Street – any ‘what ifs’?

“At the end, if a couple more had committed to chasing then we might have brought it back together for a sprint but at that end of that day with the rain and cold, everyone was pretty much wasted.

“And no one was going to beat the winner, Quinn Simmons of the USA that day, he was just so strong.”

Alfie George
Alfie George on his way to 7th place at the World Championships. Photo©Ed Hood

You’ve come on well from 2018, what do you put that down to?

“It’s not my training, that’s pretty much the same but I have been riding bigger races, especially stage races – that brings you on.

“And my race craft is better now, I had nine crashes in 2018 but now I’m so much more experienced.”

You move up to u23 for 2020 – what are the expectations?

“I expect to get my head kicked in!

“Seriously, I’m with a great set-up and I’m looking forward to riding some big races.

“I’m looking forward to the training too – there’s no longer the house in Italy but I’ll be spending time in Girona and at the house in Belgium.

“And then there’s the track, the u23 Euro Team Pursuit is always a big goal for GB and I’d like to earn my place in that squad.”

What’s the ultimate preference, road or track?

“That’s a tough question; long term it’s the road but I do love track racing, it’s such fun.”

We’ll be keeping our eye on Mr. George’s performances in 2020, here’s hoping he remains on his current trajectory…

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

Julian Wheat – Winning French Races in the ’70s, and ‘the Mafia’

Brittany, the summer of 1977 and a group of Scottish cyclists are over there as competitors in the Roscoff–Lorient road race as part of the ‘Festival Interceltique de Lorient.’ At one of these races, a criterium on a sunny day at a venue long forgotten, we met an English chap called Julian Wheat who had chucked his job and set up shop in the depths of Bretagne.

Evan Oliphant – the First Scottish Premier Calendar Winner

Raleigh's Evan Oliphant recently made some cycling history when he became the first Scotsman to win the Star Trophy - or as it's known now, 'The Premier Calendar.' But 'Star Trophy' just sounds so much better. The season long contest was first run in 1959 when the legendary John Perks won it the names engraved upon the silver demand respect - Les West, Hugh Porter, Phil Griffiths, Malcolm Elliott, Paul Curran and Russell Downing to name a few.

Rob Griese – “Alex Taylor wanted me in the British Tour team – Tom Simpson said ‘no way'”

It’s always nice when readers write in and get involved with our mutual passion; especially if it’s something new to us at VeloVeritas. Graham Robson enjoys our pieces about riders from the past and emailed us to ask us if we had any plans to track down Englishman Bob Griese, who’d ridden for Mercier in the 60’s. To my shame, I hadn’t heard of the man but started my investigations – I was told by one of my contacts that sadly, Mr. Griese was dead. End of story – but not quite.

Harry Tanfield – Signed by Katusha for 2019/20

VeloVeritas caught up with Harry Tanfield a few days after his move to the Swiss/Russian squadra Katusha hit the browsers. The thing about a Harry interview is that no matter how big the result he never gets too excited - and signing with a World Tour team for two seasons doesn’t seem such a big deal for the 23 year-old from Great Ayton in north east England.

At Random

World Road Championships – Day Five, Mens Time Trial 2012

There are time trials – and then there are time trials. this is the Mens Time Trial 2012. Dual carriageways with high traffic counts on balmy Essex afternoons are one thing; Limburg in the autumn rain with a parcours which includes the Cauberg is another.

Giro d’Italia 2013 – Stage 13: Busseto – Cherasco 254km. Cavendish’s Fourth!

GreenEdge and Cannondale learned again that those who live by the sword die by the sword, Having slyly left Patrick Lefevre’s men to do the lion’s share in bringing back the break of this longest day of the race, they formed their trains late in the tappa; hoping to exploit a Cavendish whose team was all used up.

Davie Whitehall – Versatile Scottish Rider in the ’70s and ’80s

He’s a man we should have caught up with long ago – but one of the few good things about ‘lockdown’ is that it has given us the time to catch up with riders who have ‘slipped through the VeloVeritas net.’ At last; Mr. David Whitehall...

Kuurne Brussels Kuurne 2011

Sky Procycling just missed the win yesterday with Flecha finishing second in Het Nieuwsblad, but the team stepped it up a notch today, setting up Chris Sutton perfectly for a superb win in the bunch sprint at Kuurne - Brussels - Kuurne.