Friday, March 29, 2024

Steve Joughin – The Original ‘Pocket Rocket’

"I won a lot of big races but the best moment for me was winning the Manx International in 1979 for the Manx Road Club."

-

HomeInterviewsSteve Joughin - The Original 'Pocket Rocket'

The ‘Pocket Rocket’ they called him; British Junior Road Champion, twice winner of the season-long Star Trophy, winner of just about every major amateur race in Britain and twice British Professional Road race Champion – the Isle of Man’s own Mr. Steve Joughin. 

High time we caught up with him.

Steve Joughin
Steve Joughin. Photo©Phil O’Connor

Thank you for agreeing to speak to us Steve – you were twice Mersey Division Junior Champion, was that with the Kirkby CC?

“Yeah – but with Manx Road Club, I was never a Kirkby man;I only ever rode for two teams as an amateur, Manx Road Club and Manchester Wheelers.

“I think it was an advantage for us on the island that as juniors we could race against the seniors, the racing was ‘open,’ it brought you on.”

You won the British Junior Road race Championship in 1977 from Russell Williams?

“You know, I was more nervous before that race than any other race I’ve ever ridden, I was so dedicated back then and anxious.

“Cycling was the first sport I tried and was good at, I was rubbish at football.

“It was a hot day that day, I had my Mersey Junior Champion’s jersey on with my pre-race meal consisting of jam sandwiches.

“Russell was second, yes – he followed me all day, he was good at doing that.”

In 1980 you won the Star Trophy; but there were a lot more races on the calendar for it than there are now for the Premiers?  

“I won the GP of Essex and the Lincoln GP that year but yes, there were so many more big races – the Essex Trophy, the Hyde GP, the Manx GP, the Tour of the Peak, the Tour of the Cotswolds…

“I think that during my amateur career I won most of them.”The thing was that when you were in the Manchester Wheelers – I joined in 1979 – it was like a race within a race, you had so many good team mates that you had to pick your move carefully so that you weren’t racing against your own team mates.”

Some say that the Manchester Wheelers paying guys to stay amateur held back the pro class?

“I actually had an offer to turn pro with Falcon at the end of 1977 but I wanted to stay amateur and ride the 1978 Commonwealth Games.

“I don’t think that the Wheelers influenced guys to not turn pro – it wasn’t as if we got a lot of money.”

Steve Joughin represented England and GB as an amateur and as a pro. Photo©Javi Goros

How did The Games go for you?

“I rode the Commonwealth games twice, in ’78 when Phil Anderson won and then in ’82 when Malcolm Elliott won; I was a much more experienced and better rider by then.

“In ’78 I was 27th and I know sounds daft but in ‘82 I had new shorts on for the race and they had me in extreme discomfort for first couple of hours – I missed the break, punctured, finished on the rim and ended-up seventh.

“On the plane home from Brisbane after the Games I gave myself an ultimatum; I’d gone as far as I could as an amateur – I had to get a pro contract.”

Season ’81 saw you in the Milk Race.

“I rode it in ’80 too, Soukhoroutchenkov rode with the Russian team – he went on to win the Olympic Road Race in Moscow that year – his team mate, Ivan Mitchenko was the overall Milk Race winner.

“That was some ‘blooding’ – the best I did was sixth on a stage; but I got through it. 

“My team mate, Des Fretwell said to me after the last stage; ‘after this you’ll be able to win stage races.

“Right at that moment I thought; ‘that’s not possible,’ but he was right. 

“I won the first stage of the ’81 Milk Race, had other good stage placings and the team took six stages so that was a better race than ’80.”

Steve Joughin about to start the ITT at the 1981 Scottish Health Race. Photo©Twitter

I remember you winning the prologue of the Scottish ‘Health Race’ in ’81.

“That was all I won in that race, I was burned out by that part of the season, I’d ridden the Milk Race and the Sea Link; I was over-raced.

“I didn’t finish that race, I had to abandon on the last stage.”

That season was when you moved to France.

“Yes but I couldn’t settle there.

“I was with Martin Earley’s club – CC Fontainebleau – but I was living in an apartment which hadn’t been decorated, bare plaster walls …

“It wasn’t for me and I came home.”

Another Star Trophy win in ’82.

“I had a fantastic start to that year but the first race of the year was the Chequers GP and there were no ferries off the island because the sea was so rough.

“That’s the thing about living on the Isle of Man, sometimes your first test was just to get to the mainland.

“I got a plane to Blackpool then cycled down to Liverpool with my bag on my back, to travel to the Chequers.

“My team mate, Mike Williams was up the road so I couldn’t chase but finished second, then I won the GP of Essex, the Essex Trophy and the Archer GP in succession, I had the Star Trophy just about won by the end of March.

“I won the Tour of the Cotswolds later that year as well as stages in the Sea Link and Health Race.”

Pro for 1983 after your Games ‘self-ultimatum’ then; how long did it take to get accustomed to life with the pros?

“Yes, Mickey Morrison approached me and I turned pro with Moducel.

“I’d raced against the pros in pro-am races and had beaten Barry Hoban to a stage win in the London-Glasgow stage race for instance, so I knew what to expect and as soon as I turned I had guys watching me.”

Steve Joughin
Steve Joughin with one of his National Champion’s jerseys. Photo©Michael Blann/Rouleur

You won the National Professional Road Race in ’84 on home roads on the Island.

“That was a huge boost but I owe a debt to Nigel Dean for that one, he chased the break, never off the front for the last 15 miles.

“The break started messing about and we caught them with 500 metres to go, Bill Nickson was second and Malcolm Elliott third.

“That really launched my pro career and got my salary doubled.” 

Two Milk Race stage wins in 1986.

“Those were good results for me, the Milk Race was a big race, 14 days, 12 stages, a prologue and one rest day.  

“There were some handy finishers in there, Malcolm Elliott and Abdou among them; I won Stage One beating Shane Sutton and Philippe Casado – who was a Giro stage winner – then I won the last stage, beating Abdou and Shane.”

Steve Joughin
Steve Joughin Photo©Tim Diss

Season ’87 saw you with Percy Bilton and take a Kellogg’s stage.

“Moducel pulled out at the end of ’86 but fair play to them, they gave us plenty of notice.

“The guy behind the Bilton team was Ron Groom, he loved the sport and we wanted for nothing, I had a training bike, a road bike, a crit bike, a low pro – my garage was full of bikes.

“He didn’t make you an offer, he just asked; ‘how much are you looking for ?’ 

“You’d tell him and he’d say; ‘yeah, that’s fine.’

“The Bilton team budget in 1987 was 300 grand; that was a lot of money back then. 

“That Kelloggs Tour Stage Three win was a big result but the thing is that the day before I took such a belting.

“Stage Two was Newcastle to Manchester, the distance was stated as 272 kilometres; I was on the road for 8 hours and 20 minutes with Dudley Hayton and Phil Bayton.

“Thing is that Stage Three was very hilly and I was up front over most of the climbs and won the stage.” 

Bilton was a great team but you went to Ever Ready for the 1988 season – and won the National for them?

“Ron Groom was a lovely guy but got upset about things and there was a polemic about the Sport for TV criterium at Westminster which Tony Doyle won and Ron said he was pulling out of sponsorship.

“The thing is that he paid us a big bonus then 10 days later said he was pulling the plug.

“I was on holiday in Ibiza with our baby son and thinking, what; ‘what am I gonna do now ?

“I ended up signing with Mick Bennett for Ever Ready but the rub is that Ron didn’t actually pull out, I was well pee-ed off I had also sort of contract wrangles after he said he was ending the team.”

But back to Bilton in ’89?

“Ron made me an offer I couldn’t refuse but he was an impulsive guy and when he pulled out at the end of that season the writing was really on the wall for the British pro scene.

“But that year wasn’t bad at all, I won a Milk race stage and a stage in the Girvan Three Day at Easter.” 

Steve Joughin
The autobiography of Steve Joughin is available on Amazon.

Percy’s AMP for 1990?

“Percy’s Direct Discounts… I was single sponsored, the guy who organised it bought Ken Bird’s bike shop and wanted to run it as a bike shop-cum-café so I guess he was ahead of his time in that respect.

“He had my low profile bike and a lot of my trophies on display in the shop – then the receivers moved in and I lost the lot!

“I had one win that year, a crit up at Windermere.”

KJC Carpets for 1991?

“That was a low key affair with Steve Jones and me.

“I’d never finished outside the top 10 in the British National Road Race Championship and was on the start line of the ’91 edition when the guy who owned the team told us he was pulling the plug on the team after the race.

“I chucked the race early and that was that.”

Steve Joughin
Steve Joughin (r) and some of his Pro Vision Team. Photo©Gary Main

Tell us how your Pro Vision cycling clothing came to be.

“In ’92 I was working for Terry Dolan as a sales rep. my territory was pretty big – Aberdeen in North East Scotland down to Eastbourne on the English Channel.

“Terry’s frames were all built on the premises and the capacity was seven frames per week but I was selling 35 frames each week so he had organise other builders to meet demand – things were going well until the directors fell out 

“I decided that I needed to work for myself and began selling shorts into shops, my son’s cycling club asked me if I could provide them with custom made club jersey – and 25 years later I’m still at it.

“Business has been good but things are tricky for everyone right now, hopefully on-line sales will be boosted – you have to remain positive.”

Your finest hour?

“I won a lot of big races but the best moment for me was winning the Manx International in 1979 for the Manx Road Club.”

Steve Joughin
Steve Joughin has helped with the Tour of Britain as a VIP driver. Photo©supplied

Are you still on the bike? 

“Yeah, I dipped my toe back in November 2017 with Turbo rides and since then I’ve got back into it, I love to ride in Mallorca, out in the sun – in 2019 I clocked up 5,000 miles.”

Regrets?

“None, I love the world of cycling but it does niggle that I wasn’t selected for the Moscow Olympics in 1980, I’d proved I was the best single day rider in the country but the team was picked on stage race results…”

With thanks to Steve for an entertaining interview.

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

Michael Mørkøv – “Flanders Was Nice, Wevelgem and Dwars Door were Hell!”

We thought it would be good to speak to a man who was in the thick of the action at the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, across those cruel cobbles and over the brutal bergs. Step forward Saxo-Tinkoff’s Michael Mørkøv; team pursuit flyer, Six Day star, polka dot jersey wearer in the Tour de France, and Classics escape artist.

Harry Tanfield – “Any further than a ’25’ gets a bit dull!”

Harry Tanfield has been prominent in a couple of stages at La Vuelta and rode well to finish last on the Angrilu on Sunday. To celebrate Harry's accomplishment on this hardest of stages and because it's interesting to see the mindset of aspiring riders making good, we present again our chat with him from six years ago when he was making a name for himself in Belgium's kermises.

Peter Schep – “I’m happy to look back on my results with pride”

If you’re a Six Day fan then you’ll have your favourite stylist – maybe it’s the spectacular but so smooth Iljo Keisse or perhaps the robotic ‘Big Bob’ Bartko or the physical style of Wim Stroetinga? But there’s a man missing from the boards, this season who for me was the most stylish rider of his generation – tall, slim Dutchman, Peter Schep. We caught up with Peter as battle raged in the Rotterdam Six Day, a race in which he was victorious twice.

James McCallum – British Criterium National Champion

"I knew that if I was second or third round the last corner then nobody would beat me." And so it proved, as James McCallum added British Criterium Championship gold to Commonwealth Games points bronze, last night in Otley. VeloVeritas spoke to James just hours after his win.

At Random

KBC Driedaagse van De Panne-Koksijde – Day 3, Zottegem

Stage two is the longest at nearly 230 K, from Zottegem to Sint-Idesbald, a quick breenge around the bergs then a charge back to the coast and two finishing laps. Viktor wanted to see his hero, Guy Smet at a kermesse near Bruges, so my race watching was courtesy of the plasma screen in a cafe.

Le Tour de France 2006 – Day 5: Stage 2, Obernai – Esch-sur-Alzette (Luxembourg)

At Le Tour de France 2006 I was involved with TV - no, no, not like that, cycling dot TV - the Internet TV guys. I met their guy, Steve Masters in the press room yesterday and he scrounged a lift off me to the start at Obernai with his camera man, James.

Cycle Hire in Mallorca – hire a bike on the island

If you're heading to Mallorca on holiday or for a training camp it makes a lot of sense to hire a bike over there rather than take your own machine to the island. I recently spent a couple of weeks in Pollença in the north east of Mallorca, on a family holiday - and for simplicity I decided to do just that. Here's how it went...

Michele Scarponi

Michele Scarponi took fourth on GC at the Tour of the Alps this week and it was a shock to all when word came of his being fatally struck by an Iveco van on an early morning training ride just one kilometre from his home in Filottrano. To Michele Scarponi’s wife, Anna and twin boys Giacomo and Tomamaso, his extended family, friends, fans and team mates we extend our deepest sympathies. Rest in peace, Michele we’re going to miss you.