Cycling Sheffield bucking the doom and gloom in the sport as they gear up for 12th season

Everywhere you look in cycling at the moment there are negative stories: British continental teams folding; races being pulled; terrestrial television contracts expiring; satellite TV deals going behind more expensive paywalls.

News that broke last week of the Tour de France Femmes coming to Leeds in 2027 offers a ray of hope for the future, but there was a shaft of light for the here and now in the familiarity of Cycling Sheffield’s launch at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre in Attercliffe.

A lot of the same faces showing continued support for a local venture, old riders coming back to say hello, and special guests in engineering supremo Rod Ellingworth and peloton veteran Ben Swift, were present to salute an all too rare a sight these days. Stability and sustainability are two words not commonly associated with the sport, but Cycling Sheffield’s ability to continue bucking that trend is both reassuring and encouraging.

Dave Coulson launched the British Cycling Elite Development team over a decade ago with an ambition to do it through local sponsors and with the name of the city at its heart.

“Challenging financial situations and running a bike team is never easy,” says Coulson.

“I try to do it in the way I’ve always wanted to do it, not over-promising, not saying I want to be in the Tour de France in three years.

“It’s challenging, but we’re still here. Wherever we can all our sponsors and partners are Sheffield companies and organisations.

“That approach has helped us. Sponsors do come and go so if you haven’t got all your eggs in one basket, when one goes hopefully you find another.”

Word of mouth helps. One sponsor in NRC Services is supporting the team for a second year and has brought another company on board.

“Dave is a great salesman,” says Martin Simmonite of NE Electrical Wholesalers, a supplier for Mark Oldale at NRC. “Mark told me about Cycling Sheffield, I knew nothing about the sport, but Dave really sold me on what they do.”

They have a similar pulling power when it comes to assembling a roster of cyclists. As a development team their job is not just to be competitive in the British races and sprinkling of European races they can afford to compete in, but also prepare young men for the next step.

“We had our most successful year ever last year (15 wins in Britain),” says Coulson, “and a very successful one in Europe. On the back of that success we’ve helped four riders get contracts in France.

“So it’s left us with a big turnover of riders, but that goes with the territory and when it happens like that it means you’re doing your job right.”

There are six new faces on the eight-man team, including Dronfield-born Ryan Williams, 19, and York’s James Sawyers, 18.

“You want to be at a place where the boss is working hard to move your career on,” says Williams, who is working in a chippy on the side to help fund his cycling career.

Sawyers adds: “There’s not many teams left is there? Cycling Sheffield has been around a long time, they’re probably the most stable.”

Coulson is not one for grand statements, but the body of work, the sheer fact that they are still around doing what they do, is a testament to the reputation they have built.

“We’re try to stay humble,” concludes Coulson. “In the last few years we’ve become one of the leading development teams. I hope British Cycling hold us in a high regard.

“There’s still a lot of good people working in the sport putting races on, because races are the lifeblood. Teams come and go, but we need races for the riders.

“There’s a lot of doom and gloom around the scene in the UK, but I’m hoping that’s bottomed out and I always try to stay positive.”