“Don’t take the piss, you’ll still have a team”: Former Saint Piran DS hits out at “bullying tyrant” management and claims he’s owed “tens of thousands”, as fans lament “sorry state of affairs” for UK cycling with no Conti teams + more on the live blog

Will the last person to leave the British elite domestic racing scene please turn out the lights?

While that comment may be a flippant one, ignoring the great grassroots work being done and the steady stream of UK-based cyclists turning professional in recent years, but it’s difficult to ignore the dark clouds hovering over British cycling at the moment.

That doom-laden atmosphere was furthered last night by the news that Saint Piran – the last remaining men’s UCI Continental team based in Britain, following the demise of Trinity earlier this month – is set to close ahead of the 2025 season.

Saint Piran line up before stage four of the 2024 Tour of Britain Men (Will Palmer/SWpix.com)

The Cornwall-based outfit, which was established in 2018 before stepping up to UCI Continental level in 2021, says the decision to shut up shop follows a “tough season” as the squad was hit by sponsorship troubles following what it called “turbulent media coverage”.

In recent months, the team attracted negative headlines for using non-UCI approved framesets imported from China (sparking an investigation from cycling’s governing body), while founder Richard Pascoe was accused of charging riders looking to join the squad £500 for their performance data to be analysed.

“At Saint Piran Pro Cycling, we have looked closely at how we can move forward and continue to grow,” the team said in a statement issued on Tuesday evening.

“Over the past six months, the senior team at Saint Piran has undertaken a strategic review analysing how we can increase the opportunities for some of the UK’s brightest talents and inspire more to get on bikes to take up our incredible sport. To achieve both we have to move to the next level. It is no longer possible for any professional sports team to stand still.

“But that exciting future will happen without Saint Piran Pro Cycling. With a tough season behind us, and more recently turbulent media coverage hitting sponsorship opportunities for next year, it has been decided that Saint Piran Pro Cycling UCI Continental Team and Saint Piran WRT Elite Development Team will not take to the start-line in 2025.”

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The statement continued: “This has been an incredibly difficult decision for all at Saint Piran but one that we believe is right. While the Saint Piran door closes, another opens for a team wishing to step into our shoes, it is an incredible opportunity. Saint Piran has proved that you can successfully run an independent UCI Continental Team in the UK and take on some of the biggest challenges and teams in the World.

“Unfortunately for us, the stars did not align in 2024 and it has taken its toll. Bad luck, poor health, and an unfair reminder we have made mistakes over the eight years of development have contributed to this decision.

(Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)

“The Saint Piran cycling brand will continue to develop and grow in the cycling sector and beyond. The brand goes from strength-to-strength year on year, providing a high-quality cycling-based experience.

“Sadly, the UK cycle industry is not strong enough as yet and the business is still in its infancy to be in a position to underpin the demands of UCI Continental racing as it stands today.

“Before some in our sport celebrate and no doubt sensationalise the closure of the team, it is important to understand how much has been invested in getting this small team to a place at the UCI table. Our decision has a much wider impact that deserves more discussion than just sensationalised headlines.

“We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who played a part in our growth and success over our eight years. It could not have been possible without you.”

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Saint Piran had 23 riders in their squad for 2024, including Olympic team pursuit silver medallist Oliver Wood, along with brothers Charlie and Harry Tanfield, and won three races internationally this year, including stage six of the Tour of Poyang Lake in China in September, courtesy of Tyler Hannay.

The Cornish squad’s closure means that there will be no British teams in the UCI’s third-tier Continental level in 2025 – the first time this has happened since 2004 – with the Ineos Grenadiers now the only remaining UK men’s pro team at any level.

 In stark contrast, and highlighting the rapid demise of the UK’s elite domestic racing scene, at the 2021 Tour of Britain Saint Piran were joined at the start by Ribble Weldtite, Canyon dhb SunGod, SwiftCarbon Pro Cycling, and Trinity Racing, which announced its own closure citing sponsorship troubles just over a week ago.

> Trinity Racing confirms closure of road team for 2025, as U23 development squad set to focus on mountain biking following sponsorship woes

And it’s that bleak outlook which has led British cycling fans to describe last night’s news as “very depressing” for the domestic scene.

“And then there were none,” said Anna Mac on BlueSky, while former road.cc contributor Tim Bonville-Ginn branded the announcement “absolutely astonishing”.

“Gutted. Just awful,” wrote Mike. “We needed teams like Saint Piran. It represented Cornwall and it was an important part of the British scene. Really feel sorry for the riders and the team.”

“It’s real shame to see the demise of the last couple of remaining British teams (Saint Piran, Trinity). There seems to be no support from our cycling organisations for homegrown riders/teams,” said another BlueSky user.

“From a film celebrating Saint Piran’s 2023 to its closure in nine months. A really sorry state of affairs. For the team and UK cycling,” added Dan Deakins.

Saint Piran’s Tom Williams at September’s Beaumont Trophy in Northumberland (Olly Hassell/SWpix.com)

But despite the doom and gloom, Saint Piran’s statement did at least offer a glimmer of hope for the UK’s racing scene.

“The UK Elite Cycling scene remains a crown jewel in the landscape of international sport and a golden opportunity for investment,” the team said.

“More riders in the World Tour peloton than ever before, World and Olympic medallists, and the development of cycling infrastructure across the UK are incredible achievements.

“Saint Piran Pro Cycling has contributed in all three of these. There is a bright future for UK cycling.”

Let’s hope so.

Matt Richardson, the Olympic track sprinter at the centre of a sporting geopolitical storm after defecting to Great Britain, has brushed off the Australian cycling federation’s decision to impose a lifetime ban on him, comparing it to being fired three months after leaving a job.

On Monday, AusCycling published a review which found that double Olympic silver medallist Richardson’s defection to GB – which was kept secret from his fellow riders and staff before the Paris Games – conflicted with the “values of the Australian National Team and the broader cycling community”.

The review also revealed that Richardson had attempted to take his Australian team bike and kit to Britain following the Olympics, but before he publicly announced his decision, a move AusCycling deemed an “unacceptable risk” to the squad’s intellectual property.

While the governing body concluded that its initial attempts to ban Richardson from all competition for two years were “legally unenforceable”, AusCycling did however stipulate that the world-class sprinter will “not be eligible to rejoin the Australian Cycling Team at any point in the future”.

(Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com)

Speaking at a press conference ahead of this weekend’s UCI Track Champions League event in Apeldoorn, Richardson admitted that the ban was a “shock” – but noted that it “doesn’t really carry much weight”.

“I didn’t know it was coming. I found it quite interesting. I guess they were just keen to get one last final blow, one last final word. But ultimately, I had left three months ago,” the Kent-born rider said.

“I’m not sure where the confusion, I guess, has come from, but I thought it was pretty obvious that, by wanting to ride for GB for the rest of my career, that would mean I didn’t want to ride for Australia for the rest of my career.

“It’s almost like you leave your job, and three months later they go, ‘well, you’re fired!’ It's like, ‘well, I already left’.

“It’s just words on a piece of paper, really, and they don’t really carry much weight for me.”

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Trio Behind Bars (@triobehindbars)

This absolutely ludicrous display of bike handling skills, from nine (nine!) year old Wes from the Trio Behind Bars posse – that’s a 2.9mm-thick wire, in case you were wondering – has certainly spawned some brilliant comments on the group’s Instagram page.

“I fell off my toilet watching this.”

“Get this man a Red Bull sponsorship immediately.”

“Danny MacAskill had been really quiet since this post.”

He’s probably somewhere in Scotland, plotting his next move…

> Money-no-object gifts for cyclists 2024 — splurge-worthy Christmas presents for the cyclist in your life

I reckon there should be an embargo on any mention of Christmas – on websites, on the TV, in shops – until 1 December. Yes, even when it comes to blingy cycling presents. But capitalism, and all that, I suppose.