A new roster of Britain’s most promising young cyclists has today been welcomed into the Great Britain Cycling Team Academy, as the prestigious programme celebrates 20 years since its launch.

The Academy, which was formed by Rod Ellingworth in 2004, today celebrates an impressive milestone of 20 years. The initial squad of just six young male cyclists included none other than Sir Mark Cavendish, who went on to become one of the greatest sprinters of all time, breaking the record for most Tour de France stage wins with his 35th win earlier this year. The Academy has since been the training ground for some of the greatest riders of a generation.

20 years on from those humble beginnings, the programme which is split into Olympic Development Squad and Podium Potential groups boasts one of the most prestigious cycling pathways in the world and is currently developing 86 riders across five disciplines.

In the past 20 years, 472 riders – across several disciplines - have been a part of the World Class Programme (WCP), with 47% of them (224) winning a medal of any colour at international level*. This has amounted to an incredible 1,615 medals overall, 83% of which came from pathway-linked riders, and includes 41 Olympic medals** being won by riders that have developed through the pathway, equating to 67% of all Olympic medals won since the Beijing Games.

Britain’s most decorated Olympians Sir Jason Kenny and Dame Laura Kenny, three-time Olympic champion Ed Clancy, two-time Olympic champion Victoria Pendleton, Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas and Olympic silver medallist Lizzie Deignan all graduated from the Academy.

Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallists Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane and Tom Pidcock all came through the GBCT Academy from young ages. Capewell joined at the age of 13, while Finucane joined at 19, having developed initially through the Welsh talent pathway. 

The pathway continues to produce talented and successful riders, with highlights this year including seven world titles won across road and track disciplines by the women’s endurance Olympic Development Squad – with four of those titles won by rising star Cat Ferguson. 

2022 saw full Academy pathway programmes put in place in the BMX Racing and BMX Freestyle Park disciplines, with 18-year-old Sasha Pardoe taking her first elite women’s title at this year’s UEC BMX Freestyle Park European Championships; the highlight so far of an impressive trajectory since joining the Academy two years ago.

For the year 2024/25, a total of 136 riders will be supported by UK Sport through National Lottery funding, with an additional 40 Olympic Development Squad riders being supported by Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS) funding.

The 2024/25 cohort will see 13 riders move up from the Olympic Development Squad, to Podium Potential where they will begin to hone their racing skills and work more closely with their Podium-level counterparts.  Having been identified as showing promise at grassroots events around the country, and performing well in testing, Michael Hullock (BMX FSP), Kaine Mitchell (BMX FSP), and Lyall Craig (men’s track sprint) will join the Podium Potential squads.

In addition, 15 new athletes from aged 16 upwards will join the Olympic Development Squad, a two-year programme which will see them supported around their current education with remote coaching and regular training camps and competition which aim to prepare them for life as full-time athletes.

Jon Bartlett, Performance Pathways Manager for the Great Britain Cycling Team said:

“I’m incredibly proud to be heading up the pathway in its 20th year and celebrating all that has come before and how that has led to where we are now. The core principles of the pathway that Rod initially set up, providing a place for young athletes to hone their skills and get domestic and international competition experience, still run through the heart of the programme today.

“We now have established pathways for all five of our Olympic disciplines, which allows us to be one of the strongest cycling teams in the world at all levels as our athletes have the knowledge, expertise and resource of a world-class programme from the beginning of their careers. A key area of development over the past 20 years is our holistic support of athletes as people, including a stronger focus on psychological, career, higher education and coach development and succession planning than ever before.”

Performance Director of the Great Britain Cycling Team, Stephen Park CBE said:

“Hitting this milestone of 20 years of the GBCT Academy is an incredible achievement, before you even start looking at the incredible performances and world class athletes that have emerged from it.

“Having a strong and successful pathway is imperative to us continuing the global success Great Britian has seen in cycling over the last five Olympic cycles and is how we will continue to identify talented riders to become the cycling stars of the future. Not only have 67% of the last five Olympic Games medals come from Academy alumni, but 26 graduates represented GB in Paris this year, with three current pathway riders making their debut and showing what’s possible in LA and beyond thanks to the pathway.”

Team pursuit Olympic bronze medallist and world champion Jess Roberts said:

“Being on the Academy provided a great development environment for me in the early years of my career. The opportunities provided on both the track and road to race at international level have proved invaluable for me. 

“Being fully supported from a young age meant I could really focus on developing myself as a rider. With support coming from lots of different areas, not just on the bike, but off the bike too. I look back on my years on the Academy very fondly and I don’t think I’d be the rider I am today without the support from this system.”

Rod Ellingworth, founder of the Great Britain Cycling Team Academy, said: 

“The timing was just perfect when we started the Academy. British Cycling was moving forward at a rapid pace and I felt it was time to ensure the development of our young riders had expectations, and a clear pathway to world and Olympic success. 

"I’m really proud of all the work that has been done over the last 20 years and by way of recent Olympic, Worlds and Continental success the pathway programs are continuing to be world class.”

You can find the full Great Britain Cycling Team programme membership here.

*world cups, track nations cups, Commonwealth Games, European Championships, world championships and Olympics.

**since Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the first Games after the Academy was founded.