Team Boss Richard Pascoe Reflects on 2022

It’s been an exciting 12 months for Saint Piran Pro Cycling and team owner Richard Pascoe.  

The men’s team’s 7th season and only our second at a professional level. We featured heavily in our second Tour of Britain to significant acclaim from across cycling and won many races. We launched our women’s British Cycling Elite Development Team and announced our incredibly important sustainability programmes Road to Net Zero and our social impact plan. All this coupled with our women’s and men’s teams enjoying their most successful season to date! What a twelve months.

The men’s team in 2022 enjoyed over 40 UCI race days in 2022 in, the UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy and Estonia competing against World Tour and Pro Tour teams across Europe achieving podiums in over a quarter of the races they competed in. New riders were welcomed into the set up including prolific winner Alexander Richardson, GB academy riders Harry Birchill & Jack Rootkin-Gray and Zwift academy finalisist Cooper Sayers.  All have re-signed for 2023.

The new women’s BC Elite Development Team competed in over 40 races in 2022 across the UK and Europe under the watchful eye of team manager Jenny Blossom. Notable results include Gabby Homer becoming the Irish national champion in the Individual Pursuit and the team’s second overall place in the British Women’s Team Cup Series. Christina Wiejak continued to podium throughout the 2022 cyclocross season and represented GB on the Mountain Bike. We could go on!

With the 2023 season just around the corner, and new riders being announced daily – along with new teams, we sat down with team owner Richard Pascoe to reflect on the year just gone and looked ahead to an exciting 2023 season.   

What was your in-race highlight of 2022? 

RP In life, you always need a reference point - and I’m going to start with a low. It is well documented now but our case against Lapierre is one in which a huge multinational company nearly forced a very small company out of business. In essence, the bike frames and fork columns were a major concern, and we pulled our riders off the bikes early in the season, leaving us with no bikes, no form of compensation and the prospect of no-more Saint Piran. Bouncing back from that shows the strength of the people committed to Saint Piran. We managed to source build and deliver our prototype frames and then move into mid-season with a revitalised squad. Once we had strengthened the squad it was a different shape feel and form to the team and has been a resounding success for us - notably our performances at the AJ Bell Tour of Britain and the UK domestic calendar.  

The hard-earned Elite Development status for the women's race team was impressive. How have you enjoyed watching the women’s team go from strength to strength? 

RP: What I love about the women’s racing is it seems less constrained with more willingness and openness for women to go the attack – which makes the women’s racing so exciting to watch. 

What does 2023 look like for the women’s racing team (WRT)?

RP: What I like about next year for the WRT is the shift towards increasing their focus on performance along with the development of the 05/03 feeder team and mountain bike team. With new riders and new signings, the women’s team is really going from strength to strength. It is going to be a massive year for them.

You launched a new sustainability initiative in 2023 - how important is that?

RP: Far more important than any racing result. We are talking about the planet and lives - I want to leave a planet for my son and his children to live on. In professional cycling we need to up our game and working with Pacenti our wheel supplier and University of Exeter it is a really exciting time. We are not alone in doing this and it won’t be easy, be we are committed to the long term improvement in communities and the environment through cycling. We can make a difference.

In September, the men’s team participated in their second AJ Bell Tour of Britain. What were your personal highlights? 

RP: I loved the media frenzy around our tactics, with seasoned people talking about what we were doing on certain stages, not understanding our plans and questioning what we were up to. – Yet we managed to take the racing to the World Tour teams. In our first Tour in 2021, we were struggling to keep riders in the pace of the race and this time we're winning combative awards – third on a stage. A massive sense of pride but also a natural sense of what could have been. A sad occasion.

Do you have any off-race highlights? 

RP: The backroom team are developing and growing from media through to logistics – with more people becoming part of the Saint Piran family – a highlight that doesn’t often get mentioned. On a personal note, one of my off-race highlights is definitely getting to share travelling to races with my 2-year-old son, Lowen. Lowen enjoys travelling, and meeting all the riders – and for me watching him develop and enjoy being around the racing is everything. A special mention obviously for the new 

What makes you most excited for 2023? 

RP: It’s managing a growing organisation along with our tie-up with many talented GB riders, the women's mountain bike team, the new women's 05/03 team along with lots of new roles with staff and making them more responsible for the day-to-day running of the team. Going into our 8th year we're only just getting started! Kernow Bys Vyken!