Ben Swift knows all about the British Cycling academy having progressed through it himself and he believes the recent changes, allowing young British riders access to developmental teams, can only mean good things for the future.
“I spoke to a few of the guys that are on the academy now about them being sent into different development trade teams," the INEOS Grenadiers rider told Cycling Weekly. "A lot of the big teams do have development teams whereas when I was younger it didn’t happen. Our main pathway was through the track then developing and progressing that way."
This comes after academy head coach Matt Brammeier yesterday revealed that young British riders will work with development teams across Europe whilst still receiving academy support. “When you’re racing in Europe you’ve got a million and one things to think about including learning a language," Brammeier said. "So this is a benefit to them and will help them in the long run.”
Swift is in full agreement. “When I was in the academy, obviously we did the Tour of Britain and stuff like that, which are pro races, but I think it’s good now to have these teams and they are going to get a much higher level of exposure to racing.” Going on to explain how the standard of British racing isn't at the level as across the continent, "I don’t think the standard in Britain is high enough. If anything, it’s declining,” he said. "you need to be on the continent, that’s where the racing is at."
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