This Is Guernsey

By Aaron Scoones

British coach Stuart MacDonald, above, was in the island this week casting his eye over the Guernsey Velo Club juniors at Delancey Park, right. (Pictures by Adrian Miller, 0621534 and 536)

A TOP British coach has said there is no reason why Guernsey cannot produce an Olympic cyclist.

Stuart MacDonald was in the island this week as part of his role as the Olympic Talent Team coach for the south-west.

He pointed to the fact that Isle of Man’s Jonny Bellis is currently representing Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics as evidence that one day a Sarnian cyclist could be picked for the biggest sporting event in the world.

‘There’s no reason why not,’ he said.

‘Jonny is there in Beijing and he’s come through the Isle of Man set-up, which is a little bit more established than here, but give it a few years.

‘Unfortunately, it takes time. It won’t happen overnight, but I’m sure before long it will.

‘The biggest limiting factor is getting them to the mainland for races. If they were able to get over just once or twice a month, that would really help.’

The 29-year-old from Newport has been a coach for the last five years.

He took up his present position two years ago, before which he was the assistant coach to the Wales national team.

Before he took up coaching full time, he was a rider for Wales.

This was his first trip to the Bailiwick and he was impressed with the Guernsey Velo Club and the Delancey Park cycling track on which he was putting a number of young local cyclists through their paces on Tuesday afternoon.

‘This facility is great,’ he said about Delancey.

‘It’s nice and safe. There’s no traffic so it’s perfect for youngsters.’

He was also impressed with the number of local juniors who had taken up the sport.

‘There are 120 under-12s, which is probably the most I know in the south-west,’ he said.

‘It’s the start of the pyramid and it’s ideal. It shows the Guernsey Velo Club has got strength in depth.

‘It will take a few years to develop them, but the island will go from strength to strength.’

MacDonald also found time to speak to two of the island’s rising cycling stars – James McLaughlin and Dan Arblaster.

‘They’ve got aspirations of riding at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi,’ he said.

‘Their attitude is spot on and they know what they want to do. The club has given them guidance but ultimately it’s up to them.’

There is no doubt that British cycling is on the up.

The Great Britain team have already won a gold medal in Beijing thanks to Nicole Cooke in the women’s road race.

And they are expected to pick up a couple more before the Games are over.

MacDonald pointed to the lottery funding that cycling receives that had kick-started the upturn.

He also noted that Jason Queally winning gold in the 1km time trial at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 had been another catalyst.

‘I think the British cycling team is exactly that – it’s a perfect team,’ he said. ‘There’s no stone left unturned.

‘We’ve got plenty of numbers so there’s plenty of competition. People are fighting for their places and it’s dog eat dog.

‘It’s taken us a long time, from 2000 onwards. We started off with nothing and we’ve achieved this through hard work.

‘Success breeds success.’

Article posted on 14th August, 2008 - 2.30pm