Stockbroker Swaps City For Cycling

Teams take notice as novice goes from fourth-cat to pro in 19 months.

- Chris Marshall-Bell

Just 19 months after racing a bike for the first time, Alex Richardson (Bike Channel-Canyon) continued his remarkable rise up the ranks at the weekend by making his debut for a UCI Continental team.

The 26-year-old helped his team-mate Chris Opie to win the Perfs Pedal road race in Hampshire on Sunday, in what was also Bike Channel-Canyon’s first race.

It was on June 20, 2015, that Richardson, a total novice, rode his first race, the Moose.eu summer criterium in Hayes.

Eleven months later, he had progressed from a category-four to elite licence, dropped from 84kg to 70.5kg and also quit his job as a stockbroker in London to concentrate on becoming a professional cyclist.

Richardson told CW: “I grew sick of being like everyone else. I’ve always thought of myself as an outdoorsy person and I didn’t like not being who I thought was.

“I had a four-year vision to see how far I could get. My first goal was to become an elite rider in a year and then get a contract with a UCI team. Now I want to be extremely competitive in the UK scene — that means top-five results — and maybe ride for a Professional-Continental team.”