'It's Been Quite Epic'

Anna Kay tells Chris Marshall-Bell all about hermeteoric rise through the cyclo-cross ranks

- Chris Marshall-Bell

The focus on Mathieu van der Poel means that you may have missed one of the standout stories of this cyclocross season. Twenty-year-old Anna Kay has emerged from obscurity to be a constant figure in the top 10 of elite World Cups and prestigious Belgian competitions.

The rise has been fast and unexpected, by the rider’s own admission. “It’s been quite epic,” the Gateshead rider tells CW. “I’ve achieved a lot more than I thought I would this season.”

Kay has finished in the top 10 eight times out of the 12 races she has raced this season, including a second place in November’s U23 European Championships. With four rounds of the Telenet World Cup to go, she sits atop of the U23 women’s classification.

“My goals were solely within the U23 races this season,” she says. “I wanted, by the end of it, to get a podium in the U23 Worlds and Nationals.

“But I’ve had top-fives in top races. I didn’t imagine getting such results this season.”

So how has a rider who was riding for her local club in her local cross league just two seasons ago shot to prominence in the past few months?

First, you have to go back to December 2017. “I was just dabbling in cross, never took it seriously,” the affable Kay says.

“But then GB took me across to Belgium and that was it. I got a taste of the scene over there and it was amazing.”

Last winter she joined Experza Pro CX and enjoyed a modicum of success in elite races. British veteran Helen Wyman then joined the team, principally to act as a mentor to the outfit’s cluster of young riders.