THE SOLO TOUR DE YORKSHIRE

Connor Swift talks Vern Pitt through the best four days’ training of his life after he rode the cancelled race route last month

- Connor Swift

We’ve all been there. You’re halfway through a gruelling 176km training ride in hilly terrain, and, as you come up the hill, there are cars lining both sides of the road. As you get closer, you see the people standing at the roadside. They see you and start clapping, banging pans, waving flags. They’re screaming your name and you’re the only person they’ve come out to see.

While that might just be a motivational trick of the mind for most of us, for former national champion Connor Swift it was the reality as he completed the entire Tour de Yorkshire route solo last month.

“It’s pretty mental the number of people that came out,” says Swift. “There was just more and more each day. I had quite a lot of message requests, asking ‘what time are you going to be here?’ etc. And it’s really hard because I’m just doing it as a training ride. All I could say was I’m setting off at this time, I’m looking to average this speed.”

He adds: “It’s probably the most fun four days’ training that I’ve ever done.”

Hijinks and challenges