Dowsett Sets Sights on Olympic Medals

Alex Dowsett may be one of the new comers to Team Sky but the young racer still has high hopes for the future after joining the state of the art cycling team at the start of this year.

Before joining Team Sky, Dowsett was making a name for himself competing for Great Britain as a time trail specialist. In 2008 and 2009 Dowsett won back-to-back under-23 British National Time Trail Championships and soon caught the attention of Team Sky supremo Dave Brailsford.

Dowsett continued to impress in 2010 as the Essex cyclist won the Under-23 European Time Trail Championships in team GB colours. He was then rewarded with a place in England’s Commonwealth Games squad and rounded off the year in style winning a silver medal in Delhi.

After tasting success at Under-23 level and at the Commonwealth Games, the 22-year-old is all too aware of the fast approaching London Olympics and revealed how he would love the opportunity to represent his country.

“First and foremost I need to think about selection,” said Dowsett. “After the success we had with cycling in Beijing, just to get to the Olympics will be an achievement in itself.

“If I’m selected for the London 2012 games I will be giving it everything. I want to get there knowing there’s nothing more I could have done. I’m going there to medal, but I want to go there knowing whatever result I get is the best that I could have achieved.”

One of Team Sky’s main aims was to create the first British winner of the Tour de France. They set themselves a target of winning within five years and Dowsett firmly believes the team is on course to achieve this target.

“Team Sky have been great, they accommodated us really well during our winter training,” the Olympic hopeful said. “I ended up riding my first race for the team in the young riders leaders’ jersey, which was unreal.

“It has been fantastic working as part of the team. A lot of people see cycling as an individual sport, but sometimes we have eight guys in a race and seven of us are sacrificing our own race to make sure one of us comes away with the victory. We are all going in search of a Team Sky win and it is amazing being a part of that.

“It’s definitely achievable for us to produce the first British winner of the Tour de France. The problem was before we have had British riders join foreign teams.

“It doesn’t happen in Team Sky but in other teams, for example an Italian team will give preference to the Italian riders. With Team Sky it is equal across the board.

“There are more Brits on the team and we are collected together so it’s a joint effort. We then have the sports science behind the team with all the information and the technology and the kit.

“We are one jump ahead before we even get to the start. With that and the talent we have got in the team it is definitely feasible to win the Tour de France.”

Before joining up with Team Sky, Dowsett was part of Lance Armstrong’s Trek-LiveStrong under-23 team. Riding for the team meant a lot to the young Brit after losing his Nan to cancer.

“I was very proud to ride for the cause as I lost my Nan to cancer, so it really gave me extra incentive to race that bit harder because of what I was representing.

“The team itself was great. We had Axel Merckx who is an excellent professional as team director and I learnt a lot from him.

“That team in America was a bit like Team Sky here and we received a lot of attention. Since making the step up to Team Sky I have noticed just how professional the team are.

“There is no stone left unturned, at stage races they just make life so easy for us, so when we get on the bikes we are in the best shape possible.”

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