Matt Stephens combined working and cycling for most of his career. He was a pro, rode the Olympics, World Championships, Giro d'Italia and was British champion. He was the master of balancing training and working. Above, riding for the Linda McCartney pro cycling team 15 years ago.
The clip below is a fantastic little video that anyone working full time but trying to find extra hours to train – and race or ride sportives on top of that – should have a look at.
It’s invaluable not only because of the nature of the advice, but also because Matt Stephens is the one dishing it out.
He was one of the best riders in Britain for years and won the British National Road Champions and rode massive European pro races, many of them while working full time.
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And for the latter part of his career he worked as a police officer.
He rode the Giro d’Italia in 2000 for the defunct Linda McCartney pro team alongside Ireland’s Ciaran Power.
Riding the FBD Rás in Ireland in 2009 for UK pro team Sigma Sport. Stephens not only raced with a pro team at that stage and also worked for a living, but he also still raced on the Continent at times.
And Stephens also rode the amateur World Road Race Championships, where he finished 8th in 1995.
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That ride qualified Britain, a minnow of world cycling at the time, for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 though Stephens was not selected to ride.
He had ridden the Barcelona Olympics four years earlier and finished 65th.
Stephens is now a 45-year-old wise ex pro who works in the media, including for Global Cycling Network whose videos, including this one, we run and are very popular.
When a guy like this speaks to offer advice on balancing cycling with working – or being in college or a busy stay at home parent – it’s definitely worth listening to.
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