Josie Knight will ride for one of the very best teams in the UK next year when she joins Team WNT. The 19-year old has proven herself one of the most exciting prospects to emerge from these shores in recent years but believes there is plenty more to come.
By Brian Canty
Josie Knight has set herself some huge goals for the track and the road in 2017 as she believes she is yet to give a true account of her capabilities.
The Dingle teenager who turns 20 years old in March is currently recovering from a niggling hip flexor injury that has been “progressively getting worse” since before the European track Championships in July.
She missed that event and the first two UCI Track World Cups this winter but is very much on the mend.
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As well as riding the bike she’s also working away in the gym.
“Basically it’s taken a lot of work and needling in and around the hip flexors with lots of stretching exercises three times a day," she says.
“It’s been tedious and I’m feeling pretty unfit at the moment after four weeks totally off the bike. But I’m super motivated to be able to ride again."
Knight has a real affinity with the track but is keen to give the road a proper go next year.
She applied to race with Team WNT and was lucky enough to get accepted.
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And as soon as she signed, Rio Games team pursuit gold medallist Katie Archibald and British national crit champion Eileen Roe were also confirmed, making the team one of the strongest in the UK.
“With them stepping up to UCI level it seemed like the perfect team," Knight said.
“It's such a well-organised squad with some really good riders like Katie and Eileen, so I felt it would be the perfect place for me to learn from some super riders in a great environment.
“I think a good road season is what I was really lacking this year and I aspire to be someone like Jolien D'hoore who can win races on the road and track," she said of the Belgian road champion.
“Or just look closer to home and what Mark Downey did this year.”
Knight will be based in the UK for much of the season and should know her exact race program at the team’s first camp in Scotland in two weeks.
“I think the plan for the first part of my season straight after World Championships in April will mostly be a mix of the British road series and the German road series as well as some Belgian races too.
“Then I'll do national road race and time-trial championships and really aim to go well there.
“Then I'll do a bit of track for the U23 Europeans - I'm aiming to win a U23 European title before I'm overage.
“I want to do more races abroad, hopefully some stages races like Thuringen Rundfahrt.
"And Rás na mBan is a big one too. And hopefully if I've showed enough potential I'd love to do road worlds too.”
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