Wyman Looking for World Cyclo-Cross Success
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October 10, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Helen Wyman is a six-time British cyclo-cross champion who has just completed an exceptional American season; winning six out of six races competed in. Now back on the continent the 30-year-old is gearing up for another assault on the European circuit with the hope of securing a maiden win in a European or international Championships. Taking time out of her preparations she spoke to The Fresh Outlook about her life in the sport, getting her training right and what can be done to help cyclo-cross grow in the public eye.
The Fresh Outlook: So to start, how did you first become involved in cycling, and what was it that drew you towards the sport more than any other?
Helen Wyman: Well I started riding a bike before I could walk. My family rode bikes for fun and transport and my dad did a little bit of local racing when he was in his early 20s. Then as we grew up we went on cycling holidays as they were fun and cheap. When I worked as a physiotherapist I used to commute by bike everyday and no matter what happened during my day, sad, happy doing stuff wrong, by the time I got home I had worked it out and life was good again. As for what drew me to the sport; when I was 14 my brother wanted to start racing and because I had to do everything he wanted to do, or feared missing out on something, then I started racing too. He stopped when he got to 18/19 and found other things, but I found I was pretty good at it so carried on.
Talking about the family influence, was it ever something your parents pushed you to take up competitively or was it something you pursued yourself?
No not at all. In fact my parents have never pushed me into anything. They have made sure both me and my brother have had every opportunity we could to follow what ever we want to do. Even now my mum thinks it’s amazing going from country to country doing stuff and my dad can’t quite understand how I can live so literally out of a suitcase. But still dad thinks it’s great because his little girl is making him proud.
Thinking back to your school days, was sport something girls took much part in or was there evidence of the “girls don’t do sport” mantra that puts a lot of young females off today?
I went to school in leafy, rural Norfolk. A lot of ambition for girls at my school was to get a local low paid job and have a family, but then for the boys it was the same too. When your local area’s highest paid work is seasonal the aspirations of the local kids aren’t that high. The intelligent kids usually go to university and don’t return home, leaving even less role models for the local kids. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with any job or ambition in the world, whether that is to be the Prime Minister or a checkout assistant, or start a family. I just feel that sometimes the kids in the area don’t know what all their options are. You can only aspire to be something you know about or have at least encountered. At school I wanted to be a physiotherapist, which was a little out there! A local boy told me that his friend had said I wanted to be a physio so I could massage fit rugby player’s legs. As if that was the only reason you would want to learn! Having said that my good friends are ridiculously clever so it was never a struggle at school.
When did it dawn on you that cycling was something you were good at and could turn in to more than just a hobby rather than follow your friends down the academic path?
After I went to university and got my degree I had time to train properly. I had been working for two years as a physio and won my first national cup race in England. The Great Britain squad at the time took me to a World Cup and I saw this incredible world that I wanted to be part of. My husband said he would support me to go full time and I hooked up with the national road team for the summer. I rode seven stage races and every road World Cup, then come the winter I had more good placings in the four World Cups and haven’t looked back since.
Talking about your achievements, you have now won the British cyclo-cross Championships six times. How does it feel when you repeat that to yourself? Is there one achievement that gives you greater pleasure than the others in your career?
The first win was the sweetest. It was against Louise Robinson, who had been second in the World Championships a few years before, and a true role model. Since then Koppenberg was a big win last year, more because it was a breakthrough, which led to more wins later in the season and a lot of self belief. Finishing third in the European Championships for the last two years is pretty cool too.
You have always performed strongly and had decent placings in European and international tournaments, is the drive there to pick up a victory at one of these major events?
Oh yeah, for sure. I want to win the worlds! There is no doubt in my mind that on the right course and in the right conditions and health I can do it. Even if my career ended tomorrow I am happy with what I’ve done, I still want more and I’ll keep going because it’s a great job.
Is the feeling the same when you enter each major tournament? Do you still feel the same nerves and excitement or does your approach change as you become more experienced?
No I still feel sick before the worlds, the better the chance I have the more I feel it! So Stef, my husband, does have to try to keep me relaxed before a major event. But we have a laugh a lot so I think he does his job well. I’m incredibly lucky to be able to experience all of what I do with him. At the end of the day what’s the point in doing good things if you have no one to share it with. Maybe 24 hours a day would be a little extreme for some couples but it seems to work for us.
Cycling from a media perspective is very male dominated in terms of who gets the headlines. Is it easy to gain sponsorship for your riding or are most of the big names attracted to road racing?
I’m sponsored by Kona who are an American/Canadian bike company and for me they are amazing. For women’s sport America is leading the way, especially in cyclo-cross. Six out of the nine races I rode [in America] had equal prize money for the top three men and women. The UCI [Union Cycliste Internationale] set a minimum prize fund and the organisers can add whatever you want over that. There is no starting money in America but more riders, especially women, are paid proper wages. Whereas in Europe the top five men are paid ridiculous wages and everyone else gets [nothing]. Some stuff is changing. The big men’s cyclo-cross teams are getting women riders and maybe in the future stuff will start to equal out a bit. But the UCI had a fantastic opportunity this year by introducing two categories of races for women, the same as the guys have. But instead of setting an equal minimum prize list they made the prizes the same as the second grade women’s races, so a man wins $2,200 for first place and a woman wins $257.
What more can be done to close the equality gap when it comes to sponsorship, prize money and the number of events available in Europe? Is it just a question of demand?
It’s really difficult in terms of sponsorship. TV time brings sponsorship, sponsorship brings TV time. Men get sponsored, they have TV time. Economically sponsoring a man gets you more advertorial space and time. However, if we got more sponsorship for women we would have more TV time, so more sponsorship. In Europe we are a long way off equal media coverage, however in America they are trying to give equal billing to both races, but they have no TV-only online sites like ‘Cycling Dirt’, who have full coverage of both races equally. I think for cyclo-cross the more advancements America make for men’s sport the more they will make for women’s too, and that’s only going to be a great thing.
Talking about the sport as a whole, road cycling has continually grown in popularity over recent years with British success at the Olympics and the big road events such as the Tour de France. What can be done by organisers to help events such as cyclo-cross keep up with that growth and expansion?
I think cyclo-cross is a pretty unique sport. The main problem in England is that young kids love it, take part, the parents are happy as it’s safe, off-road racing. But then as they get to 17/18 they will have tried every aspect of the sport and probably be good at a few other aspects like road racing or track. That’s when there options are limited. Either they go to a British cycling program where they are guaranteed a small income for a bit until they are no longer good enough or are so good they move onto a road team. Or do they try their hand at cyclo-cross with no support until they get noticed with the potential of a massive future contract? Or do they join the real world and get a nine till five job, and have a proper social life? You will find in the UK that the biggest cyclo-cross categories are veterans (35+) races because these kids that got side tracked or weren’t quite good enough come back to the sport they loved the most as kids, where they can go out on a Sunday with the family and enjoy a good day out.
Outside of sport, what do you do to relax and take your mind off of cycling?
I watch a lot of TV! Doing nothing is just as important as doing the right training to an athlete. Belgium [where Helen does a lot of training n and competing] has a lot of American TV with Dutch subtitles. I love ‘Lie To Me’, ‘The Mentalist’, ‘Bones’, ‘NCIS’, that kind of rubbish.
How easy is it to keep up with training? What does your schedule involve?
Well Stef is my coach too, so he sets a program. Then day-to-day stuff can easily change. You walk a fine line between being at the peak of fitness and being sick, so living with me, we can easily change stuff when I’m tired or fresher than I need to be. I usually do between 15 and 20 hours a week of training, a bit more in the summer as base miles, but more running and gym work in the winter.
Finally, what one piece of advice would you give to somebody looking to break in to the sport competitively that could help them with their career? What advice would you also offer to a prospective female athlete about making a name for herself?
Learn from everybody! Nobody can give you the wrong advice. Just listen, take it in, then research it. There is always some kind of evidence behind what people believe and if you are able to take stuff on board and use it to your advantage then you will always get better, no matter how good you think you are right now. For a female athlete, never give up. See every opportunity as a chance to succeed and impress people with your sport, not your words, because then you are judged on what you do, not what gender you were born as.
Interview by Leigh Gruffydd Sanders
[Image courtesy of Evie Edwards]