S4 Ep63: Brother UK Cycling Podcast - Oliver Stockwell interview

Brother UK Cycling Podcast

Oliver Stockwell is Britain’s newest WorldTour rider and the latest young talent to graduate to the professional ranks with support from The Rayner Foundation. Like all Rayner riders, Stockwell chose to pursue his dream by racing overseas. His courage and resilience have been rewarded with a two-year contract from Team Bahrain-Victorious.
Moving to Italy without a word of Italian and later spending two weeks in an Italian hospital, the preliminary phase of a six-month recovery from a broken leg that saw him race only five times in 2023, are just some of the hurdles overcome by the 22-year-old from St Albans. Resilience, the common factor in the character of all Rayner riders, is a quality he possesses in abundance.
In this detailed interview with co-host Timothy John, Stockwell describes his instant attraction to cycling as an 11-year-old discovering the velodrome in Welwyn while walking with his family. A founding education with Welwyn Wheelers and a national junior title followed before he joined British Cycling’s storied Olympic Academy in 2019.
The Covid pandemic reduced his tenure with the federation’s flagship development programme, however. After racing just twice in 2020 and enjoying only 35 race days in 2021, he joined the Italian development team CTF Friuli in 2022 in search of further opportunities. The club became the official feeder of Bahrain-Victorious during Stockwell’s two-year stint, and his results impressed the WorldTour team sufficiently to win a contract.
Stockwell discusses a range of topics, including his membership of a golden generation of young British riders now racing in the sport’s top tier, a talent for cyclo-cross that saw him selected for two world championships, and the vital support of The Rayner Foundation, whose combination of financial and emotional support helped him make the transition from the Olympic Academy to CTF Friuli.
In 2018, Phil Jones, Brother UK’s Managing Director and this podcast’s co-host, rode the entire route of the Tour of Britain with ultra endurance cyclist James Golding to raise around £20,000 for the Foundation. The Leeds-based charity, founded in memory of the hugely gifted Dave Rayner, has helped scores of young British riders to turn professional, including Tour de France stage winners David Millar and Adam Yates.