The 2012 London Olympic Games were a turning point in the life of professional cyclist Rochelle Gilmore. And she wasn’t even competing…. Having missed out on Olympic selection due to injury, the then Commonwealth Champion found herself in the studios of Eurosport commentating the very race she would dearly have loved to be competing in.
“When I finished commentating and put my headphones on the desk, I said to myself: 'This is the right time'.”
For what exactly?
The Australian pro had decided to establish a new professional women’s cycling team. It was something she always meant to do at one stage, but her decision was accelerated by the fact that British Cycling Head Coach Shane Sutton was looking for a structure for his women track cyclists for the first two years of the following four-year Olympic cycle.
Wiggle Honda was born.
“Great Britain was crazy about women’s cycling after the Olympics so it was the perfect time to start the team and get sponsors on board,” explains Gilmore.
British track stars Laura Trott, Dani King, Joanna Rowsell and Elinor Barker were joined by, among others, Italian star Giorgia Bronzini (“who I knew already and was a perfect captain for the team”) and within a few months the British-registered team was known as one of the most professional on the circuit. Fast forward two seasons and the trackies have left to concentrate on their track preparation for Rio 2016 but Wiggle Honda is still going strong and aiming even higher. Among their goals for 2015: a victory in the UCI Women Road World Cup.
Done... twice already. Jolien d’Hoore won the opening World Cup round, the Boels and Rental Ronde van Drenthe, thanks to an efficient team lead-out train led by Chloe Hosking. And in the women’s Tour of Flanders on Sunday, Wiggle Honda scored a one-two thanks to a solo victory for Elisa Longo Borghini, followed by Jolien d’Hoore in second place. In addition, the team takes No 1 spot in the UCI Women Road World Cup rankings.
“We’ve ticked a really big box with those wins,” enthuses Gilmore, who adds that anyone on the team is capable of winning, depending on the day and the circumstances.
Because besides d’Hoore and Borghini, the Wiggle Honda team features big names such as Giorgia Bronzini, Annette Edmondson, Chloe Hosking…. the list goes on. You could be forgiven for thinking that having so many potential winners on one team could be a recipe for tension. The team’s manager and owner refutes that theory.“The riders and staff decided together who they wanted on the team. The team was never in the dark. Our strength is the girls’ friendship. They want to spend time together and they want each other to win.”
When establishing Wiggle Honda, Rochelle Gilmore said she wanted a women’s professional cycling team where the athletes would be treated like professionals. She will not allow her riders to carry their bags up the hotel stairs the day before a race. She ensures each athlete has drinking water in her room. Each rider receives written notification to her room indicating the time and place of her massage.
They are not prima donnas. They are pros. “There are so many tiny things that have a massive impact on athletes,” says Gilmore. “They train every day before a race and live on the edge of their health. The last 24 hours are critical and I don’t want them injuring themselves carrying their bags. I don’t want them having to go back down to the team bus to look for water. I don’t want them having to ring round to find out when and where there massage is. Physically and mentally, it all makes a huge difference.”
Rochelle Gilmore’s professionalism and attention to detail also extends to her relations with the team’s sponsors. “We are not here just to take hand-outs. Putting a sponsor’s name on the team jersey is just not enough because women’s cycling does not have the same visibility as men’s cycling. People aren’t going to see those logos. So you have to find other ways to give something back to those who support us.”
The team’s racing calendar reflects this philosophy: Among their major goals this year are The Tour of Britain, because they are a British team, and the Giro d’Italia because they have a lot of Italian partners.
And with Honda as a sponsor, Gilmore was determined to have a Japanese rider on the team. At the end of 2012, with the help of a translator, she put her proposition to Japanese national champion Mayuko Hagiwara. The adventurous young rider accepted and in 2013 joined the ranks of the brand-new team. New culture, different food, new language, it was close to a “nightmare” according to Gilmore.
“She couldn't communicate. She couldn't even say if she had punctured her front wheel or her back wheel.”
However, Mayuko Hagiwara stuck it out. In 2014 her English improved, and in a real breakthrough she beat some the world’s best to come third in a hill-top finish of the third stage of the Giro d’Italia. In 2015 she is still with the team, speaking English and well integrated into the team.
“I thought it was a miracle when Rochelle approached me through my agent,” remembers Hagiwara. “I was so determined to ride as a pro in Europe I decided to move, despite losing the cooperation of my sponsors and my coach.” There were some difficult moments, but she never felt like throwing it in:
“I did sometimes feel miserable about race results and would ring my family in tears."
"But the team was very supportive and looked kindly upon me.
“I still have a lot to learn about racing, English and how to communicate. My teammates give me a lot of useful advice and help me to adjust. It is valuable for me to be close to such top riders.”
Mayuko Hagiwara continues to develop within the team and hopes to obtain enough UCI points to participate at the 2016 Rio Olympics.... and in the longer term, her “home” Games, Tokyo 2020.
On the way to those goals, she intends to help Wiggle Honda finish the season as top-ranked women’s team in the world. For another of the team’s goals this year is to move from third to first in the UCI Rankings by February 2016. “A massive ask,” according to Rochelle Gilmore. But with two World Cup victories out of three so far, Wiggle Honda have not had their last word. Read also our features on:
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