An Interview with Sky’s Steve Cummings

Steve Cummings is enjoying his first season as part of the Team Sky set up after spending two years with Barloworld. A former track specialist with Olympic and World Championship medals to his name, Cummings is as talented on the road, having finished second overall in both the Tour of Britain and Tour of Denmark over recent seasons. This year has been another step up the ladder for Cummings, after riding both the Giro and Tour de France this year. We caught up with the 29 year old Englishman as he recovered from his latest Grand Tour.

Who was your biggest inspiration when you were young?
No one rider or person in particular, but I was always impressed with attacking riders.  Bartoli in the classics, Pantani at grand tours.

You had a fantastic second overall in the tour of Britain in 2008, will you get a chance this year to impress the home fans again?
Yes, I hope so.  I hope to be going well again that time of year as I enjoy racing at home, we are lucky to have great home support.  I really enjoy Tour of Britain.

Did you get a Team Sky track bike? and will you lend me it?
No and no.

For a big rider (6ft 3″) you have a fantastic time trial position, do you work on it individually or with sky?
My time trial position came from the track and working in the wind tunnel with the staff at British Cycling. Actually I’m really unhappy with my recent time trials and I want to invest a lot more time in training to improve and adapt my position.

You’ve just finished the Tour de France. How does the Tour compare to the Giro?
The Tour was more stressful and a lot hotter.  The climbs at the Giro aren’t as steep as the Tour and the transfers before and after the stages are generally shorter than the Giro.  The Giro is a lot less predictable with many of the stages difficult to call, whereas at the Tour, there are stages specifically for the sprinters, stages for the climbers and stages for breakaways.  Because of the diversity at this years Giro it was difficult to tell what was going to happen next.

You have just done your first season riding both the Tour of Italy and Tour de France. Has fatigue been a problem and have you adjusted your training this season as a result?
I really struggled throughout the Tour de France from fatigue.  I was like a  turbo diesel but my turbo had exploded!  The last week I wasn’t sleeping well, which for me is a sign I’m wasted.  I’ve raced a lot this year, so to be honest I haven’t trained a lot at all, it’s been more about damage limitation, riding easy between races and using the races to push the form forward. Getting the right balance can be difficult, and I felt I managed as well as I could.

During the off season, do you try any other sports to stay in shape?
No, I enjoy bike riding.  I ride a lot.  The problem is keeping off the bike!

What has been your proudest moment on the bike?
Riding on the front on the Champs Elysee.

Is there that one race out there that you would love to win?
A classic, any one, I’m not fussy.  They are all fantastic races.

Which of your training partners dishes out the most pain?
Dario Cioni, he goes everywhere fast.  Once a week is enough training with Dario for me.

Do you have any aspirations to ride the Olympics in London in 2012?
Yes, the road race.

The recent Tour de France looked ‘cleaner’ for many watching the event. Would you agree and what do you think are the reasons for this?
I don’t think you can judge whether the tour was ‘cleaner’ by watching it. It’s better to look at the facts. There weren’t any positive dope tests.  So from that, I would say you were watching a ‘cleaner’ race, than when the race has had riders returning positive tests. The reasons for this, I can only guess, ADAMS, Tighter controls, and a change in mentality of riders and teams.

Unlike many other sports, cycling is at the forefront of tackling doping head on. Are there any other additional measures you would like to see implemented in order for the sport to move forward?
We sure get tested a lot, along with ADAMS, so I can’t think of anything else they can do.

What are your plans for the remainder of the season?
One week off, one week easy, then get ready for the final part of the season.

Any spare Pinorello’s lying round your garage you could send us?
What size do you need?

Cameron Diaz or Penelope Cruz?
Both

From Stephen Salmon: How does Sky’s team management decide on who rides the Tour de France? For example Russell Downing is a consistently good stage racer, how does someone like him miss the team? Unless he was injured.
The management pick the team based on who they think can do the best job for the team. They work backwards from the team goal of winning the Tour in 4 years with a british rider. They then take into account building a team that could be potentially together for that time. You a need a team to achieve that goal, along with who can best play the various rider roles (climbers, flat riders/sprinter, rouleurs, team captain, etc).  You only need one leader, the rest of the team are there to support.  Management also take into account a riders attitude, form, morale, etc.

Was there a lot of pressure on you guys to perform to how people expected, being a new team. Did this affect the team during the Tour?
There is always pressure at big races, the mentallity of the team is for everyone to give 100% effort in what they ask you to do. For me there is no pressure, I try 100%, that’s all I can do.

From our Danish Ambassador Christina Hansen: Who’s the most lazy in the team, the one who has the worst taste in music, the one who’s most homesick, and the one who talks the most about his children?
I don’t think we have lazy riders.  Thomas lovkist complains about the music, but he never lends us his iPod so we can listen to his music, so I’m guessing but I reckon his music must be that bad he’s ashamed to play it on the bus!  Come on Tommy, give us your ipod! I get homesick and need my own space and a bit of freedom. Micheal Barry talks a lot about his kids.  He’s always got a funny story of what the kids have been upto.  I like these stories.

from Martin Spencer: Everton or Liverpool?
Liverpool.

From Paddy Harty: If you are recording on Sky HD can you use playback at the same time?
Sorry, on a serious note, having come 2nd, 3rd (twice) fourth and sixth, can Flecha win Roubaix or is it too late?
Yes of course he can win Roubaix.

Many thanks to Steve for the interview. You can keep up with his progress throughout the season via the Team Sky website.
Images courtesy of the Team Sky Facebook pages.