As the saying goes, you make your own luck. Reaching your goals in life requires effort and hard work, along with the occasional opportunity landing in front of you at the right time. Oliver Knight is someone who knows all about that long journey to the top. A top that is being reached as he rides the Vuelta a Burgos this week.
In 2020, Knight was one of many talented British under-23 riders who headed to Europe looking to make a name for themselves. Now 21, he had a successful spell as a junior with HMT Hospitals-Giant, finishing second overall in the junior Tour of the Basque Country behind Carlos Rodriguez (now at Ineos Grenadiers) and winning stages at other Spanish races such as the Vuelta a Pamplona.
The young Briton was beginning to draw attention to himself, and soon joined French outfit AVC Aix-en-Provence. Backed by the Rayner Foundation (opens in new tab) and in a team with a history of progressing young British riders, Knight was on his way up. Previously, Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost) was part of the French team along with Harrison Wood and it wouldn’t be long before UAE Team Emirates came calling. Still based in France and supported by the Rayner Foundation, Knight told Cycling Weekly that his success wouldn’t have been possible without their help during the last three years.
The 21-year old explained that finally, the long days and hard grind on the bike are beginning to pay off. At the Vuelta a Burgos, making his first appearance at a professional level race as a stagiaire, or trainee.
Now, he gets to mix with the professionals who wouldn’t have been out of place on his bedroom wall ten years ago. Knight said: “As it’s close to the Vuelta, you’ll always get some big stars coming here [Burgos] and it’s crazy. I was looking around the bunch this morning and I was rubbing shoulders with Nibali and Valverde, people that have been at the top of the sport for as long as I can remember.”
After a tough first stage in temperatures approaching 40 degrees, Knight added, “It means everything to be here to be honest and is what I’ve been trying to achieve for so long. It doesn’t quite feel real! It was a great experience today, although a bit of a weird one. It was quite flat early on then with a key climb in the middle. Then we had a long crosswind section before a lap around the city in Burgos…It was a great experience.”
The 21-year-old explained that during the week-long race he’s looking to take each day as it…