After an Israel-Premier Tech rider sprinted across the line on stage 1 of the Tour of Britain to win the reduced bunch finish at Glenshee, an experienced WorldTour team member summed up the surprise by mistakenly referring to the winner as Dylan Teuns.
Corbin Strong may not be the expected Israel-Premier Tech frontrunner in an experienced lineup that includes the Belgian puncheur and Michael Woods, but he took the opportunity with both hands.
“It was a big buzz for me, I’ve been wanting to get that win all year so it was nice to do that,” he told Cyclingnews.
Racing in the leader’s red jersey for stages 2 and 3 of the Tour of Britain has been a step up from the last time he was in a similar position after winning the 2021 New Zealand Cycle Classic.
This is the 22-year-old’s first year on the WorldTour. He has mixed road and track racing through his nascent career, winning the points race world title in 2020 and taking the Commonwealth Games scratch race in August. Much of last season was taken up with his focus on the Tokyo Olympic Games, where he finished 11th in the Madison.
“I come from the track, so I’ve got a bit of a sprint but I’m also quite light so I really like the uphills. Maybe 20-minute climbs are my max at the moment,” Strong said. “I enjoy the reduced bunch sprints, so maybe I’m a rider a bit like Michael Matthews.”
Races like the Tour of Britain and other one-week stage races are on the Andorra-based racer’s hit-list for the next years.
“Maybe in the future, some punchier Classics are really where I want to go in my career. But it’s nice to get the ball rolling here at the Tour of Britain and hopefully I continue this way,” he says.
2022 has predominantly been about gaining experience. Strong’s first tastes of the WorldTour this season were eventful.
“I had a crash at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and ended up in hospital, so it didn’t finish well. Then at the Volta a Catalunya I also got sick. So right now, I haven’t made the greatest mark on WorldTour races.”
Hailing from the New Zealand city of Invercargill, Strong can also lay a claim to being the pro cyclist from the most geographically southerly place in the world. That upbringing also meant he was at greater ease in the deluges on stage one and three of the Tour of Britain.
“We have lots of rainy, windy, cold days in my hometown, where I grew up riding my bike, so it felt like home,” he said.
Strong was 10 when he first started racing. “I was lucky enough we have an indoor velodrome in…
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