S4 Ep31: Brother UK Cycling Podcast - Harrison Wood interview

Brother UK Cycling Podcast

Harrison Wood might be described as a living, breathing definition of resilience. As such, he is a defining example of the qualities inspired by The Rayner Foundation, a charity funding young British riders to race abroad. Phil Jones MBE, Brother UK’s Managing Director, cycled the entire route of the Tour of Britain in 2018, one day ahead of the race, to raise funds for the foundation’s excellent work.

After four years of racing in France and Belgium with highs, lows and inevitable crashes, including one this year that his memory has erased, Harrison has landed a two-year deal with Cofidis, a French team competing in professional cycling’s top tier.

In January, he will roll out for the first time in the colours of his new employer at the Tour Down Under. It is a measure of the management’s confidence that Harrison will debut for the team in a WorldTour race. The 40-degree heat of an Adelaide summer means this will be no gentle introduction to the intensity of racing against the world’s strongest riders, but the 22-year-old footballer-turned-cyclist from Torquay would be the last to seek one.

Confident, competitive and with a four-year apprenticeship served overseas, Harrison is a rider whose time has finally come. Co-host Timothy John caught up with Harrison to discuss the value of resilience, the roles played by the various development teams for which he has ridden, the differences between European racing and the British scene, and much more.