A Professional Contract

To earn a living whilst following the passion that brings me great joy and satisfaction in life. That’s what this professional contract with Bingoal Wallonie Bruxelles means to me...

My Full Statement…

“It has been announced that I have a professional contract with Bingoal Wallonie Bruxelles Cycling Team for the next two seasons of racing. It is a big milestone in my career as an athlete. A moment in time that I am incredibly proud to achieve. It’s a means to do what I’m most passionate about for a living which, for me, is immensely exciting. The opportunities that will be on offer over the next two years are going to be big and therefore will provide challenges that I’m invigorated to take on.

I’ve already had some pretty big challenges to overcome during the 2023 season, a year that has been far from ideal. Though, despite the broken hip, I believe I have come through the last five months with a mindset I can be proud of. I believe I’ve learnt a lot, and that has set me up in a good way to take on the winter–and my first year in the professional ranks–with a mature, disciplined and precise approach.

The team management, and riders, have been unbelievably supportive in my recovery. I’ve formed some great friendships with the riders and have been open with the staff about my progress throughout the recovery process. Christophe Brandt, Julian Stassens–the u23 Directeur Sportif–and all the staff members (including the mechanics) have made me feel confident, grounded and excited to come back to the peloton. They’ve displayed an understanding of the gravity of the broken hip, communicating patience that has become a strong virtue in my life. Bring it on!”

Wider Significance…

So, I am now a professional rider. I use the present tense because the work, invariably, continues now, ever steadfast. It’s the dream, isn’t it? To earn a living whilst following the passion that brings me great joy and satisfaction in life. That’s what this professional contract with Bingoal Wallonie Bruxelles means to me. It’s certainly something I’ve been working towards for years and years, and across multiple disciplines of sport.

A book that I received recently gave me clarity on some ideas and principles that I knew were within me. Yet, I could never put a title to my explanations of notions. The book? Dan Carter’s The Art of Winning. Throughout the early chapters of the book, Dan places utmost emphasis on the cruciality of purpose. That purpose is not only present throughout my athletic life in sports but also a purpose that will offer guidance throughout my life. It’s a book that I needed, and it came just at the right time to ground me in my understanding of the life I was leading. For that, I would like to thank Damian Hughes, Jake Humphrey and the High-Performance team for that incredible tool they bestowed upon me.

Reading The Art of Winning provided the opportunity to devise some ideas and values which would indicate my purposes in life. One for life, and one for sport. One tethered to the other. The clarity I gained by completing this task produced an image which surpassed that of the “goal” of obtaining a professional contract. It was not the end of the journey. It’s a milestone on the journey. A marker for where I am now, and where I am in relation to the targets I’ve set myself in life, and career.

📸 Roland Amelynck

That is why a professional contract is the beginning of something, not the arrival. Often I hear in media, psychology and across the board of sports that some athletes struggle with the transition after they have achieved the feat of getting their signature onto the page of their first professional contract. It is something that is built up so large that they are overwhelmed when it arrives. Leaving them stunned as to what to do next. They have yet to think of any goals or ideas for what they want to achieve in their careers. They have just dreamt of a professional contract. It’s an important lesson I took on board from my time working with Paul Burden. A professional contract with Bingoal Wallonie Bruxelles is a door opened to the life I want to lead. I want to use those opportunities to learn even more lessons than the ones this life in sport has already given me.

Lessons in life…

I’m currently reading The Meaning of Sport by Simon Barnes which is such a fascinating read. It tells of a journalist’s experience with writing the finest stories a sport can provide. It speaks of sport transcending the human race to include the entire mammalian animal kingdom. Something that is entirely profound with how it has been written. Thank you Richard Pennell–author of Pitchmarks–for that tremendous find!

Anyway, it certainly makes me think how sports–including cycling–goes beyond the limits of our species and will almost certainly also teach me lessons that will be interchangeable within the context of my life. A lesson in fact cycling has taught me by bringing me to The Flandrien Hotel in recent weeks. The trials and tribulations that the sport of cycling presents do indeed encourage me to dive deep into my why.

I mentioned patience becoming a virtue in my life. Alongside that, I have also learnt the discipline of daily routines–a feat that took two years to rebuild. These habits are steadfast and second nature to keep my brain and body healthy in such a taxing sport. I’ve learnt lessons in how to communicate, firstly with myself, but then how to listen and interact with those around me on a personal and professional basis. I’ve learnt lessons in how I want to structure my life, and what I want to be key features in it. Just like how cycling features the key parts of what I love about each sport I grew up playing.

I’m therefore excited to see where this next leg of the journey will take me. What lessons can I pick up in the next chapter? What stories will I get to tell from my performances and travels? For the moment I foresee it being a series of lessons in my financial well-being and how important a feature that will become in my life. I’ll certainly learn copious amounts about the world of work. Being employed for my services so that the company–Bingoal Wallonie Bruxelles–can benefit and we both be successful in our joint endeavours.

Within that role, I’m most determined to keep this, almost, innocent joy of a sport I have loved doing for years. I have loved it in very different ways from the way I love it now. It’s a pure passion, something that is so ingrained in my life that I know exactly what it requires of me to achieve my best in it. I require steering, but I don’t require anyone to tell me precisely what to do. I know what I need to do, and it’s because of following my passion that I have got to where I am and put myself in the position to be offered a professional contract with Bingoal Wallonie Bruxelles for the next two years. It’s for this reason–the faith that I have for myself–that I believe they have also put their faith in me. I’ve learnt a lot. I will continue to learn a lot. So that I may evolve just a tiny bit from one day to the next.

There is also the small matter of being able to converse in a language that is far more poetic than English could ever dream of being! I love the fact that–after three years of learning–I am more or less fluent in la langue française. A feat I am proud to have ticked off. However, I remain in awe of a few Dutch colleagues who are often able to speak four or five languages to a level that gets them by in society’s eye. Especially my 2023 teammate Alexis Guerin (a francophone) from whom I have learnt a lot given his extra decade of experience. His approach to language is something I am seeking to emulate with time. I aim to branch out into Dutch, Italian and then eventually Spanish. A career in professional cycling is very much the ideal place to practise as it is more of a melting pot than the universities of yesteryear–when sports were embedding themselves into society’s mainstream pastime.

A life in sports…

I did not imagine which sport I wanted to be professional in. I just knew I loved pushing my body to its physiological limits. Stretching it to the highest level I could muster. This innate love of sport was no doubt passed down to me–probably epigenetically–through my lineage. There is no question that I come from a long line of people who have competed in a variety of high-level sports. From Semi-Professional Cricket to Hockey, Athletics to Football. My family is made up of athletes.

I began dreaming that I would be an Olympian. When I recognised that I didn’t have the necessary physiology in Swimming and Gymnastics, I began developing the ambition for a professional career path. The Olympics, historically were reserved for amateur athletes. Though, fundamentally this is not the case today. Once I had completed my time developing a mature movement pattern in Gymnastics, Rugby, Swimming and yes, Football, I turned my attention to start my long affiliation with the bicycle.

My Life in Sports

I like many kids, I had always been riding a bike. I used it for fun, playing around on it on our annual holidays to the South of France. I learned the balance required to keep the bike rolling fairly quickly. I picked up how to move my body weight around this two-wheeled centrifuge. It always brought a great smile to my face–except when a combine harvester was bearing down on me at the height of a French summer. It wasn’t until just before the Olympic Games of 2012 that I fully appreciated the bicycle. By its design, a bicycle race featured a key aspect of each one of the sports I had grown up enjoying. The key aspect that I loved from each one of those sports, I can enjoy in my cycling today.

I was certainly captured by the #inspireageneration–and yes the Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins domination of le tour–ethos that the London Games created. I began racing the famous, and longingly missed, Eelmore Wednesday evening races. From Keith’s GoRide sessions to RSR with Ian Cooke. Charlotteville to Hillingdon. From Velo Club Londres (VCL) to Spiderking Soenens. I was hooked. My journey through cycling has been one of patience and determination. Slowly chipping away. A journey that featured small steps, and giant leaps. I believe it is a journey that began the moment I stepped foot in Belgium on March 21st 2016. The trip in the back of a BMW M3 with Ieuan and Santiago is etched in the memory forever. Dave Williams giving up his time and imparting his knowledge de la course. I remember the first bit of advice that escaped his lips. Do you remember what that was, Dave?

It is for all the reasons I describe that I see myself first as an athlete, then as a cyclist. An Athlete in a Cycling phase as it were. A chapter I’m excited to tell, and capture in writing and therefore memory for the years to come! I hope you look forward to following along that journey. I like keeping the people who have helped steer me to this moment in the loop.

The People…

You’ll have noticed that I’ve mentioned some of the people who have had a recent impact on my journey to get to this milestone in my journey. To them, I am eternally grateful. The people who have taught me a crucial lesson in life’s complexities. Be it in sports, education or business. I find it incredibly important to keep hold of these people in the memory.

This includes all the teachers who steered me through life for several years at St George’s College and Ripley Court. By extension, this includes all the coaches that I’ve encountered in the numerous sports I’ve competed in over the years. It is a list that will be ever-growing as I continue through life.

It was also clear from the very earliest moment in my cycling career that Europe was the place to become a professional cyclist. I have seen several cyclists take this route, sidestepping the traditional British Cycling Academy. I sought to build up a community in Belgium from the very early days. In fact, several of the riders I was first competing against are on their way to becoming professional too! How cool is that? To achieve that my parents have been rocks, investing countless hours in helping me achieve the next phase of my career. In addition to my parents’ tremendous support, The Rayner Foundation has aided me financially during my years of u23 riding, whilst also opening a number of doors to the wide-ranging network of people built up over the years. A community of knowledge from the years accumulated within the cycling game. They alongide Pedal Potential, who supported me financially during my junior years, see the need–as I do–to “escape the UK matrix.” as friend, Zeb Kyffin said. On y va!

A special mention to the people who have seen something in me, and taken me under their wing. They had a faith that I felt, believed, and trusted. Greg, Dirk, Dave, Keith, Alex, Jon, Patrick. The list is long. I have one typed out, but I will not take up any more of your time. Thanks for reading. I look forward to the journey in front of me. Should you want to follow along, stick around!

Cover Photo: Calum Brookes