Dave Coulson is a former semi-professional cyclist and Cycling Sheffieldan elite development team based in South Yorkshire. The team competes at regional, national and international levels and travels to competitions across the UK and Europe. Connor Swift The current British National Gravel Champion with Ineos Grenadier is a graduate of Colson’s programme.
This is part of our Q&A series.
CW: For those who don’t know you that well, what got you into cycling?
I’ve always loved bikes. I rode BMX when I was very young, and then started riding my dad’s road bike when I was a teenager, a long, long time ago, and then started racing. I probably did my first race, which was a BMX race, in the early 1980s, so I’ve been riding bikes and involved in cycling for a long time.
CW: When did you realize you wanted to try to make this sport more than just a hobby?
I think I was one of those riders from that era who wasn’t going to make it big, but I always loved being a cyclist, so I and other riders at the time did what we called part-time cyclist jobs, and in the winter I did Did all kinds of things, worked on construction sites and so on. So I scraped by and ended up being a cyclist for quite some time.
CW: Do you ever travel to Europe to compete and train?
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I spent some time in Europe, a few years in France, and then a fair amount of time on and off in various places in Italy. I finished playing at the end of 2010 and things were a lot different then than they are now. A lot of riders who were more talented than me went to Europe and didn’t really make it, but now they might. The sport has changed a lot and a lot of things are better now, especially for British and English-speaking riders in Europe.
CW: Who has been an influence on your cycling? Who inspires you?
I think the first rider I really liked when I was little was the Colombian Lucho Herrera, who won the King of the Mountains at the Tour de France. And then probably Marco Pantani, I love Pantani, it’s a very sad story, even at my age, having spent my whole life in this sport, it’s still a very touching story, Really, I still have a place for him. But when you get to my age, you have no real heroes. They’re just guys who ride bikes very fast.
(Image source: SWPix.com)
CW: Do you remember your first road bike? What does it look like?
It was a Renault 531, built by JF Wilson, somewhat like my father’s design. This is a very, very famous Sheffield cycling family and a lot of people in Yorkshire, particularly South Yorkshire and Sheffield, will know the name. That was my first bike, a JF Wilson and the shop still exists on a city road in Sheffield and it was a tiny little place.
CW: What’s the first game you remember watching?
Probably something that happened in Sheffield city center in the mid or early 1980s when I was a very young kid. Then there are the milk people, who often come to Sheffield. I remember a long, long time ago on the other side of the city watching Malcolm Elliot and some other big local players compete in a rather famous local game called Stanning Dayton road race.
CW: What inspired you to set up Sheffield Cycling? What was the team like in the beginning?
I’ve been managing this team for three years. In fact, we lost our title sponsor at the end of our third year and the team was disbanding. But then I started talking to my wife about the idea of ​​maybe giving it a try, and it just stuck in the back of my mind, about building a team entirely around Sheffield and supported only by Sheffield sponsors.
This is indeed necessary. It was a case of running with this idea and seeing if I could make it happen or we would close. I spent a week on the phone with the sponsors we still had and they all gave me a lot of support and encouragement which gave me the confidence to continue.
I had the same ambitions then and I still have now, I just try to run a good team, look after the riders, work hard for the sponsors, do my best to help the riders develop and keep going, and then try and enjoy it along the way. This is a tough sport. This must be enjoyable.
“We’re working hard to build a cycling fleet that cities and regions can care about”
Dave Colson
(Image source: SWPix.com)
CW: For those who may not know the city that well, how would you describe the character of the Sheffield team?
I have often said that we are trying to build a cycling team with an image not unlike a football club that cities and regions can care about.
I had a meeting with a potential new sponsor earlier this week. They knew next to nothing about cycling but what they really enjoyed was the whole Sheffield element and yelling about where we lived and where they did business.
It’s not a complicated idea, it’s how a lot of teams of our size in Europe operate. I just think it’s the best way to make the team sustainable and viable.
The whole idea of ​​Sheffield, it just gets people’s attention and captures their imagination more easily. So it’s still not easy, but it does make a difference. We’re still not where I want to be, but it’s up to me to make that happen.
CW: What do you think is the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far in your career managing teams?
Probably to not push myself too hard and just know I can only do what I can do. When teams don’t have as much money as they’d like, they’re going to be reliant on a lot of the work of other people if they’re any good at all.
Money makes everything easier, and cycling teams are no exception. So sometimes I don’t have enough money to make this easier or make that feasible, so I just have to accept that and know that I’m not letting anyone down. I don’t think there is a team that does more for its drivers.
CW: On the flip side, what would you say has been your proudest moment in managing your team?
I don’t know if there’s just one year where this is a big year because we’ve been very successful and feel like we’ve really become a good development team over the past few years and are considered a good stepping stone. It’s nice that we won a lot of games and achieved a lot this year, but that’s because the process worked. I’m always quick to point out the riders turning the pedals, I just try my best to provide good opportunities and if they can learn anything from me and join the team that would be great.
I think the focus is probably on where we are now really established. There is a lot to be said for this. There is a lot of focus on the disappearance of the big UCI teams, but there is a lot to be said for those who keep the smaller teams going and do the best they can. We only have a team of eight and four of our riders have already been helped by us to move to the team in France next year. So I think it’s a huge success
Obviously, that means we’re going to have a ton of new riders next year, but that’s the nature of it. You know, apart from the World Tour, all teams have an obligation to play a driver development role.
CW: Finally, what’s next for the team in 2025?
I think it’s more of the same, flying the flag for Sheffield and our sponsors, and the mission of the team, helping the lads develop and keep going. We will play as many games as possible in Europe, including the Nations Series, some tours and the Under-23 series.
Even though the schedule wasn’t as good as any of us had hoped, our game plan was OK. With only eight riders to offer, I found it easy to give them enough races.
Especially given their age, I want them to be able to complete the season and study regularly and achieve as much as possible.
