Ollie MorganA Place in the Sun

My name is Ollie Morgan, I am a 3rd year U23 cyclist racing for Memil Pro Cycling U23 Team for the 2020 Road Season. I will be proudly supported by the Lewis Balyckyi Trust Fund for 2020, in which I believe could be my break-through year as an athlete.

 

My team for 2020 is a UCI Continental Level setup, in fact the only Swedish Pro Cycling Team. I will be racing in their development squad, where I’m the only British rider, amongst some Swedish and Aussie talent. After finishing my 2019 season living in Belgium, I worked multiple part-time jobs to help fund my racing in 2020, though without the fund’s support, chasing this childhood dream wouldn’t be possible. For that I’m eternally grateful.

My 2020 preparations began off the bike: being the Guest Speaker at the Worcester St Johns Cycling Club Awards night. It was a real privilege to share my exploits from my first season on the Continent in Belgium, and hopefully inspire the new generation of cyclists in the club where it all began for me.

From January, I have been lucky enough to be based in Majorca with fellow teammates, working hard with the reward of winter sun. I have made friends with Swedish identical twins; Wincent and Wilhelm, who I struggled to tell apart in the first few weeks! I’ve never been on a warm-weather camp before, so have been relishing the whole experience, and trying to take it all in. To support my pre-season training, I was ecstatic to get a ride in Challenge Majorca 2020, a UCI 1.1 level stage race where World Tour and Pro teams get their first run out of the year. I picked up a couple of finish results and helped the team where possible, to make my name on the infamous Pro Cycling Stats website. Racing amongst those such as Alejandro Valverde and Pascal Ackermann is an honour. It’s needless to say that this taste of the top-level fuels my hunger to succeed in the sport.

Race Pic

I’ll be racing across Europe in mainly UCI level races, and I believe that this is the year I’m ready to step up and commit to being a full-time cyclist. I can confirm that riding my bike in the Majorcan mountains trumps washing pots and cleaning bogs. I’m looking forward to taking this blog on my journey, as after all, I’m just a 20-year-old lad from Pershore with big dreams!