Sophie Lankford revels in a gap year on the road with Team Jadan-Weldtite Vive le Velo
It was the morning after stage six of the OVO Energy Tour Series and Sophie Lankford was in a buoyant mood.
As the 23-year-old rested at a relative’s house in Winchester after a seventh-place finish in Salisbury, it seemed the perfect time to talk all things cycling
“It’s something I wanted to try, especially after focusing on my studies for so many years,” says Lankford. “I haven’t had a break before.”
Lankford is referring to a gap year from academia to concentrate on sport, which certainly seems to be reaping rewards.
Racing for Team Jadan-Weldtite Vive le Velo, the performance that evening in Salisbury was a second top 10 finish of the tour, and a third was to come with eighth in the final leg in Brooklands, Surrey.
That follows a silver medal at the HSBC UK National Track Championships in January.
Having finished a degree in molecular biology and with plans to study an oncology MSc in order to work in cancer sciences, you could say that this year was always going to be about testing the water for Lankford but, given that she got out of the pool and onto her bike, it is probably the wrong analogy.
The reasons for switching sports give an insight into the Girton-based athlete’s character, with determination and ambition to the fore – Lankford does not come across as someone to compete only for the fun of it.
“I realised I’m not the stature to be a swimmer,” says the former county champion with City of Cambridge Swimming Club, who also raced at regional and national events.
“I’m not tall enough. It was quite difficult because I had improved so rapidly over three years and then suddenly you just stop.
“I remember my mum saying ‘as soon as you dive in someone who is a few inches taller than you, say 6ft, is going to get to the end before you’.
“As soon as they’re in, they’re already ahead of you because I’m only 5ft 3in – most swimmers are about 6ft.”
Naturally sporty, hopping onto two wheels was the natural next stop as both her father and brother were cyclists.
It was a baptism of fire though, as her first race was the year after the London Olympics and who should turn up to the ‘small’ event in Thetford but track gold medallist Laura Trott.
Her participation attracted many more entries, and Lankford admits that she does not even remember finishing the race, believing she may have been lapped twice.
“After winning lots of medals in swimming, I thought I could go to cycling and win,” she explains. “I had no idea how to win, I just thought I’d be good at it, but I wasn’t really.
“The hardest thing is to win your first race, then after you’ve done it once you know you can do it again.”
What is striking through the conversation is there is a theme that runs throughout Lankford’s sporting odyssey, which is of tenacity and resilience.
It has not been insurmountable obstacles that have stood in the way, but neither has it all been plain-sailing as she has balanced cycling with her other passion of science.
On going to study at Cardiff University, she joined the development team at Team WNT alongside riders including Commonwealth Games silver medalist Charline Joiner and Lydia Boylan, who had raced at the Track World Championships for Ireland.
But going into the second year, it was only in a group chat when discussion turned to the next season that Lankford realised she had been dropped – and she only officially found out when calling the team management.
“It was very political in the team and I don’t think I should have been dropped – I was told that I needed to develop as a rider,” she explains.
“I had only just turned 19 and hadn’t been racing long. That was my opportunity in the team to develop. I didn’t agree with the decision.”
There was another setback of sorts towards the end of the year when a concussion before the end-of-year exams affected Lankford’s ability to revise and had an impact on her results.
The blow helped sharpen her focus and, having joined local club Cardiff Ajax and an overseas placement in Hamburg imminent, Lankford made the decision to take a step back from cycling.
It was only on the completion of her studies, and with the support of boyfriend Harry Tanfield, a Commonwealth Games medal-winning track cyclist and road racer for UCI professional team Katusha-Alpecin, that she decided to test herself on the bigger stage again.
“Harry got me back training properly and, three weeks after my exams, I did the national time-trial championships, which was a big thing,” says Lankford.
“I knew at the time it was a race he was targeting and he was second behind Geraint Thomas (last year’s Tour de France winner).
“It gave me the passion again to continue racing and since then I’ve been focusing on riding my bike.”
It was still not quite straightforward though.
Applications to earn a place on a road team proved unsuccessful so the resilient nature kicked in again as Lankford and three friends set up a team to compete at the National Track Championships.
Focussing on the boards from September bore fruit as, racing as Team Velotec, they earned the silver medal in the team pursuit this January, finishing second to the GB academy squad, to give Lankford a first national medal.
In the meantime, the road was also calling as a speculative email to Team Jadan in December earned an offer of a spot on the team to race the OVO Energy Tour Series.
What was to follow was three top-10 finishes from six races, with Lankford’s focus now turning to the time trial at the British National Road Race Championships at the end of this month.
Tanfield’s goal is to race at the world championships, but there are mixed aims and ambitions for Lankford.
“I would love to be at that level, and that’s the main goal,” she says. “But I also have my studies and my passion for science to follow as well.
“Sometimes I wish I was a lot better at one than the other, or not as good at one so it would be a
really clear choice.
“It’s a hard decision that I will have to make but, right now, I’m enjoying racing and focusing on that for the year which is something I hadn’t been able to do at all.”
She adds: “At the end of the year, I will be more experienced in cycling and have my experience at university so maybe I will be able to do both to keep racing at a high level and get a good result.”
Having overcome a number of setbacks, you would not want to bet against Lankford reaching the top – whether that be in sport or science.
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