Saturday, July 27, 2024

James Shaw – You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down

This season James was racing the UK at continental level with the Ribble Weldtite team but next year he’s back to the World Tour, this time with EF Education Nippo.

-

HomeInterviewsJames Shaw - You Can't Keep a Good Man Down

The ‘self help’ and ‘Positive Mental Attitude’ manuals will tell you that one of the main qualities required for success in life is: ‘PERSISTENCE.’ James Shaw must have read them all, that man doesn’t know the meaning of the word, ‘quit.’

Riding stagiaire with Belgium’s Lotto Soudal at the end of 2016; the next two years saw him on board their World Tour team for 2017 and 2018 but there was no renewal for 2019.

The 2019 season saw him ride with British continental team, Swift Carbon Pro but in 2020 he bounced back up to Pro Team level with the Danish Riwal Securitas team.

Sadly, the team’s Pro Team status was another victim of the pandemic and for this season Shaw was back in the UK at continental level with the Ribble Weldtite team.

BUT – for 2022 he’s back to the World Tour with EF Education Nippo. You can’t keep a good man down.

James Shaw
James Shaw. Photo©Harry Trump/Getty Images

You’re a persistent devil, Mr. Shaw.

“Some might just say ‘stubborn,’ but yes, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster.” 

How’s that house you’re restoring in the Peak District coming along?

“It’s going well, we immersed ourselves in over the times there was no racing.”

“Third in the British individual time trial championship, James the ‘chronoman?’

“The time trial isn’t my forte but I was pleased to beat a number of out-and-out TT specialists to get onto the podium.

“I had time off the bike with illness after the Tour of Britain so I wasn’t expecting much but when I rode the course I could see that it suited me and just rode at my own tempo.

“I was pleased that I hadn’t lost form.”

We saw you in action at the British Road Race Championship in Lincoln, you looked very strong but seemed to spend much of the race chasing?

“Yes, I did make life hard for myself, the trouble in the National is that it’s difficult to know which move will stick – and I had team mates up the road and didn’t want to take folk across.”

That was a very impressive ride you did in the Tour of Slovenia, fifth on GC in the company of the likes of Pogacar, Ulissi and Majka. 

“That was my best race of the year and Ribble Weldtite came away from that one with our heads held high. 

“Training and generating such and such watts is one thing but it doesn’t mean anything until you’re in a race situation and we definitely performed well there, punching above our weight.”

James Shaw
James Shaw rode to a fantastic fifth in Slovenia. Photo©supplied

And you repeated that GC position in the Tour of Norway…

“We got that invite on the strength of how we rode in Slovenia.

“Norway wasn’t as hilly as Slovenia, the climbs were shorter and sharper but it was good to prove that my ride in Slovenia wasn’t a ‘one off.’

“That’s a nice race, the roads are good and we had sunshine much of the time; I’ve ridden in Norway before, the Tour of the Fjords, so I knew what to expect and that’s always helpful.”

Perhaps you would have expected more from the Tour of Britain where you finished 14th on GC.

“I had hoped for more but had mechanicals and bad luck early in the race which put me on the back foot so I had to try and make the best of it after that.”

EF Education Nippo for 2022 and 2023, that’s a nice outcome, did your agent negotiate that for you?

“I don’t have an agent, there was no third party involved. 

“I used to have an agent but we parted company by mutual agreement at the end of the 2018 season.

“What I did was basically to send out my details to anyone and everyone.

“It was Charly Wegelius from EF who got back to me initially and then Jonathan Vaughters became involved as things progressed.

“They were easy to deal with, we agreed terms and I’m glad to have another opportunity on the World Tour.”

James Shaw
James Shaw will be putting the road first in his new team. Photo©Huntly Captures

Where will you be based?

“The majority of my races will obviously be out-with the UK but I’m going to continue to live here.

“Communications are good for me with East Midlands, Manchester and Birmingham airports all within easy reach.

“The team is happy with the arrangement, it was something we discussed during our contract negotiations.”

EF are very much into ‘alternative’ forms of racing and/or generating publicity, will we you on the gravel too?

“The road comes first, that’s what I’ll be paid to do, but once my race programme is firmed-up, we’ll see.

“There’s also still the aspect of the pandemic’s effect on the calendar?…”

That first Grand Tour?

“I’d like to think so, it’s my childhood dream and what I’ll be training towards – but which one it might be I’m not certain about.”

When’s your first training camp with the team?

“That will be in January; the team used to have a pre-Xmas camp but Covid has made travel arrangements complicated, especially for the guys outside of Europe.

“I’m having my break off the bike right now but plan to do my own camp in Spain in December.”

Will you still be working with trainSharp for your coaching?

“Yes, that’s the plan, I have a good bond there and their methods work for me.”

Going back to Lotto, 2017 – too much too young?

“Yes, definitely, but at that age when someone puts a World Tour contract on the table in front of you then you’re not going to say, ‘no.

“My advice to a younger me would be to have more patience.”

James Shaw
James Shaw with Andre Griepel (l) at the 2016 Tour of Britain, riding for Lotto. Photo©Joss Ryan

Riwal folding must have stung?

“Very much, it seemed like the perfect step back up for me, they had everything in place and it was a good, supportive set up.

“The team was certainly on an upward trajectory before the pandemic and as the only Danish team at that level and the Tour de France starting in Copenhagen it seemed like a great opportunity. 

“I had planned to spend a couple of seasons there but of course had to step back down to continental level instead.”

2022?

“Continue my rate of progress, learn, give to the team and grab my opportunities with both hands.

“The Ardennes Classics were something we discussed during my contract negotiations and races I have a lot of motivation for.”

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

Related Articles

Mikey Mottram – Looking Back at the Gravel Worlds

We catch up with Mikey Mottram, who has been a top UK rider on the road and track, about his ride in the inaugural UCI Gravel World Championship.

Michael Mørkøv – From the Tour to the Olympic Track

One of the men who enlivened the race amidst what was a pretty dull GC battle in this year’s Tour de France was Saxo Bank –Tinkoff Bank rider, Michael Mørkøv. The Dane wore the leaders’ jersey for the king of the mountains during the first week and was in the breakaway more than 800 kilometres during le Tour.

Hamish Strachan – “I’m missing that last bit of nastiness that you need to be competitive”

‘Sorry, I fell asleep, I need my afternoon nap after one of Flavio’s training sessions – a 90 minute chain gang then six laps of a circuit with a steep ‘kicker’ in it.’ That was Hamish Strachan explaining to us why he’d missed our call – good to hear that the young man is back in the groove after a difficult start to his year.

Matthew Bottrill – Back to Winning Ways

He’s been CTT 10, 25, 50 and 100 mile champion, he’s been British 25 and 50 mile record holder; he’s been away but now he’s back. When we saw he’d recently won the Eddy Soens Memorial Race some 20 years after he’d first won it, we thought to ourselves; ‘maybe need to have a word with old Mister Matthew Bottrill, aka ‘The Flying Postman, it’s been a year or two since last we chatted’

At Random

World Road Championships 2012 – Junior Womens’ Road Race

When you write and then put your words out there into the ether, you set yourself up. Whilst there’s nothing better than someone taking the time to say that they like your work...

Tour de Trossachs 2013 – it’s Gold for Goldsworthy

Silas Goldsworthy (Sandy Wallace Cycles) added his name to the list of Scottish cycling greats – Steel, Bilsland, Millar, Obree and MacIntyre - who have won the Classic chrono, with a 1:07:29 ride on a ‘four seasons in one day,’ Sunday over the glorious countryside around Aberfoyle and Callander to take the win at the Tour de Trossachs 2013.

Simon Yates – Points Race Champion of the World

At VeloVeritas we pride ourselves on keeping an eye on who’s on the way up – but this gentleman caught us unawares. We should have spotted that stage win in the 2011 Tour de l’Avenir – there are no ‘soft’ stage wins in that race. So when 20 year-old Simon Yates took the rainbow jersey in the Worlds points race it shouldn’t really have been a surprise. But the man from Bury has been a World Champion before, with Dan McLay in the junior madison in 2010 – he was also silver medallist in the junior team pursuit that year.

Alan Thomson – Scottish 50 Mile TT Champion 2015

VeloVeritas didn't make it to the National '50' but we did pick up the phone and ring the winner, Alan Thomson. We asked if it was a tough shift up there in the North East; "Nuts! The course rolls and there were spells of brutal headwind where I was down to 19 mph then you were back up to 30 mph and sections you thought would be fast were slow. It was a day where you really had to concentrate and think about what you were doing."