We first met Londoner Fred Wright back in 2017 when he was riding the U23 Berlin Six Day with Jake Stewart, Ed was there working on the Six with Nico Hesslich, Achim Burkart, Hans Pirius and Alex Rasmussen, and became Fred and Jake’s ‘unofficial photographer’.
A lot has happened in Fred’s career subsequently; a career which has mapped a pretty straight line upwards, year-on-year, from riding the biggest junior races, improving incrementally, staying relevant and growing continually.
Fred excelled at the U23 level, winning stages of the ‘Baby’ Giro and the Tour de l’Avenir, later being picked up by CCC as a stagiaire before moving on to World Tour team Bahrain, where he has remained ever since.
He rode the Vuelta a España in his first year with the team and has completed four more Grand Tours since then, including two Tours de France.
If achieving eight top ten stage placings in the 2022 Vuelta and four in that year’s Tour de France were not impressive enough, how does finishing in the top ten at two consecutive Tours of Flanders sound?
Following Fred’s strong ride in this year’s Paris-Roubaix in his beautiful British National Champion’s jersey, finishing 12th and sprinting for 8th place, we wanted to find out a little more about the man, his background and his fabled enthusiasm for the Classics. We started off by asking if he remembered the U23 Six Day win seven years ago.
That Berlin Six Day really feels like a lifetime ago, a lot has happened since then!
We’ll begin with our usual question Fred; ‘what got you into cycling’?
“I was eight years old and dad decided to take me to a summer holiday club at the velodrome, Herne Hill.
“That was a way to keep me and my sister entertained for the entire day. It wasn’t like we did anything specific at the club, we just hung out, rode our bikes…
“Quite quickly I realised, ‘I’m actually quite nippy at this, quite handy at spinning my legs on a track bike!'”
Your dad was a cyclist too?
“Yeah, he was doing a lot of Audaxes in his forties, he was doing them just for fitness really. His love of cycling grew at the same time as mine.
“Nowadays he’s at Herne Hill velodrome every other day, volunteering, coaching… he just loves it.
“I’m a bit jealous of him actually, he’s not retired yet but when he does, his plan will likely be ‘hanging out at the velodrome, drinking coffee’!”
“But I’ve got lots of bike racing to do before then!”
Like many of us did as youngsters, did you mix track league with local time trials, ‘tens’ and so on?
“D’you know what, I didn’t – it was always just track.
“Slowly the road became more of a factor, but up until I was 18, 19, I just wanted to go to the Olympics on the track.
“My aim was to be part of the Team Pursuit, that was the goal, I guess, from watching the London Olympics in 2012.”
You were picked up pretty early by Team GB.
“Yeah, that was a ‘Talent Team’ selection I think.
“My dad and I went up to Manchester and I did a test on a Wattbike or something similar.
“We were just thinking, ‘we’ll see how it goes’ but I got put on the programme straight away and I was associated with BC from that point.”
So in 2016 you were already being put into the European Classics and stage races at junior level?
“Yes, I was starting to enjoy the road a bit more but track was still the focus for me.
“Despite wanting to win, for example, the junior Gent-Wevelgem, the European and the World Track Championships were always the target.”
And at this point the road was just a part of your track preparation?
“Yes, the thinking was that once I’d gone to the Olympics on the track, then I’d think about doing the Tour de France, etc., a la Wiggo, and ‘G’ … all the people I grew up watching.”
Something changed that thinking though?
“Yeah, I guess the racing kinda changes when you step up to U23, there’s a bit more structure, and I just absolutely loved it!
“I enjoyed it more than I did as a junior and after two years as an U23 I was still pushing to be on the track, but basically I wasn’t quite good enough in the Team Pursuit [to be certain of a place].
“It was my coach at the time, Matt Brammeier (who’s now the Men’s Road Endurance coach for the National Team) who suggested that I could try and join a pro road team that year.
“I didn’t believe him at first, I remember thinking ‘Really? You think so?'”
Then in 2019 you won stages at the Tour de l’Avenir and at the ‘Baby’ Giro…
“Yes, and then it became clearer that stepping into the Pro ranks was going to be the path.”
How did the stagiaire ride with CCC that year come about?
“I think that was via Matt as well – he knew one of their coaches, Marco Pinotti.
“They looked at my training and put me into the team as a stagiaire.
“But around that time Rod Ellingworth came along and made me an offer to join what was going to become Bahrain-McLaren for 2020.
“A British guy, leading this new team… I thought, ‘I’ve got to take this opportunity’.”
Does that seem like a long time ago now?
“It does!
“It’s mad, this is now my fifth year with the team, and each year I’ve stepped up…”
Unfortunately the Covid pandemic hit during your first season as a full pro…
“That was really weird, but in the end I’d say it worked out in my favour.
“Of course the Covid period was terrible, but as a pro cyclist it was relatively easy; we could still go out and train on our bikes, but it dragged, it dragged for everyone
“Then all the racing was in a block, August to November, and I ended up doing loads of big races because the team had to be split accordingly.”
It must have been hard going, being thrown into the biggest races in your first year?
“Yes, I got my head kicked in!
“I remember doing Strada Bianchi in August in 40 degree heat… I think I only lasted 60k…
“I had a hard time – but then I ended up going to the Vuelta, which was only 18 stages that year, not the usual 21, but still, to do a Grand Tour as a first year pro was not something I expected.
“The team was using the racing to give the younger guys experience, and of course the Giro was going on at the same time as well.”
And you did really well – fourth on Stage 15 in a bunch sprint…
“Yeah, that was a really long stage, and that result got me thinking.
“It was weird though, there were no fans at the roadside when we were going up the Angliru, and I could have done with a push or two!”
The following season, 2021, and you’re doing the Tour de France.
“That was really special!
“To do the Tour in my second year as a pro was amazing.”
Is winning Paris-Roubaix still your biggest goal?
“Yeah, Roubaix or Flanders would be the ones, either one of them.
“I’ve been in the top ten in Flanders twice, so that’s an obvious target.”
Where are you living these days? They reckon that to unlock the secrets of a successful Flanders (or Kuurne, or Het Nieuwsblad…) you need to really spend time in the region, learn the paths, direction changes, the parcours…
“I live in the UK, in Manchester.
“I think it’s just down to the way my brain works, the way I approach these races…
“That’s what I love so much about the Classics – you really have to learn, absorb all the information, the roads, the climbs – almost like how you would revise for an exam; ‘this is the next phase, this is the plan…’
“I can tell you all about every one of the climbs of the Tour of Flanders, for example.”
And when you’ve revised properly it gives you confidence.
“Yes, for sure. I remember in 2021, when I got 7 th in Flanders – which was my first really big result – going into the race and being so confident, I knew where I was in the race, where I was going…
“There is still so much learning you can do from those races though, and I still make mistakes now and again but I make sure that I take a note of them so I don’t make them next time.
“There’s a real craft to these races; of course there are guys who come along and excel in the Classics because they’re superhuman, but there is an element in these races that if you’re smart, and play your cards right, you can do special things.”
Steve Cummings made analysing the ‘right’ break and the riders who were in it into an art form, is that something you try to do too?
“I’d like to think so.
“In 2022 I found myself getting better and better at picking out the right break – and being there, and that started the previous year in my first Tour de France when I was rooming with Matej [Mohorič, Fred’s Slovenian team-mate, ed.]. He won two stages that year, from breakaways.
“I took a lot from how he meticulously looked at the stages he won beforehand, the roadbook, VeloViewer, etc. We have all these resources now and if you plan carefully and thoroughly, you just have to tick the boxes when you get to the race.
“In cycling there are so many ‘uncontrollables’ but if you maintain this set of steps towards winning the race, you’re part-way there.”
Are you the guy now that other riders watch and try to follow into the break?
“Yes, that’s the problem I found at the Tour last year, having shown the year before that I could pick the right moves, it was like I had a, not exactly a target on my back, but I was definitely aware of riders thinking ‘okay, he’s a good rider to follow’.”
In a recent Rouleur magazine piece, you and Matej talk about your different characteristics, and Matej reckons your sprint is far better than his. Do you do any specific sprint training, perhaps your team’s Assistant DS ex-sprinter Borut Božič helps with that?
“Ah yes, Borut! It’s really sad, but I haven’t actually done a race with him yet!
“There are so many staff members in the team that you don’t really get time with them all, but my impression of Borut at the training camps is that he seems great, a nice guy.”
“It’s quite funny you should ask about sprint training; the conclusion from the last block of Classics is that for us as a team, it didn’t quite go how we wanted.
“It’s hard reading that interview with me and Matej that we did for Rouleur back in November, you know. We were speaking about the things we wanted to do and it never really materialised.
“After the Classics you have a bit of a break, and it’s a case of assessing what we missed, what we didn’t do as much of…”
And what’s your conclusions?
“Well, we got into the Classics with a slightly different approach to normal, trying to be aerobically fitter, more like how we would prepare for a Grand Tour, but actually my coach and I agreed that we did miss a bit of that specific sprint work.
“I’ve basically always had that type of effort sprinkled into my training, ever since I was going out on the road as a 14 year-old, when it was sprinting for ’30’ signs!
“Even though now I’m preparing for the Tour, going to altitude, getting a big aerobic load, I’m still trying to keep my sprint alive because I felt that maybe I’d lost a little bit of that punchiness, because that’s one of the things I’m good at, basically; I’m not really, really fast but I’m fast in a reduced group after a hard day.”
I was listening to Team UAE’s Jeroen Swart recently, discussing Tadej Pogačar’s training, the changes he’s made, and how he’s prioritised improving his torque…
“I’ve heard about this, and it’s evolved a little in my own training but I don’t know if I do it in the same way as the UAE guys – I think they do a lot of high intensity torque, like VO2 efforts, but still torque.
“In the past it’s always been low zone 3/upper zone 2, grinding away, but actually they’re doing something which makes sense, as a stimulus to the muscles.
“It’s the reason why I spend a bit of time in the gym, squatting and so on, and I find that’s something that makes a big difference.”
Do you feel the science of training is evolving so fast that you’re never fully on top of the knowledge?
“Yes, I’m in my fifth year as a pro but working out the very best way to train is still not set…
“I think I’m going to get to the end of my career and still not know the perfect answer – there are so many little things you can do here and there.
“It’s crazy – just in the space of, what, four years, how much things like nutrition have evolved; I remember getting back from a long ride, a bit cross-eyed, going to dinner and the nutritionist telling me ‘no, no, just have some salad, you can have carbs later’.
“There must have been some reason, of course, but now it’s the polar opposite; how many carbs can you put into your body?
“Just smash the Haribos as soon as you’re finished!”
And so to this year, and 12th in Paris-Roubaix, sprinting for eighth place. A fantastic ride.
“Yeah, I know! The little 12 year-old me can’t believe it!
“I’ve been quite unlucky in the race in the past, it was nice to actually be there and race the proper final – albeit not for the win; after van der Poel attacked, it really was a case of ‘see you later Mathieu‘!
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to get a nice result from the Classics, since it wasn’t the spring campaign I wanted, but for me, here now, I want more… that’s just the way of sport.”
Any ‘with hindsights’?
“I don’t think there’s much… there was a couple of sectors where I messed up my position a bit, and then you lose a bit of energy sorting that.
“I can think of a couple of points where I spent a bullet I probably needed later.
“But that’s the best part of bike racing; learning from all these little errors and putting it right next time.
“It’s just a shame to have to wait so long for the next Roubaix.”
van der Poel has not had any mechanicals or punctures in Roubaix for a few years. He’s a big guy but he’s running really low pressures in pretty wide tyres…
“That’s the talk of Roubaix!
“That’s what everyone is concerned with, and it’s what I love about it; I’m really invested in tyre width, pressures…
“Mathieu is very well researched, so I tend to follow his lead, his train of thought, he’s normally bang on the money with these details, but really, once you’ve done your last ride the day before the race, the decisions are made. Maybe if it’s raining on race day you’ll lose a little more pressure, but that’s about all.”
Anything else ‘trick’ on your Roubaix bike?
“No, not really, you get enough flex and suspension with the bigger tyres that the bike doesn’t need anything else.
“Also, the tyres nowadays, a set of 32’s, they roll so well!
“OK, they feel a little ‘floppy’ when you get out the saddle but actually they’re no slower. It’s a bit counterintuitive.”
How has it been this last year racing in the beautiful British Champions jersey?
“It’s been really nice, it’s meant a lot. It’s almost been a year, I can’t quite believe it, it goes quick.
“And I’m going to try and keep one of my National Champs bikes as well, they’re really nice too.”
Will you be defending your title next month?
“I’m hoping so, I really want to defend it, but I’m slightly worried that team plans, with the Tour de France looming, may mean that I can’t be at the Nationals.
“We’ll see, but with the Olympics a couple of weeks after the Tour, it’s all about working things out – and no partying after the Tour, I really want to be flying for the Olympics.
“A flight from Nice straight home, then keep it boring!
“I did the same a couple of years ago when the Commonwealth Games were after the Tour; I managed to recover well enough and I felt great at the Games, so I have some experience of this.”
You’re the man with the experience in the team now, do you help the youngsters, the Neo’s in the team like Finlay Pickering in the way that Heinrich Haussler helped you a few years ago?
“It was nice getting to know Finlay at the training camp, and he did the Saudi Tour, which was the first race I did this year.
“He’s a really talented climber, he won a stage in Tour Alsace a couple of years ago and the mountains jersey last season in the Alpes Isère Tour, but he had a bad crash in the Tour of the Alps recently, hit his head pretty badly and was concussed, I think.
“I hope he gets back to form and I can do a race with him later in the season.
“It feels strange that that’s the kind of role I’ll be in, the way that Heino, Matej, Marcel [Sieberg] and others used to give me bits of information, I feel that I can do the same thing.”
Are you into gadgets Fred, or are they simply tools of the trade?
“I like my little gadgets I suppose, but I’m not super bothered really. Saying that, I got an aura strap recently, which is interesting. It monitors your sleep, fat, water level, things like that.
“And I’m wearing a glucose monitor at the moment as well.
“You know, there are so many things to monitor and try and work out how it improves your training. My nutritionist and I are still trying to work out how best I can use the glucose monitoring, it kind of goes with your feeling as well; you see a drop and it coincides with something else that happened, and it makes sense…
“It’s a shame they’re banned in races because that’s probably where you’d get the most information, but in general it seems that the days I feel better on the bike are the days when my average glucose for the ride were higher… like today, I did a couple of sprints at the end of my ride and my blood sugars sky-rocketed, which is fascinating, understanding the reasons why is interesting.
“I think every year there are more and more things to think about, more little tricks to try and get the best out of yourself.
You can get obsessive about these things but I’m also really interested in it so I try to look at things from a more scientific standpoint than just having someone telling me, for example, ‘you need to be lighter’.”
What are your distractions, do you still play table tennis?
“Well, I used to live with Ethan (Hayter) and the table is still at his place, so I haven’t played in a while.
“I’m into films too, I love going quite regularly to the cinema, I’ve been two times this week for example, I really enjoy it.
“We went to see “Love lies bleeding” a couple of days ago, which was good, sort of surreal with a bizarre ending… I was still thinking about it on my ride today, which probably means it was a good film!”
With thanks to Fred for his generosity of time and information
and to Becca Wright for facilitating the interview.
