A new face to the Development program in 2023, Dylan joins the team after a good junior campaign where he combined road and track to a variety of successes including bronze medals at the European track championships and a brilliant win at the Junior CiCLE Classic.
Hailing from Brighton on the south coast of England, Dylan is not from a cycling family and instead got into the sport after watching the 2012 Olympics – where his sporting hero Sir Chris Hoy dominated. After trying every other sport and being “not very good” at them, Dylan decided to join one of his school friends at the local cycling club.
“There is a velodrome [Preston Park Velodrome] around a three-minute walk away from my parents, and it’s the oldest in the country. I went down there and gave it a shot, and ever since my first session I’ve been pretty much glued to it.”
From there, Dylan “only” rode in his local track league until the age of 14 before he started to take on some road racing too and made his way into the British Cycling Academy set-up, where he has progressed and developed as a rider since then.
Although Dylan enjoys riding his bike for the sake of riding it, he is a competitive person at heart which helps fuel his desire to go out on the road, or much to the dismay of many, he even enjoys a turbo session too.
“I found something where I could be competitive and win, which fuelled me more. It gives me a purpose and a focus. I like the satisfaction you have after you work hard and give your everything; that feeling of being sore is rewarding in a way.”
Dylan had a tough period in 2022 where he suffered from illness and injury so looking ahead to the coming season he just wants to race after some good periods of training. Yet, he’s also looking to learn a lot more than just on-bike.
“I want to get the experience of travelling more, be with different people, and experience different cultures. Everyone in the team is different so I’m looking forward to that. I also want to learn a new language too!”
Talkative and laid-back, Dylan also brings a shy smile as he describes himself as “quite-relaxed”, “driven” and “likes-a-laugh”. All of those qualities shine through as he talks about his passion for the sport and his unwavering self-belief and confidence in the “trust the process” mantra which he adopts. Like many, he also tries to find the balance between being focused and professional, but also taking the time to take his foot off the gas when he can and not being highly-strung all the time.
Away from the sport you can find Dylan practicing his cooking skills and with his dad a trained chef, he has a penchant for some good food, although he laughably admits somethings after training they can be “more simple meals”. If not, you’ll find him socialising with friends or annoying his neighbours by playing the drums – or the slightly quieter piano.
