Christmas Eve 2018, and Niall Quiggin is on his inaugural ride with a group known as ‘the Posse’. It’s the kind of training session happening all across the UK as cyclists burn a few festive calories before the big day. Only this ride is different.
Sitting among the group of amateurs is the greatest sprinter of all time: a man who just six years later would win his 35th stage of the Tour de France, beating the record Eddy Merckx had held for almost 50 years. Mark Cavendish was raised on the Isle of Man and still returns frequently – it’s not unusual to spot him out training here. And he’s often happy to share his expertise.
Cavendish may have retired but the talent keeps coming
Matt Swaine
He’s an advocate for the island and has joined Cycling Weekly because he wants more cyclists to see what this place has to offer. We meet him in late June, just weeks before he heads to Orkney to help secure team gold in the Island Games, a biannual event that attracts competitors from places as far-flung as the Falklands, Bermuda and St Helena.
He often trains with the very best Manx riders. “With a population of just under 85,000 people, we must have the highest per capita number of professional riders in the world,” says Quiggin as we pedal away from the Bee Gees statue in Douglas, the island’s capital (the Gibb brothers were born here before the family migrated to Australia).
I’m not here to learn about Manx music, but to discover how the island – a self-governing Crown Dependency that is only 33 miles long by 13 miles wide – produces so many world-class cyclists. In doing so, I also want to find out if it’s worth a visit for those of us hoping the magic might brush off. Cav may have retired but the talent keeps coming: among the current crop, there’s former national time trial champion Lizzie Holden, UCI WorldTour riders Becky Storrie and Max Walker, and Tekkerz CC’s Matt Bostock.
(Image credit: Future / Richard Butcher)
Wild and wonderful It’s early morning as we pedal along the promenade and take on the first incline, avoiding the tracks for the horse-drawn trams that will be heaving with tourists later today. We are sightseeing too, on the lookout for golden postal and telephone boxes in nearby Onchan, painted to celebrate local rider Peter Kennaugh’s Olympic gold in London 2012.
They were briefly repainted red in 2022, until locals campaigned for them to stay gold for the foreseeable future. It’s the motorcycling TT races that most people associate with the island and which have clearly led to investment in the road surface. It feels like a magic carpet ride in comparison to the potholed routes I’m used to riding in England.
“The road quality is really good here,” agrees Quiggin as we head north along the coast. “It’s super grippy which is great for training, but if you ride regularly on the Isle of Man you have to learn to deal with the hills and the wind .”
(Image credit: Future / Richard Butcher)
The island’s often wild weather played a part in forming the skills of its greatest rider, reckons Quiggin. “When you watch Cav in a sprint, you can see how much thought goes into his positioning. He’s always reading the wind, making sure he’s sheltered until the last moment .”
If you can beat the Isle of Man’s squalls, you can beat anyone. “It’s not just about raw speed or power,” adds Quiggin. “He knows how to use the elements to his advantage .” I tuck low as we drop into Laxey, the village where Cavendish’s mum lives, and then stand on the pedals to savour the steady gradient of the Ramsey Road, with views that open up across the rugged coastline beyond.
This island is packed with the kind of scenery that lures you out of the door and gets you exploring one headland after another. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for curlews and hen harriers.
(Image credit: Future / Richard Butcher)
There’s even a population of about 1,000 red-necked wallabies hiding in the woods-still on the run after they escaped from the island’s Curraghs Wildlife Park in the 1960s. Quiggin leans into corners, displaying his local knowledge on the long descent into Ramsey. He wants to introduce us to Andrew Roche, a 53-year-old cycling coach and former pro who competed in seven Commonwealth Games.
Inside Roche’s shop the walls are decorated with jerseys worn by big-name Manx riders as well as his own Commonwealth top, signed by Cav, who was his team-mate in 2006 and 2010. “When I turned professional in 1996, there were just 10 registered pros in the whole of the UK and I was the only one on the island,” says Roche.
“That was in [Chris] Boardman’s era, but in our heyday we had 10 professional riders on the island alone .” The opportunity to represent the Isle of Man in both the Commonwealth and the Island Games gives young riders something to aim for, explains Roche, who plays down his own achievements.
“The roads are quiet, the scenery is brilliant and you often bump into top riders as you cycle around the island .”
Andrew Roche
“When you live on the same island as the record holder for Tour de France stage wins, it feels a little inconsequential,” he says. “Cav still says that it’s one of the best places to ride: the roads are quiet, the scenery is brilliant and you often bump into top riders as you cycle around the island .”
Sure enough, on the road to the village of Bride we pause to talk to Sam Brand, who races for ProTeam Novo Nordisk, all of whose riders have type-one diabetes. Having raced in two Commonwealth Games, he explains that he wants to demonstrate that diabetes need not define or limit anyone. As we are about to wave him off, ‘the Posse’ come tearing past in a tight group, all tucked low. Minutes later, a peloton known as the ‘Scone Run’ – a group of older, gnarlier riders- hurtles past in the opposite direction.
Friendly community A coffee stop by the motor museum is swiftly followed by a pinch flat that refuses to reinflate, so we limp to the Sulby Hotel where a group of riders lend us a pump. One even gives us directions to his house and the location of a track pump in his back garden, should we need it.
This could be the friendliest community of cyclists I’ve ever met. We need good tyre pressure for the climb ahead. Chris Boardman set the record for the Snaefell Mountain Course in 1993, with a time of just under one hour and 24 minutes for the 37.7-mile route. That record held for 22 years before Kennaugh beat it by six seconds in 2015.
(Image credit: Future /. Richard Butcher)
But we’ve been advised to avoid that road. There are no speed limits on the Isle of Man and a fleet of Maserati sports cars getting off the ferry this morning will be hoping to hit maximum velocity as they crest the summit. We don’t want to be sharing the roads with them on a grinding ascent in poor visibility. Instead we ride through Tholt-y-Will glen, on a narrow road that follows a tumbling mountain stream and leads to a quieter 450m climb of Snaefell. It may be small but the island is packed with hidden glens, forests, wild coastal roads and sections of gravel for more adventurous days out.
With a deadline to return our borrowed bikes, we have just enough time for the initial steep switchback before retracing our steps to the eastern coast of the island. With the rain hammering down, there is one final sprint on the rollercoaster stretch of road overlooking Peel, before we say goodbye to Quiggin at the Tynwald Hill in St Johns.
This structure was established by Norse settlers and is the site of the oldest working parliament in the world. The earliest Viking raids were in 798 AD and you can find traces of Norse culture dotted around the island from nearby Peel castle built in the 11th century, to the Balladoole burial mound near its southern tip. Maybe some of that DNA is still swilling around the island and responsible for its good cycling genes.
SIr Mark Cavendish meets some of his fans at the re-opening of the sports complex named after him
(Image credit: Future)
The making of Cav The Isle of Man’s prodigious cycling talent is certainly starting to make sense: there’s the weather, the ascents, the opportunity to represent the island in international competition and the fact that young riders – and visitors like me can easily find themselves in the company of established pros.
But there’s one factor that outweighs all of this and can be found at the National Sports Centre (NSC) in Douglas, the perfect end to any tour. It’s here that a nine-year-old Mark Cavendish started his career under the guidance of Dot Tilbury. “I remember Mark turning up for the first time,” says Tilbury, carrying a heavy scrapbook of news cuttings from the hundreds of cyclists she has mentored.
Among them is a treasured image with a young Cavendish: “I’d say to him, ‘what are you going to do today?’ and he would say ‘I am going to win’,” she says, beaming with pride.
Dot Tilbury is another legend of the Manx cycling scene
(Image credit: Future / Richard Butcher)
On Tuesday night each week, some 300 kids descend on the NSC for Tilbury’s training sessions. How anyone controls that number of young people is beyond me, but Tilbury, who is in her 70s, has an energy and drive that is quite astonishing.
For the last 20 years she has been the key to developing local talent but she is keen to shine the light elsewhere. “When Mark won the World Championships [in 2011], we signed up 572 kids,” explains Tilbury. “His impact is huge. He loves the Isle of Man. He loves coming back here .”
And he’s back this week, at the very racetrack where he started his career, which is being renamed in his honour. Hundreds of young riders have gathered at the Sir Mark Cavendish Raceway to watch him set the ‘record’ for a lap that they can measure themselves against.
(Image credit: Future / Richard Butcher)
There are kids on balance bikes and mountain bikes, oversized racers and top-end machines. It is Tilbury’s ‘wide funnel’ approach that ensures the Isle of Man will be producing great talent for years to come. After the speeches, Cavendish is swallowed up in a scrum of young cyclists all clamouring for his autograph.
He’s in his element, taking time to talk to everyone, signing anything thrust under his nose and telling kids to “dream big”. Tilbury’s latest prodigies look like professional riders in waiting, and in an impromptu team sprint around a hotel car park, it’s all I can do to keep them in sight. What impresses me most is their attitude, the etiquette and respect that Tilbury has instilled in them.
Until next time On the ferry the following day, I watch the island slip over the horizon in the company of cyclists Geoff and Lisa. “We ride here most years,” says Lisa. “We got a late ferry here on Friday evening, rode into the night and bivvied out. There’s so much to keep coming back for .”
We share notes and they urge me to come back to explore the south of the island, which they describe as wilder and even more beautiful. Who knows, I might sign up for a Manx race in the hope that I find myself in the company of Cav and a host of other pros. More likely, though, I’ll return with a gravel bike, bivvy and pair of binoculars to discover the island’s wildlife and more adventurous terrain.
KEY INFORMATION
(Image credit: Future / Richard Butcher)
How to get there There are flights to the Isle of Man from locations across the UK but the best way to arrive on the island is via ferries that run from Liverpool, Heysham, Dublin and Belfast. You can take your bike, and you can book at steam-packet.com.
When to go: The weather is best from May to September, but avoid the last week of May and the first week of June when the TT Races dominate the island.
Where to stay: We stayed at the Comis Hotel about 6km out of Douglas (from £99 per night, comishotel.com). The Devonian in Douglas is well priced, has secure bike storage and is close to the ferry (thedevonian.co.uk).
Events and routes: The Gran Fondo takes place on the island in July. This 137km route on closed roads attracts local celebs like Tyler Hannay and Ruby Oakes (granfondoisleofman.com). There are also shorter 72km and 32km routes available. You can find a host of road and MTB events at cycling.im. Riding a full loop of the island, you’ll cover 100-150km. Snaefell and Cronk ny Arrey Laa are essential highlights for climbing connoisseurs. And there’s a host of gravel routes right across the island.
Bike hire: We hired bikes from Cycle 360 (cycle360.com), which has a range of road, gravel and mountain bikes, as well as a cafe serving excellent coffee. It is owned by competitive cyclist Mark Horsthuis. He recommends bringing wet weather gear-and we would agree!.
