He wouldn’t have been the first name on most people’s lips this morning, but when you look at his palmarès, it’s obvious. A victory in the 2021 edition of Tro-Bro Léon, a testing one-day race in Brittany which sends riders over tricky off-road sections, sixth in the UCI Gravel World Championships last year and on the podium in the same event the year before. A former British National Gravel Champion and twice winner of UCI Gravel World Series races. Connor Swift is pretty handy when things go off-road.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider’s broad, tall stature and his reputation as a punchy rouleur means that events like Strade Bianche – a race which features over 4000 metres of elevation – shouldn’t particularly suit him. However, his performances on the technical white roads on Saturday proved that skill and bike-handling have a big part to play when it comes to success in Tuscany. Swift found his way into the main breakaway of the day, originally part of a wider team plan to work for his teammate and two-time Strade winner Michał Kwiatkowski. When it came down to it though, the 29-year-old had more in his legs than anyone might have expected.
Image: James Startt
“The plan was for me to be in front for Kwiato and then I found myself in that situation with Pogačar and Pidcock and those guys. It's crazy how fast they can ride, even just to descend. Then obviously Pogačar crashed but even before that just trying to stay on his wheel was tough. He is phenomenal. Obviously I made it hard for myself being in the breakaway from the start, but I’m proud of my performance,” an emotional Swift told the media at the finish line in Siena. He eventually secured a career-best 13th place, but the fight and determination he showed in the race says more about his character than the result itself.
“I've been feeling pretty strong at the minute. We're trying to win races, race aggressively, and I think we achieved that today,” he continued. “Obviously I was the backup option and then tried to be the support rider and found myself fighting for my own opportunity, which is nice. I'm a bit emotional.
Swift was directly behind Pidcock and Pogačar when the world champion crashed on a tarmac descent with 50 kilometres of the race remaining. He narrowly missed coming down himself but managed to brake in time, though the mishap meant he was distanced from Pidcock who forged on ahead. When Pogačar caught back up with Swift, the Brit was unable to follow the world champion's wheel and he didn't see the front of the race again. Could things have been different if the crash hadn’t happened?
“Probably not, no,” Swift smiles. “I was on my knees and then I was just going from group to group, just trying to hang on. I’m obviously quite a heavy rider compared to the other people so that didn't pay, especially with a course like this with 4200 m climbing. It is super tough, but obviously, I like a bit of gravel, so that keeps the motivation going. I just kept on digging in and people have punctures, people have crashes, you can always come from behind. You just never stop believing.”
Image: Alessandra Bucci
Compared to the other events that Swift has competed in Europe such as the World Championships and UCI Gravel World Series, he comments that Strade Bianche is an entirely unique and different challenge.
“It’s a tough old race, obviously one of the hardest, let's say ‘gravel races’ there is,” he confirmed. “It is totally different because obviously you're all going for one rider on your team with your teammates, rather than it being a solo effort like in other gravel races. It’s still super tough though on all of the sectors, when you are pushing a lot of watts the people behind you are pushing the exact same. There’s no real draft benefits so everybody’s in for a super hard day.”
While he didn’t end up competing for the podium, Swift secured a career-best result in Siena and won fans with his ambitious racing style, unafraid and unintimidated when Pidcock and Pogačar flew past him. His emotion at the finish line gave a sense of what this race means to him, and how tough it had been for all of the riders competing. It’s clear that the Ineos rider has found his niche in cycling, and knows where he excels. This, combined with his current impressive form, will only instil confidence in Swift as the season rolls on. He may not be leading Ineos to success on the tarmac this season, but there’s every chance he could fight for rainbow jerseys and gold medals if he dabbles in more gravel events later this year.
“I didn't start the day thinking that I'd be trying to race for the podium. I was starting the day just in the mentality of teamwork and a support role. When I found myself in that situation, I just thought I’d try and go as far as I can and then the result will be what the result will be,” Swift smiled after the race, his face stained with dust.
“Obviously today I came up short, but being out front all race with a guy like Pogačar, there’s not many times that happens to you. He’s just an animal and it’s so impressive to see how far he can go and how aggressive he actually is. The whole thing was just crazy, crazy.”
Cover image: James Startt
