OF all the riders at National Track Cycling Championships over the next few days, Jenny Holl is going to be one of the busiest of the lot.
Not only is the 22-year-old due to be competing in a trio of able-bodied events at the event in Newport, which begins today, she is also lining up on the tandem, piloting her riding partner, Sophie Unwin, which makes for a busy few days.
It has been quite journey for Holl to this point.
Having been invited to join the lauded Manchester-based British Cycling Academy as a teenager in 2017, she had her sights set on making it to the very top of her sport.
However, after three years as part of the national set-up, the pursuit specialist reached a point whereby she either had to move up to the elite senior squad, or else leave the programme.
Having spent almost half her life dedicating herself to cycling, winning British titles as well as a silver medal at the European Games, it was, she admits, a confronting prospect to contemplate no longer being part of the GB set-up.
However, after narrowly missing out on the goals set for her to remain on the programme, an intriguing opportunity arose.
“I’d been in the academy for three years and I’d been set some targets at the nationals last January but didn’t quite meet them – it was tough but that’s how elite sport works,” she says.
“So I left the Academy, which was a strange feeling.
“It was mentioned to me, though, that if I was keen to try the tandem, they’d be happy to have me so when I left the Academy I thought yeah, let’s do it.”
Becoming a pilot is something a number of elite riders have done in the past, no less Olympic medallist and former teammate of Sir Chris Hoy, Craig MacLean, who went onto become Paralympic champion.
The opportunity for Holl to join the para-programme as a pilot arose at the start of 2021 and with the tight timescale, was told she had only a minuscule five to ten percent chance of making it to the Paralympic Games.
So, making it to Tokyo as a pilot may have seemed unlikely but regardless, Holl decided to grab the opportunity with both hands.
“There was only a tiny chance of making it to Tokyo but it was a small possibility so I thought why not? It was something really different and really exciting so I was really keen,” she says.
“It was also very good for me to have a new focus. I still loved the pursuit but I’d been doing it for a long time and I was stuck in a bit of a rut.
“The tandem feels a lot like the team pursuit – you’re working as a pair and you have to work so closely together which is what I grew up doing in the pursuit.”
Holl was paired with Unwin, who is visually impaired and was also a new recruit to the sport having come through their talent identification programme the previous year, with the improvement of the duo dramatic.
Having been selected for the 2021 Para-Cycling Road World Championships only days before the event, the pair went on to win gold, resulting in their selection for the Tokyo Paralympics.
It was, admits, Holl, quite a whirlwind but the Stirling rider and her English partner made the most of the opportunity, winning silver in the road race and bronze in the individual pursuit in Tokyo.
It was, admits Holl, not the year she’d expected but she has relished every minute of the new direction of her career, with the pair’s success ensuring Holl will continue as a pilot for the foreseeable future, as well as continuing riding able-bodied races, which is why her schedule at the weekend’s Nationals is quite so packed.
Holl also has her eyes set on this summer’s Commonwealth Games and getting some hands on silverware for Team Scotland, with potential riding partners being either Aileen McGlynn, the ultra-experienced rider who has seven Paralympic medals to her name or Libby Clegg, the former para-sprinter who has only recently switched to para-cycling but has been tipped for big things. And Holl admits making her Commonwealth Games debut in Birmingham is front and centre of her mind over the coming months.
“I’m definitely planning on doing some able-bodied racing this year and I’m also focusing on the big para races,” she says.
“It would be huge to be at the Commonwealth Games – I remember watching Gold Coast and thinking how much I’d love to be there so to have the chance to be in the team and wear Scotland kit would be incredible.”
Also in action will be a number of Scots who have their eyes on national titles.
Olympic champion Jack Carlin is one of the star names on the start list, with silver medallist from Tokyo, Neah Evans also riding.
Lusia Steele has established herself as Scotland’s strongest female sprinter while on the men’s side, John Archibald, Jonny Wale and Lewis Stewart are worth looking out for.
Others to watch are British Hour Record holder Dan Bigham and Commonwealth champion, Charlie Tanfield.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here