When I was asked to write “a few paragraphs” on the Knights Women’s Racing Team’s year, the first thing I thought to myself was “how on earth am I going to fit this in to a couple of paragraphs?! Which then got me thinking, if I was to summarise what 2022 looked like for the team in one word, what would it be? After pondering this for some time, I think we can safely say, 2022 was the year that the team cemented their place within the domestic women’s cycling scene.
Kate Perry
High Performance Manager,
Knights Of Suburbia Racing
When Damien and David started this team in 2021, their vision was to create a platform from which women cyclists were supported within cycling, and had the opportunity to kickstart their cycling career. Sounds familiar right? Sure, many teams before us have tried this, but few have managed to get it right. And whilst I wouldn’t say we are there just yet, we have had some major successes this year. The first being our first pro tour contract with Georgie Howe, or ‘G’ as she is informally known within the team. G’s story is one that emulates this team’s vision. And before you say, how can you centre a team’s year around one rider, I am not. And very consciously I am not. It was the collective selfless effort of every single rider on this team that enabled Knights to go all in for G in a number of races in the season, placing her on the map domestically before she took herself overseas and pursued her quest to land a pro contract. It was through hard work, sacrifice, dedication and being opportunistic (from the whole team, and G) which aided in this. When G came to us, we knew she had an engine, an ex-rower transitioning across to cycling. Again, you have heard that story before. But where previous systems had failed, we pride ourselves on our culture within Knights, and providing all of our riders with the right environment to test themselves, to be held accountable but also to grow as an athlete and person. Which brings me to our next success story. Establishing a growth mindset.
Bookending the year we had some major success at ‘Nats’ (Australian Road Cycling Championships) back in January. Coming into Nats we certainly were not the favourites (why should we be?) but we were already on the radar of other teams, and we knew if we could get a sniff at success, there would be no stopping us. We managed three podiums in the ITT which ignited the fire within the team’s belly and then Keely carried this over to Sturt Street and the criterium on Friday night. Success breeds success and over the course of the weekend, the women were able to draw upon their strength to put themselves on the line for the biggest weekend of the racing year. The Road Race on Sunday morning was where G launched herself (literally up the road as well as figuratively claiming the rocket emoji in our group chat) and came so close to that elusive National title. But arguably it was missing out on the podium which gave G that killer instinct which we have all come to know and love, and equally, respect.
The team then carried on their successes in the National Road Series, reflected in Keely taking out the U23 National Road Series title. Every race we lined up for, we were a united front, with no one rider bigger than the team plan. Where we really saw this come together was in Bright in the recent Tour of Bright. For Knights, it was a transitional tour for us. Drawing the year to a close and launching us into 2023. We said goodbye to some of our departing riders, and welcomed some of our new riders into the team. What stood out for me the most here though was what I saw off the bike. The term ‘culture’ gets thrown around in sport a lot these days, and it is a topic in which I am well familiar with in my professional practice of high performance sport and coach development, but when I think of Knights Racing, I think of team first, racing second. Yes the races are the results on the board, but the culture is the glue that holds the team together. From a rider-initiated Kris Kringle, to everyone turning up at presentations and supporting their fellow teammates, there was not a single moment over the course of the weekend where one rider was bigger than the team. There was laughter, tears and many emotions in between. Oh and the bike race? We came away with two stages and the GC. But I bet my bottom dollar, if you ask any one of our riders what they remember about Bright, the race results would not be what they mention first.So as we look to 2023, we are excited to welcome in some new riders to the team, to build on what we have cemented in 2022, and lead the way in women’s domestic cycling. Our mission is to raise the standard of professionalism in the sport, whilst having fun in the process. To continue to provide opportunity for women to discover themselves as a bike rider, but to also create and foster the growth mindset for them to achieve their goals. How will we do this? We will continue with our athlete-centred approach, in a learning environment which provides a positive culture, and holds everyone to account. We have managed to continue to weather the storm in the domestic cycling for now, which means we won’t be holding back in 2023. Next stop, Nats!
Follow the team as they make an impact in the National Road Series 2023 Season.