Marching Oliphant begins ninth Tour of Britain campaign
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
EVAN Oliphant has made history becoming the first British cyclist to compete in the Tour of Britain for the ninth time this weekend.
The fact he is even competing at all this year is an achievement on its own after a collapsed lung almost ended the former Wick High pupil’s career 12 months ago.
After battling with a chest infection during the 2014 Commonwealth Games which became progressively worse, the 33-year-old was unable to compete for five months after becoming seriously ill. Somehow he has powered back to become one of the leading contenders in the British Cycling Elite Road Series (BCERS) which has taken place at eight locations during the summer.
Despite only recently returning to full fitness, he feels in fine fettle as he prepares for the biggest race in British cycling.
"I developed the chest infection during the Commonwealth Games and took a planned month off to recover from the event," he said.
"As soon as I started riding again, I suffered from a collapsed lung which meant that between the end of August and the start of February I wasn’t able to train at all.
"I have only just got back to form within the last month and have been competing in every race this summer, despite missing out on winter training.
"It might benefit me for the Tour of Britain being out with illness at the start of the year as I appear to be coming good at the right time."
That the Team Raleigh GAC cyclist is getting back to his best has been shown by him featuring among the top riders on this year’s circuit.
He won the BCERS in 2013 and has also been the Scottish National road race champion four times. He has also represented Scotland at three Commonwealth Games, including at Glasgow 2014 when he competed in the 20km points race, 40km points race and the road race events.
Oliphant first took up cycling while living in Wick, competing in grass track cycling events at Highland Games across the north of Scotland, while his father Lewis, a well known Highland Games athlete, competed in caber tossing and shot put events.
But it wasn’t until he left Caithness to attend university in Edinburgh that his talent on two wheels was noticed nationally.
"While at university I got to compete at the velodrome in Edinburgh and it was there I got noticed," he said.
"When you are competing in races throughout the UK, all the teams are watching.
"You don’t necessarily have to win a race, but teams will look to see if you can do a particular job."
British Cycling has exploded in terms of talent and popularity over the last decade, particularly with Olympic success in the velodrome and most recently Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome winning the Tour de France, with Britain claiming victory in three of the last four of the world’s most famous race.
Oliphant said due to the success of indoor and outdoor British cycling, the Tour of Britain has changed out of all recognition in the last decade with it regularly attracting a world-class field.
"The standard of competition and its reputation as a race has moved up several levels from when I first competed in 2004," he said.
"The year after Wiggins won Tour de France, there were more fans standing at the sidelines watching the Tour of Britain – it was completely different to what it was before.
"There have always been good teams taking part in the race, but when I first raced I was competing for the Scottish national team. But now there are international cycling teams with tour champions taking part in the race – everything has just moved up a different level."
The Tour of Britain started on Sunday, September 6 with a ride between Beaumaris in Anglesey to Wrexham. Oliphant will be looking forward to the fourth stage between Edinburgh and Blyth when he will be racing past his home in Tranent in West Lothian.
His biggest accomplishments in the Tour have been finishing second during a stage in 2005 and being the highest placed British rider in 2007.
He said this year, being able to earn a top three finish on the stage where he lives would be a good result and he is confident he can put in a decent performance for his team.
"I am targeting a podium finish during one of the stages," he said.
"Ideally I would like to end up on the podium during the stage that goes through Edinburgh.
"I won’t be going for the overall title as there are too many riders that will be competing who have been in good form all year.
"But I will look to pick a couple of stages which will suit me and try to figure out which will be best for me to get away from the pack and get a result."
