Ben Swift

Last updated

Ben Swift
GI220072 swift (52123220271).jpg
Swift at the 2022 Giro d'Italia
Personal information
Full nameBenjamin Ian Swift
NicknameSwifty
Born (1987-11-05) 5 November 1987 (age 36)
Rotherham, England, United Kingdom
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight69 kg (152 lb; 10.9 st)
Team information
Current team Ineos Grenadiers
Disciplines
  • Road
  • Track
RoleRider
Rider type Sprinter, Domestique
Amateur teams
1999–?Ashfield RC
?Mossley CRT
?Scunthorpe Poly CC
?–2000Kinesis
2007–2008 Recycling.co.uk
Autumn 2007100% Me
2007 Barloworld (stagiaire)
Professional teams
2009 Team Katusha
2010–2016 Team Sky
2017–2018 UAE Abu Dhabi
2019– Team Sky [1] [2]
Major wins
Road

One-day races and Classics

National Road Race Championships (2019, 2021)
Track
Scratch, World Championships (2012)
Medal record
Men's track cycling
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2012 Melbourne Scratch
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2010 Ballerup Team pursuit
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2012 Melbourne Points race
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2012 Melbourne Madison

Benjamin Ian Swift (born 5 November 1987) is a British professional track and road racing cyclist, [3] who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers. [4] Swift won the scratch race at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and the men's elite road race at the 2019 and 2021 British National Road Race Championships. [5] [6] His cousin, Connor Swift, is also an English professional road racing cyclist, and the 2018 British champion.

Contents

Biography

Swift was born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, he began cycling with Mossley Cycle Racing Team aged 12. In 2003, he came second to fellow Olympian Steven Burke in the under 16 national scratch race championship. As a junior rider, Swift competed at the Junior Commonwealth Games, taking bronze in the points race, he won two national titles, the junior points race championship in 2004 followed by the junior scratch race in 2005. He also competed in the senior scratch race in 2005, demonstrating his ability by finishing third to take the bronze medal. Swift began competing internationally, winning several madison events. In 2012 he won the World Championship Men's Scratch Race, becoming Great Britain's first ever World Scratch Champion.

Professional career

He made his professional road debut in August 2007 joining Barloworld as a trainee during which time he won the King of the Mountains title in the Tour of Britain.

During 2008 he raced for the British Cycling development team and won his first UCI ranked race. He represented Great Britain in the 2008 Olympic Games road race and at the UCI Road World Championships where he finished fourth in the under 23 race.

Katusha

After the championships he signed a two-year professional contract with the new Russian Team Katusha. [7]

In 2009 he was selected to ride the Giro d'Italia, taking a third-place finish in stage 2. He took his first professional win on the seventh stage of the Tour of Britain, leading Katusha teammate Filippo Pozzato in a one-two finish. [8] Swift spoke with Cyclingnews.com in 2009, describing himself as "an allrounder, who can do well in the Classics and win stages. 'My weakness is in the time trial. I don't like doing them and I'm not really that good at them.'" [9]

Team Sky

Swift joined the newly formed British-based Team Sky in January 2010. His transfer to Sky from Team Katusha part way through his contract was instrumental in the Union Cycliste Internationale considering new regulations for the transfer of riders between teams. [10] During his first season with Sky Swift's most significant result came at the Tour de Picardie, at which he won one stage, the general classification, the points classification and best young rider.

Swift (leading) at the 2011 Tour de Romandie, where he won the fifth stage. 2011 TOR Sprint.jpg
Swift (leading) at the 2011 Tour de Romandie, where he won the fifth stage.

2011 saw Swift win his first stage of a UCI World Tour race, winning stage two of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide. Four days later he also won stage six. Swift won Stage 2 of the Tour of California, and took the lead of the race, after Stage 1 was cancelled due to adverse weather. [11] Swift was selected for the Tour de France ahead of Greg Henderson, [12] and finished 6th on Stage 15. [13]

In 2012 Swift focused on track cycling with a view to representing Great Britain in the 2012 Olympic Games. On 4 April, Swift won the Scratch Race at the World Championships to take the rainbow jersey. He finished second in the points race, and joined forces with Geraint Thomas to take silver in the madison.

Swift was scheduled to ride the Giro d'Italia, but was forced to withdraw after suffering a broken shoulder in a crash during a training ride the week before. [14] Although he failed to gain selection from the long list for the British Olympic team, he was picked for the Team Sky squad for the Tour de Pologne, winning the second and fifth stages, as well as wearing that Tour's red-and-white points classification jersey [15] Swift was selected as Sky's sprinter at the 2012 Vuelta a España, and finished second on Stage 18.

In March 2014, Swift achieved one of his biggest results to date by finishing third in Milan–San Remo. [16] In April 2015, Swift crashed out of the newly created Tour de Yorkshire, injuring his shoulder. [17]

Wearing the national champion's jersey in 2019 2019 ToB winner best British rider Ben Swift.JPG
Wearing the national champion's jersey in 2019

On 19 March 2016, Swift finished second in Milan–San Remo, being narrowly outsprinted by Arnaud Démare (FDJ). [18]

UAE Abu Dhabi

After seven seasons with Sky, in September 2016 Swift announced that he would join UAE Abu Dhabi on a two-year deal from 2017 in order to seek more opportunities to ride for himself. [19]

Return to Team Sky

In October 2018, Swift rejoined Team Sky for the 2019 season. [20] In June 2019, Swift won the British National Road Race Championships in Norwich, beating team leader Ian Stannard. [21] [22] In September 2019, Swift signed a new contract to remain with Team Ineos until the end of the 2021 season. Swift said he had 'found a renewed enthusiasm and motivation for the sport'. [23] As of July 2023 he was still part of the Ineos Grenadiers’ squad. [24]

Major results

Road

2007
Giro delle Regioni
1st Jersey polkadot.svg Mountains classification
1st Stage 4
1st Jersey red.svg Mountains classification, Tour of Britain
3rd Milan–Busseto
4th Gran Premio della Liberazione
5th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Championships
7th La Côte Picarde
2008
1st Coppa della Pace
1st GP Coppa Romita
1st Stage 5 Giro della Valle d'Aosta Mont Blanc
4th Road race, UCI World Under-23 Championships
4th Road race, UEC European Under-23 Championships
6th Gran Premio Industrie del Marmo
10th Gran Premio della Liberazione
2009
1st Stage 7 Tour of Britain
2nd Nokere Koerse
8th Gran Premio di Lugano
10th Gran Premio dell'Insubria-Lugano
2010
1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Picardie
1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
1st Jersey white.svg Young rider classification
1st Stage 2
2011
1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Castilla y León
1st Stage 5 Tour de Romandie
1st Stage 2 Tour of California
3rd Overall Tour Down Under
1st Stages 2 & 6
2012
Tour de Pologne
1st Jersey white.svg Points classification
1st Stages 2 & 5
4th Road race, National Championships
2013
3rd Time trial, National Championships
3rd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca
5th Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
10th Trofeo Campos–Santanyí–Ses Salines
10th RideLondon–Surrey Classic
2014
Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
1st Jersey white.svg Points classification
1st Stages 1a & 1b (TTT)
1st Stage 5 Tour of the Basque Country
2nd Road race, National Championships
2nd RideLondon–Surrey Classic
2nd Trofeo Ses Salines
3rd Trofeo Muro–Port d'Alcúdia
3rd Milan–San Remo
8th Nokere Koerse
2015
2nd Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali
1st Jersey white.svg Points classification
1st Stage 2
3rd Trofeo Playa de Palma
3rd RideLondon–Surrey Classic
7th Trofeo Santanyi–Ses Salines–Campos
9th International Road Cycling Challenge
9th Japan Cup
2016
1st Jersey blue.svg Points classification, Vuelta a Andalucía
2nd Milan–San Remo
7th Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
7th Gran Piemonte
8th Overall Tour of Britain
8th Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race
2017
5th Road race, UCI World Championships
5th Road race, National Championships
10th Eschborn–Frankfurt
2019
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Road race, National Championships
2020
8th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
10th Milano–Torino
2021
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Road race, National Championships (Lincoln GP)
3rd Grand Prix de Denain
2022
8th Milano–Torino

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Jersey pink.svg Giro d'Italia 127 ———— 113 ————— 18 — 66 61
Jersey yellow.svg Tour de France —— 135 ————— 83 —————
Jersey gold.svg/Jersey red.svg Vuelta a España — DNF — 121 ——————————
Legend
—Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
IPRace in Progress

Track

2004
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Points race, National Junior Championships
2005
National Junior Championships
1st MaillotReinoUnido.PNG Scratch
3rd Individual pursuit
1st Dortmund, UIV Talent Cup (with Geraint Thomas)
National Championships
2nd Madison (with Matt Rowe)
3rd Scratch
2006
2nd Team pursuit, National Championships
2007
1st UEC Champion Jersey.svg Team pursuit, UEC European Under-23 Championships
2nd Points race, National Championships
3rd Team pursuit, UCI World Cup Classics, Manchester
2009
3rd Individual pursuit, National Championships
2010
2nd Silver medal uci.svg Team pursuit, UCI World Championships
2012
UCI World Championships
1st Rainbow Jersey Track.svg Scratch
2nd Silver medal uci.svg Points race
2nd Silver medal uci.svg Madison (with Geraint Thomas)

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References

  1. ↑ "Team Sky". Cyclingnews.com . Immediate Media Company. Archived from the original on 5 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Team Ineos". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2020. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  3. ↑ "British Cycling Biography". British cycling. Archived from the original on 17 July 2007.
  4. ↑ "Ineos Grenadiers". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
  5. ↑ "HSBC UK │National Road Race Championships 2019". British Cycling. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  6. ↑ "Ben Swift and Pfeiffer Georgi win national road race titles". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
  7. ↑ Stephen Farrand (26 September 2008). "Swift Impresses in his Final Amateur Race at World Championships". Cycling Weekly. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2008.
  8. ↑ McManus, Gerry (18 September 2009). "Swift's sweet victory in Somerset". cyclingnews.com . Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  9. ↑ Susan Westemeyer (21 April 2009). "A Swift start to his career". CyclingNews.
  10. ↑ Shane Stokes (4 January 2010). "Swift set to move to Team Sky". CyclingNews.
  11. ↑ "Swift wins delayed start to Tour of California". Reuters. 17 May 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  12. ↑ Nigel Wynn (23 June 2011). "Sky's Tour de France squad announced: Swift selected | Latest News". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  13. ↑ Simon MacMichael (17 July 2011). "Tour de France Stage 15 reaction: Cav says green jersey not won yet, Swift feeling better as race goes on | road.cc | Road cycling news, Bike reviews, Commuting, Leisure riding, Sportives and more". road.cc. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  14. ↑ Cycling (4 May 2012). "Giro d'Italia 2012: Ben Swift's training injury disrupts Team Sky's preparations but their focus remains". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  15. ↑ Cycling Weekly (11 July 2012). "Ben Swift wins second stage of Tour of Poland" . Retrieved 11 July 2012.
  16. ↑ "Milan-San Remo Results". Cycling News. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013.
  17. ↑ Peter Cossins (1 May 2015). "Tour de Yorkshire favourite Swift crashes out". Cyclingnews.com . Future plc . Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  18. ↑ "Ben Swift on Milan-San Remo: 'Second is the worst place'". 19 March 2016.
  19. ↑ "Swift leaves Team Sky for two-year deal with Project TJ Sport". cyclingnews.com . 26 September 2016. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  20. ↑ Windsor, Richard (22 October 2018). "Ben Swift returns to Team Sky for 2019 season" . Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  21. ↑ "National Road Championships 2019: Ben Swift and Alice Barnes win maiden British titles". bbc.co.uk. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  22. ↑ Cary, Tom (30 June 2019). "Ben Swift bounces back from ruptured spleen to win National Road Championships, while Alice Barnes takes women's title". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  23. ↑ "Ben Swift signs contract to stay with Team Ineos to end of 2021". bbc.co.uk. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  24. ↑ "Ben Swift". ineosgrenadiers.com. 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
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