In 1996, the British Cycling team’s performance was so poor that bike manufactures
refused to sell bikes to them for fear it would hurt their reputation and sales.
By 2013, the British Cycling team had transformed itself to become the number one cycling team in the world.
Let’s find out how they achieved this feat by first looking at…
In 1996, professional British Cycling was undergoing a crisis.
It had managed to win only one gold medal across its 76 year-long run and its performance in the Tour De France – the sport’s flagship event – left a lot to be desired.
In fact, the situation was so bad that the team’s governing board – The British Cycling Federation – was facing insolvency.
The situation was dire. Clearly, something had to change.
So, what did they do? In 2001, the British Cycling Federation made a decision that completely transformed its approach…
They got Sir David Brailsford to coach the British Cycling team.
Sir David transformed the cycling team from a team of average, under-achievers into one of the best cycling teams in the world. Under his guidance, Britain’s cyclists won 105 World Championship medals – 50 of which were gold, 30 Olympic medals and 49 medals at the Paralympics.
After this monumental achievement, Sir David formed a new team called Team Sky, and got into the lucrative world of professional road cycling where he led the cyclists to win the prestigious Tour de France, multiple times over the years.
Now, it’s evident that Sir David’s coaching is the foundation of the British cycling team’s radical transformation. But his revolutionary coaching approach is not something that is only referred to by sports coaches; it is also a subject of business strategy, corporate research, books, articles, and even a documentary!
But professional sports coaches have existed for a while, so… what sets Sir David apart from the rest? What did he do differently? Take the next lesson to find out.
Please click on the Mark Complete button to proceed to the next lesson.
Happy Learning!