Adam Michael Blythe (born 1 October 1989) is an English former professional

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2010 and 2019 for the , , , , and teams. Blythe began racing at a young age and went on to become a member of

British Cycling British Cycling (formerly the British Cycling Federation) is the main national governing body for cycle sport in Great Britain. It administers most competitive cycling in Great Britain, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It represents Bri ...

's Olympic Development Programme.

Amateur career

Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, Blythe began cycling at a young age with the Sheffield Phoenix club. Cycling was a family activity, his sister Kimberley Blythe was also fairly successful as a young rider. Blythe became Derbyshire's Junior Sportsman of the Year in the East Midlands Sports Personality of the Year Awards, 2005. Blythe left British Cycling's Academy Programme by mutual consent in February 2008, and went to race in Belgium. He stayed with the ex-professional cyclist, Tim Harris, in Westmeerbeek, near

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. Blythe was awarded a

Cycling Time Trials Cycling Time Trials is the bicycle racing organisation which supervises individual and team time trials in England and Wales. It was formed out of predecessor body the Road Time Trials Council (RTTC) in 2002. Time trialling A time trial test ...

scholarship to enable him to race on the continent and develop further. He raced for the Wielerclub Des Sprinters Malderen which is a feeder club for a professional team. He also received support from the Dave Rayner Fund during his time in Belgium.

Professional career

Blythe returned to Belgium to ride for the DAVO squad in 2009, under the tutelage of

Kurt Van De Wouwer Kurt Van De Wouwer (born 24 September 1971 in Herentals) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer who raced between 1993 and 2006. He now works as a directeur sportif for UCI Women's Continental Team . Major results ;1988 : 1st ...

, a former professional. He had joined pro-tour team as a trainee in July 2009, it was announced on 7 September 2009 that he had signed a two-year contract with Silence-Lotto in the wake of a string of good results for the team. In 2012, Blythe followed his teammate and close friend

Philippe Gilbert Philippe Gilbert (born 5 July 1982) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two riders, along with Davide Rebellin, to have won the three ...

to the . In October 2012, Blythe sprinted his way to victory in the semi-classic Binche–Tournai–Binche, popping out of his teammate's wheel on a cobbled sector with to go, edging

Adrien Petit Adrien Petit (born 26 September 1990 in Arras) is a French racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . In September 2015 announced that Petit would join them for the 2016 season, after five years with . Major results ;2008 : 3rd Ch ...

() and

John Degenkolb John Degenkolb (born 7 January 1989) is a German professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His biggest wins to date are the 2015 Milan–San Remo and the 2015 Paris–Roubaix, two of cycling's five monuments. He i ...

of . In 2014, Blythe rode for the newly formed British team. After a very successful year competing on the British domestic scene, Blythe joined Australian team for the 2015 season. After one season there in August 2015 it was announced that Blythe would be moving to for the 2016 season, where he would be reunited with directeur sportif

Sean Yates Sean Yates (born 18 May 1960) is an English former professional cyclist and directeur sportif. Career Yates competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, finishing sixth in the 4,000m individual pursuit. As an amateur in 1980, he won the British 25-mi ...

, who worked with Blythe during his time with NFTO. With folding at the end of 2016, Blythe joined the squad for its inaugural season in 2017. Following the announcement of 's collapse, in September 2018 Blythe announced that he would return to for the 2019 season, linking up with former teammate

Caleb Ewan Caleb Ewan (born 11 July 1994) is an Australian road and track bicycle racer who rides for UCI WorldTeam . A sprinter, Ewan has a style similar to that of Mark Cavendish, taking an extremely low position that offers him an aerodynamic advantage ...

as part of the latter's

sprint train A sprint train is a group of road bicycle racers who at the end of a race work together to set a high pace to keep their sprinter at the front of the race, discourage late attacks, and allow the sprinter to launch his or her sprint as late as ...

, with an additional role as a

domestique In road bicycle racing, a domestique is a rider who works for the benefit of their team and leader, rather than trying to win the race. In French, ''domestique'' translates as "servant".However, in French, the term used is ''équipier''. In Ita ...

for the team's classics squad. In October 2019, Blythe announced that he would retire at the end of the season.

Post-racing career

Blythe is a

pundit A pundit is a person who offers mass media opinion or commentary on a particular subject area (most typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport). Origins The term originates from the Sanskrit term ('' '' ), meaning "knowledg ...

for

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

's coverage of cycling, having worked part-time in this role on the channel's coverage of the

Grand Tours In road bicycle racing, a Grand Tour is one of the three major European professional cycling stage races: Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a España. Collectively they are termed the ''Grand Tours'', and all three races are similar in ...

during his final professional season in 2019. He was also "on-site" reporter for

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

' coverage of the

2020 Tour de France The 2020 Tour de France was the 107th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. Originally scheduled to start on 27 June 2020, it was postponed until 29 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in F ...

, and fulfilled that role again in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

. In November 2019, Blythe announced that he was taking up a role with

David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...

's cycling clothing brand CHPT3 as a product marketing executive.

Personal life

He currently lives in

Bollington Bollington is a town and civil parish in Cheshire, England, to the east of Prestbury. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield and the ancient parish of Prestbury. In 2011, it had a population of 8,310. B ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Major results

Road

;2006 : 3rd National Criterium Championships ;2007 : 1st

Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne is an annual single-day road cycling race in Belgium. It is held one day after Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, on the last Sunday of February or the first of March, and completes the opening weekend of the Belgian cycling season. ...

Juniores : 1st Overall Driedaagse van Axel ::1st Sprints classification ::1st Points classification ::1st Combination classification ::1st Stages 1 & 4 : 6th

Paris–Roubaix Juniors Paris–Roubaix Juniors (or Le Pavé de Roubaix) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in northern France for junior cyclists (aged 17 and 18) ahead of the senior Paris–Roubaix classic race. It is organised by the Vélo-Club d ...

;2008 : Tour of Hong Kong Shanghai ::1st Stages 2 & 3b ;2009 : 1st Circuit du Port de Dunkerque : 1st Stage 7

Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23 Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23 was a bicycle road race held annually in the German state of Thuringia. It was a stage race reserved to athletes under the age of 23. Since 2005, it was organized as a 2.2U event on the UCI Europe Tour. After the 201 ...

: 2nd

Grote 1-MeiPrijs The Grote 1-MeiPrijs (also named Ereprijs Victor De Bruyne) was a European single-day cycle race held in the Belgian region of Flanders, around Hoboken. From 2005, the race was organized as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental C ...

: 5th

Antwerpse Havenpijl The Antwerpse Havenpijl is a European bicycle race held in Merksem, Belgium. Since 2006, the race has been organised as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were i ...

;2010 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

Circuit Franco-Belge Circuit may refer to: Science and technology Electrical engineering * Electrical circuit, a complete electrical network with a closed-loop giving a return path for current ** Analog circuit, uses continuous signal levels ** Balanced circu ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification ::1st Stages 1 & 3 : 1st

Nationale Sluitingsprijs Nationale Sluitingprijs is a semi classic European bicycle race held annually in Putte (Kapellen), Belgium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing ...

: 3rd

Omloop van het Houtland Omloop van het Houtland ("Circuit of Houtland") is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Lichtervelde in the region of West Flanders, Belgium. Since 2007, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2002 it was held ...

: 4th

Grand Prix de Fourmies The Grand Prix de Fourmies is a bicycle race held in the Fourmies commune of France. Since 2005 it has been organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which we ...

: 4th

Schaal Sels Schaal Sels is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in September in Merksem, Belgium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions whi ...

;2011 : 2nd Houtem–Vilvoorde : 3rd

Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem Egmont Cycling Race is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in August in Zottegem, Belgium. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competiti ...

: 4th Overall

Ronde van Drenthe Ronde van Drenthe ( en, Tour of Drenthe) is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Drenthe, Netherlands and sanctioned by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union. Since 1998 there is also a women's event, kn ...

::1st

Young rider classification : 7th Overall

Tour de Wallonie-Picarde Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

;2012 : 1st Binche–Tournai–Binche : 1st Stage 1

Paris–Corrèze Paris–Corrèze was a road bicycle race held annually in France, usually between a department near Paris and the department of Corrèze. It was created by Laurent Fignon and Max Mamers. It was first held in 2001 and since 2005 it has been organi ...

: 2nd

: 3rd

Handzame Classic The Bredene Koksijde Classic, previously Handzame Classic, is a European single day cycle race held in the Belgian region of Flanders, starting in Bredene and finishing in Koksijde. Having been a part of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen from ...

: 4th

Grand Prix d'Isbergues Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

: 10th Overall

Tour of Qatar The Tour of Qatar was an annual professional cycling stage race held in Qatar. First organized in 2002, the event was part of the UCI Asia Tour until 2016. The 2017 edition was to have seen the event upgraded to the UCI World Tour for the first ...

;2013 : 4th Overall

::1st Stage 2 ( TTT) ;2014 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

National Criterium Championships : 1st RideLondon–Surrey Classic : 1st Otley Grand Prix : 1st Ipswich and Coastal Grand Prix : 1st Circuit of the Fens : 1st Jersey International Road Race : 2nd Beverley Grand Prix : 3rd

Beaumont Trophy The Beaumont Trophy is a cycle road race first run in 1952. The Trophy was presented to the Gosforth Road Club by Rex Beaumont who was a local cycle wholesaler on Tyneside. The Gosforth Road Club had been created in July 1951 as an offshoot of ...

: 6th Rutland–Melton International CiCLE Classic ;2015 : 2nd

Stafford GP __NOTOC__ The Stafford GP is a criterium cycle race held in the town of Stafford owned and organised by Leadout Cycling Ltd under the technical regulations of British Cycling. Since 2010 it has been part of British Cycling’s Elite Circuit Race ...

: 3rd Overall

Tour de Korea The Tour de Korea is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in South Korea since 2000 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was rated by the International Cycling Union (UCI) as a 2.2 category race between 2005 and 2013, then promot ...

;2016 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Road Championships ;2017 : 2nd

Nokere Koerse Nokere Koerse is a European semi classic single day cycle race held in the Belgian region of Flanders. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. Starting in 2016 it was a 1.HC event. The Nokere Koerse was c ...

: 2nd

: 4th

;2018 : 1st

Elfstedenronde The Elfstedenronde is a one-day road cycling race held annually in Belgium. It was held originally from 1943 until 1989, and returned in 2017 as the Bruges Cycling Classic. The race has also been called the Tour des Onze Villes and the Circuit des ...

: 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 5th

: 7th Ronde van Limburg : 9th

Three Days of Bruges–De Panne 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 n ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Track

;2006 : 1st UEC Champion Jersey

Team pursuit, UEC European Junior Track Championships : National Junior Track Championships ::1st MaillotReinoUnido

Scratch ::2nd

Points race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men between 1984–2008 and for women 1996–2008. Starting in 2012, the points race is one of the omnium even ...

: 2nd

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, National Track Championships (with Matthew Rowe) ;2007 : 1st UEC Champion Jersey

Team pursuit, UEC European Junior Track Championships : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

, National Track Championships (with

Luke Rowe Luke Rowe (born 10 March 1990) is a Welsh racing cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam . Biography Born in Cardiff, Rowe began racing at a young age, initially riding with his parents on a tandem. He began to enjoy cycling and became a member of ...

) : 1st UIV Cup, Ghent Six-day (with

Peter Kennaugh Peter Robert Kennaugh MBE (born 15 June 1989) is a Manx former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2010 and 2019 for and . In 2012 he won the gold medal as part of the Great Britain Team Pursuit team at the 2012 Summer ...

) : National Junior Track Championships ::2nd Scratch ::3rd

;2013 : 2nd

, National Track Championships (with

) ;2014 : 2nd

Team pursuit The team pursuit is a track cycling event similar to the individual pursuit, except that two teams, each of up to four riders, compete, starting on opposite sides of the velodrome. Race format Both men's and women's events are competed over ...

, National Track Championships

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blythe, Adam 1989 births Living people British male cyclists English male cyclists Commonwealth Games competitors for England Cyclists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Sheffield Cyclists from Yorkshire British cycling road race champions British expatriates in Monaco Cycling announcers