Christopher Ryan Opie (born 22 July 1987) is a

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cyclist. Outside of racing, Opie has been a contributor and presenter for the

Global Cycling Network Global Cycling Network (GCN) is a cycling-related YouTube channel which was launched in 2013. It is run by the multi-channel network Play Sports Network, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel is presented by Daniel Lloyd, Under-23 ...

Career

Born in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, Opie grew up on a small beef and dairy farm. He attended Kea Primary and Penair Secondary Schools in Truro. He began cycling competitively at the age of 10 and progressed to lead the British National Junior RR Series in 2005. In 2006, Opie raced in France for UC Aubenas and he battled with a slight eating disorder and, in 2007, with

Glandular Fever In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

, but returned to racing in 2008, when he was based in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He returned from the Netherlands to ride for Pendragon Sports/Le Col/Colnago in 2010, and when the team wound up at the end of the 2011 season he was signed by Nigel Mansell's . After Mansell decided to end his financial support of Team UK Youth, Opie signed for for the 2014 season. After one season with the team he was announced as part of the inaugural squad for the team for the 2015 season. Opie announced his retirement from competition in May 2018 immediately before his final race, the last round of that year's Tour Series in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

. Opie's retirement was a financial decision, following the bankruptcy of one of the team sponsors which led to a halving of riders' salaries. In January 2019, Opie joined

as a presenter. However the transition away from racing was not without difficulty and as Opie described himself, led to a minor breakdown suffering from

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...

(PTSD). Opie decided to make a return to racing in 2020, with the team, despite there being no races held during the period of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Personal life

Opie and his wife Meike have two children together. He is the brother-in-law of Dutch former racing cyclist Remco van der Ven.

Major results

;2010 : 1st GP Al Fatah : Tour of Libya ::1st Stages 4 & 5 ;2012 : 6th Ster van Zwolle ;2013 : Tour Series ::1st Round 8 – Canary Wharf & Round 10 – Aylsham : 2nd Overall Tour of the Reservoir ::1st Stage 1 ;2014 : 2nd National Circuit Race Championships : 2nd Circuit of the Fens : 2nd Ipswich and Coastal Grand Prix : 3rd Otley Grand Prix : 3rd Wales Open Criterium : 4th Eddie Soens Memorial : 4th

Grand Prix des Marbriers The Grand Prix des Marbriers is a road bicycle race held annually in France. It is organized as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the ...

: 5th Colne Grand Prix ;2015 : 1st Stockton Grand Prix : 2nd Perfs Pedal Race : 2nd Rutland–Melton International CiCLE Classic : 3rd Overall Totnes-Vire Stage Race ::1st Stage 2 : 3rd Chepstow Grand Prix : 7th Overall

Ronde van Midden-Nederland The Ronde van Midden-Nederland is a road bicycle race held annually in Netherlands. It was organized as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 200 ...

;2016 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stages 1 ( TTT) & 2 : 1st Stage 2

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 pro ...

: 2nd

Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic The Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic (known as Veenendaal–Veenendaal from 1985 until 2006 and The Dutch Food Valley Classic from 2007 until 2013) is a semi classic professional road cycling race in the Netherlands starting and finishing in the town ...

: 8th

Grand Prix de Denain Grand Prix de Denain is a professional cycle road race held in Denain, France. For 10 years from 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions whi ...

;2017 : 7th

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 ...

;2018 : 8th

PWZ Zuidenveld Tour The PWZ Zuidenveld Tour, formerly the Zuid Oost Drenthe Classic, is a road bicycle race held annually in the Netherlands. It has been organized as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racin ...

References

External links

* * *
Tour Series blog #7: Chris Opie in Woking, Cycling Weekly
15 June 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Opie, Chris 1987 births Living people English male cyclists Sportspeople from Truro