This month we have had the pleasure of welcoming back Associate Trainer Tom Bishop after an 18-month sabbatical from teaching at STAMC. As a Cycle Sport Risk Assessor for British Cycling and former president of Scottish Cycling, Tom was given the exciting opportunity to take up a temporary role as Roads Contracts Manager for the UCI World Championships 2023, which took place earlier this year in locations across Scotland. Now that the Championships have wrapped up, we’ve been keen to hear about Tom’s experiences working on such a large-scale and historic project:
Explain your role in organising the Championships?
As a Roads Contract Manager my key role was to procure, appoint then manage our contracts with event delivery partners. I needed to ensure they delivered many of the operational aspects of the event in line with the World Cycling Governing Body ‘Union Cycliste International’ (UCI) Guidelines and the robust 2023 Cycling World Champs project management systems and processes. I also worked closely with the Local Councils as we relied heavily on their roads for the race routes which had significant impacts on local communities, businesses, general public and the thousands of visitors who came to celebrate Cycling Competition at the Highest level. I also worked closely with some of the key venue partners such as Historic Environment Scotland who manage sites such as Stirling Castle. At competition time that is where I spent most of my time in Stirling.
Most memorable moments for you?
This Historic mega event brought together for the first time, a broad spectrum of cycling disciplines from; Mountain Biking, BMX, Trials, Road Racing to Indoor – Track Racing, Artistic Cycling, Cycle-Ball. For me, a significant feature was the integration of Para Track and Road events and the mass participation age-related Gran Fondo road races into one programme which I played a key role during the preliminary stages. I believe this has changed things for the better. And for me it was a privilege to be part of something that made history.
It is hard to pick one moment, but something that really stood out was the sheer joy and celebration of the Athletes and cycling fans alike from around the world who came to Scotland for the top level competition. The Road events including the finish for the Individual Time Trials at Stirling Castle, was viewed by a Global viewing audience in excess of 100 million. Record breaking international crowds attended the Road Races from Edinburgh to Glasgow and around Stirling with a truly iconic Castle finish for the Time Trials which was the icing on the cake for me.
Your main take-aways from the experience?
I really love being part of major events, in reflection that is probably because I love a challenge and in hindsight the reward of overcoming them is what really motivates me. This was clearly an audacious task.
It is easy to listen to the loudest critics who do not necessarily represent others, because at the same time there are usually many more people who really want to help and want to see, make and celebrate success. This was particularly the case when attending public drop in sessions where the resilience of our team members was tested to the extreme due to the pluralistic views on the event. Scotland is now truly recognised as an excellent international cycling destination. #powerofthebike
