The first victory is in. One of the most successful Rayner Foundation riders of 2022 , Oliver Knight has delivered the win in his first race of 2023.
Yesterday, Fevrier 10, was the 3rd stage of the Essor Basque, a series of 5 individual races in the French Basque region. This was the Tour de Basse-Navarre.
"A year after a second place behind his teammate Valère Thiébaud, the Briton won this time in the streets of Saint-Palais. “It makes me really happy, it's a race that I really like” , confides to DirectVelo the resident of the AVC Aix-en-Provence. The third round of the Essor Basque had however started badly with a fall from the start . “So there was a bit of stress. Suddenly I did everything with the mule but I had fun”, smiles the rider who was absent last week from the first weekend of the Basque Rise.
Lire la suite : https://www.directvelo.com/actualite/102457/oliver-knight-pas-trop-de-stress-a-avoir
As he goes into his fourth and last U23 season he will be hoping to emulate and surpass the results from last year where he proved himself in races in Spain and France. He remains in the team of AVC Aix en Provence which has been his home since 2021. His team mate Harrison Wood has departed the team for a professional career with Team Cofidis but Oliver is joined by other British Riders Oscar Nilsson Julien and Louis Sutton who are both supported by the Rayner Foundation.
Oliver finished the 2022 season as a stagiare for Team UAE Emirates where he was able to find out exactly what it is like to race in a World Tour Team. Heres hoping for the same opportunities this year.
Photos and quotes via Nicolas Gachet for @directvelo