Wood pays tribute to local cycle shop for years of support

Torbay pro Harrison Wood’s promotion to cycle racing’s WorldTour in 2023 came after eight years in which he had been supported by his local bike shop, and now he’s said a big ‘thank-you’ to St Marychurch’s Bay Cycles.
Wood, who’s about to start his second year with French team Cofidis, has presented the time-trial jersey he wore in last season’s Criterium du Dauphine race to the shop.
“It’s a small way to say Thanks for all the help I’ve had over the years – it’s definitely been a big help, especially when I was trying to work my way up,” said Wood.
“I get all my equipment from Cofidis now, but you never know what may happen in the future, so it doesn’t feel like the end of the relationship.”
Bay Cycles aren’t the only local company to have helped Wood, 23, during the early years of his career – Paignton’s Colin Lewis Cycles, where he worked as a teenager, and Jewson are among others.
But Bay Cycles owner Jez Barker explained: “It started here with a bike-fit session for Harrison back in 2015, and it’s continued and grown over the years.
“We moved down from Bristol in 2013, so we were quite new to the area when we got to know him and his family.
“We’re not the only people who have helped him, but I think that says something in itself, because he never asks for anything.
“We’re obviously delighted to have been a part of his journey, and excited to see where he is now.
“He’s always remained a really nice, approachable lad. He’s not full of himself, far from it.”
Barker has helped out over the years with racing wheels, shoes, sunglasses, lights, computers and mechanical repairs – all things which Wood now gets as part of his Cofidis contract.
“We’re just super-proud of him,” he said. “Harrison has given us some of his memorabilia in the past, but now his Dauphine jersey, framed by a customer friend of ours, is hanging in the middle of our shop where everyone can see it.”
Wood will soon rejoin his Cofidis team-mates for a second warm-weather training camp in Spain, ahead of an early-season campaign of races in Europe.
So focused has his home-based midwinter training been that, on top of almost daily 100-mile rides, he’s even invested in a depressurised ‘tent’.
He sleeps under it to accustom his body to the effects of riding at altitude.
“You have to do everything you can to improve and, if it helps me over next season, it will be worth it,” Wood added.