Will Harper Interview

Will Harper The Interview


On Sunday March 13th Will Harper of Pedal Heaven excel Academy took his first National B race at the SERRL RR at Chillham. We caught up with the quickly progressing rider in the week. 

Will was a late bloomer when it came to the art of cycling preferring to take part in the similarly painful sport of Running. To find out how he got into the sport we had a word with him. " It was my brother, George, who encouraged me to start cycling. I went to watch him in a round of the tour series in Canary Wharf in 2014." Will's brother, George, who he refers too is a similarly talented rider who resides in the exceptional ranks of One Pro Cycling. Alongside the likes of Marcin Biablocki and Chris Opie, George plays out his trade incredibly taking 6th overall in the Tour de Langkawi 2016. "I was quickly drawn in by the fast and aggresive nature of crit racing and later that week i joined the Dulwich Paragon cycling club." Will goes onto to describe his first races for the London based club "I went for a flyer in my first race at Hillingdon, and was caught on the line so had to settle for second place. A couple of weeks later I raced the Crystal Palace 3/4" this was the race that would prove to Will that he might have what it takes. "I broke away solo with a couple of laps to go and stayed away. It was at that point I knew I wanted to be a pro".

Will now rides for the recently launched Pedal Heaven Excel Academy and speaks very highly of the man who was responsible for getting him on the team- Tim Elverson. "it is DS Tim Elverson I have to thank. Tim always has his finger on the pulse in terms of new talent coming up through the ranks - especially when it comes to local riders. I contacted Tim in the summer of 2014 when I was still riding for Dulwich Paragon. I knew it was a long shot because I was so new to the sport , but fortunately I got a positive response from Tim. He told me he had been following my progress for a while, and would consider a meeting in the near future, but wanted to keep monitoring me for a bit longer. " Will's excellent results in only his first year of cycling were clearly something to behold. He had begun riding only that year but was still achieving some seriously impressive results.
"Tim kept in contact and followed my progress closely. I managed to get some decent results, which led to Tim taking the calculated gamble of signing me for 2015. 2015 was therefore my first full race season. I won a number of National b circuit races and started to go well In the National A crits towards the end of the summer. Hopefully repaying Tim's trust in me!" To find out what Will means by National A and National B races i have attached a link to the British cycling website. https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/roadst_National_Regional_Rankings_Explained "As a result of my solid progress in 2015- I was offered a place in the Pedal Heaven Excel Academy for 2016. The team is full of exciting talent, and our results have proven this so far. Personally , I have felt strong this season, but I have struggled a bit tactically. Thankfully, with the help of DS Anders Christensen, I managed to get it right last Sunday, and won my first National B road race. I am confident if I keep learning and progressing at this rate , I will achieve my goal of making it to the top of the sport. I believe Pedal Heaven provides the perfect environment to pursue this goal. The support we receive is amazing - both Tim and Craig are absolutely passionate about the sport and about their riders. This passion and energy is felt throughout the whole team, and makes us extra motivated to dominate in every race we enter."

When we asked about his brother Will speaks incredibly highly of him, saying that he rode exceptionally in Malaysia. He then goes on to say his long term ambition is to ride in the same team as George and that "he will be my lead out man!" 

I'd just like to end this by saying a huge thank you to Will for agreeing to this interview and the best of luck for the future, it seems that it could be bright.