Q&A Sam Watson (FDJ – World Tour)

Exciting quiz time! with the British Under 23 Road Race Champion Sam Watson who races for the World Tour team, Groupama-FDJ – thank you Sam!

Q&A Sam Watson (FDJ – World Tour)

2023 British Champion, Sam (centre) finished ahead of another rider in FDJ colours (Conti) Josh Golliker  and third was Max Walker

Back before covid, a certain well known team manager pointed me in the direction of a junior rider saying he was ‘going places’. That rider was Sam Watson. We had a chat at that Tour Series event and then I would see Sam at various events in the UK including one just down the road from me. I still remember Sam winning this National B race at Upton and now when I see him doing the Monument classics, it is just so surreal and fills me with honour to know Sam and see him race here. Yet again, Sam shows just how down to earth he is but doing yet another Q&A for me at VeloUK. My thanks to Sam for that. Awesome insights!

LINKS:
— A FDJ Team Feature on Sam 
— A Q&A from Sam in 2019 

Q: Looking at your list of races for 2023, well over over 80 race days it appears. Is this time of year (Autumn/Winter) very welcome to recover from all that racing? Or do you miss the racing?
Sam: Yeah 100%, this time of the year is very much welcome with the end of season break with no cycling and also now with no racing. But to be honest, you manage your fatigue throughout the year so it’s not like I was on my knees at the end of the season and NEED this period with nothing. It’s more so to give your head a break and come back fresh. With all the traveling, yeah, it gets pretty mentally tiring so it’s good to switch off and come back training hungry for the next year.

Q: With so much racing to do, is easy to keep the motivation for the next race and the one after etc or has that racing all the time been part of the learning curve being a WorldTour rider?
Sam: I’ve had a lot of races this year and some races are just to build up for the big ones, so I guess yeah it can be hard to be motivated for all of them. But in a World Tour team, you have a role in every race you do, so it keeps I guess a goal in your head so you don’t really need motivation. Then there’s the big races and yeah I always have those in my head to work towards.

Q: Was the Vuelta the toughest challenge you had so far in your cycling career?
Sam: I wouldn’t say it’s the toughest part of my career yet because physically I came out of it in good shape feeling good. But yeah there were some very hard days in the middle and moments where it feels like this is never ending.

Q: What are the hardest things about finishing/riding a Grand Tour? The fatigue? All that climbing?
Sam: For me the fatigue wasn’t really much of an issue because as I’ve said the last week I felt the best I did all race. But I had a dip in the middle of the race where I think I was fighting an illness and we were in the Pyrenees mountains. And I remember two days that I was just fighting all day to just be in the time cut and this was not nice. I just felt completely empty and was having to go full gas and one of the days I was alone so yeah I was fighting some demons in my head. I think one thing people forget when watching it on TV is behind the front of the race, the guys that have done a job earlier on, still have to do the same climbs and course.

Q: How long did it take after the Vuelta for the legs to feel ‘normal’ again
Sam: To be honest, after the Vuelta I felt amazing for a period of time. I had the post grand tour legs where I felt I could ride as hard as I could for as long as I wanted.

Q: You won the British Under 23 RR title again in 2023. Was that race more like a european pro race or still very much a British style race despite all the pros in it?
Sam: The Nationals is not like a British race and also not like a European race. It’s full gas from the start until the finish and almost last man standing. Well especially this year. This year there was a selection made super early on as it set off so hard, then just everyone battering each other for the whole duration of the race until yeah there was just three left in the front of the race.

Q: You’re still so young but I look at that list of races and as well as a Grand Tour, there are MONUMENT races in there too. Is it surreal to know you have done such races or is it just part of the job LoL!
Sam: Yeah I’m super grateful for the calendar I’ve had this year. I think this is one of the only teams where a neo pro could do such races and this is what I wanted out of this year. Hopefully now I go into next year knowing what to expect in the biggest races now. I’ve learnt so much about them.

Q: If a fan asks you whats the toughest thing about racing Paris-Roubaix, what would your reply be?
Sam: I don’t want to sound soft with my answer but my hands. The skin had come off the palms of my hands pretty early on and it got to a point where I couldn’t really hold my bars, but I still finished because it’s Roubaix, you have to!

Q: What was the toughest of all those other classics you have ridden? (not including Paris-Roubaix which we know is so tough) (IE, Tour of Flanders, Gent Wevelgem, E3, Het Nieuwsblad, etc etc) – Flanders is often thought as being the toughest with all its bergs etc.
Sam: Ghent Wevelgem was hard because of the weather. It was like 3 degrees and rain all day so a tough day on the body. But physically Flanders was way harder. I completely blew like 35km to go and was seeing stars to get to the finish

Q:. Does it make you feel like an established pro and part of the fabric of the pro sport to have ridden all you have done in 2023?
Sam: I don’t really feel like an established pro yet because I haven’t won yet. I think once I start winning and playing a role in the final of the big races then I’ll feel like an established pro rider.

Q: Do you think racing in Britain has a part to play in a riders development or better for them to head to Europe and learn the ropes…
Sam: It’s a tough question cause every Brit races in Britain up until they are a junior at the least and racing at this age your learning all the time but I think it gets to a point where it becomes very hard to turn pro from just racing in Britain. You need to show yourself in the bigger races out in Europe.

2022 and Sam was Under 23 British Champion ahead of Lewis Askey and Jim Brown

Q: What race was the most fun in 2023!
Sam: Flanders 100%. I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like it and I can’t really describe what it’s like with all these people screaming in your ear. It’s quite spectacular.

Q: What was your best performance do you feel in 2023 regardless of result?
Sam: There’s not really one stand out performance of the year but Euros this year was a race that made me realise I can race with the best in the front group. I came down in the late on crash in the end but up until then I was there in the front making the race with the big dogs.

Q: What is life like for you in pro races – ie, can you explain in a team like yours, is it all about being a good teammate, doing your job before pulling the pin and do you get chances for a chasing a result?
Sam: I think what’s good about FDJ is that I get to race the big races which of course I’m not a leader in yet but also the smaller races which are good because I can be a leader and get a result myself.

Q: Finally, when will the treadmill return in training ahead of the season in 2024?
Sam: I’ve been training for a couple weeks now and have a December camp to get a good block in then from January onwards really feels like the build up for the season getting ready to race.

Thank you Sam for that great set of answers to the questions on racing the World Tour – good luck in 2024! Smash it …

 

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