YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT

For an indication of how Alex Dowsett is perceived by the wider community in cycling you only had to look on social media the afternoon that he won stage 8 of the Giro d’Italia last October. Brooklyn Dodgers coach Leo Durocher was reportedly the first to say, of his team’s rival the New York Giants, “They’re all nice guys, but they’ll finish last.” In Dowsett’s case, his was a win for nice guys everywhere. Twitter was awash with urges of motivation and well wishes as the Briton soloed the final 17 kilometres to the line in Vieste, having been part of the breakaway all day. It was Dowsett’s first road race win since his neo pro year in 2011.

Dowsett has been a pro for a decade and he, of course, has won races before. This wasn’t even his first Giro stage win, with that achievement being ticked off in 2013 when he won the stage 8 time trial ahead of Bradley Wiggins. He’s a multiple national time trial holder and an Hour record champion. Dowsett has been a constant among all of Britain’s successes in the last 10 years, although he’s not typically a rider who gets the same number of mainstream headlines as some of his compatriots. His career has largely existed outside the Sky bubble, for a start, at teams such as Movistar, Katusha and now Israel Start-Up Nation.

“The response online, on social media, was mind blowing. The people from so many different walks of life, walks of my life, getting in touch and sending their well wishes,” Dowsett tells Procycling. “I’ve always been able