Andy Tennant may be best known for his exploits on the track, where he is a world and multiple European champion in the team pursuit, but he also admits to loving leaving the track behind and getting out on the road during the summer months.
The Wolverhampton cyclist has agonisingly missed out on selection for Great Britain’s gold medal winning team pursuit squads for each of the last two Olympic games.
A reserve for London 2012 and the unlucky fifth man again for Rio, Tennant has been unable to add an Olympic medal to his palmares.
It is no surprise then, that he relishes the opportunity to leave the track behind each summer and compete on the road for Team Wiggins.
“Track seems more like a job, road is a bit more like a hobby,” he admitted, speaking at the launch of Season 15 of the Revolution Track Cycling Series..
“I enjoy the summer a lot more than the winter on the track sometimes, in a some ways it’s a lot more relaxing for me.
“Everything happens so quickly on the track, one minute error can cost you a race on track, whereas one minor error on a road race probably doesn’t affect you too much.
“It’s a lot more relaxing, a lot more jovial. I enjoy spending a lot of time with the boys on the track, but it’s a more party and relaxed atmosphere on the road
“The Revolution Series is really good, on the track, but when you go to the worlds it’s really clinical.
Then you compare that to the Nocturne and the Tour Series, when you’ve got a big party going on around you, and seeing friends you haven’t seen in a while, I quite enjoy that.
“It makes it a lot more relaxed, and after that hour of hell of racing, you have that joyful atmosphere rather than just sitting in your hotel room again, waiting to fly home.”
As part of the day job Tennant recently finished fourth with the Great Britain team pursuit squad at the World Championships in Hong Kong, before going on to struggle to 14th in the individual event.
And while he admits he may enjoy the road racing, he was still disappointed with having his preparations disrupted by an illness shortly before the event.
“I had a lung infection five weeks before, so going into it I was not in peak shape – I was in the best shape I could be with what’s happened to me – I wasn’t going badly but I wasn’t peak,” he added.
“For the Individual Pursuit, I rode to try and get into a medal spot and just didn’t have the legs, which didn’t come as a surprise.
“To me, I didn’t want to get ninth or tenth, after medalling last year, I wanted to medal or I wasn’t interested.
“I know it sounds a bit crude, but I’ll make no excuses, I wasn’t good enough – I’d rather have tried and failed. Would I have liked to have gone better? Yes, but unfortunately it is what it is.
“Every now and again it goes wrong. Hopefully that was the wrong year, and the year after an Olympics is not the worst year for that to be.”
After a summer on the road Tennant will return to the track for the Revolution Series in October, and with a second place to his name last season, he can’t wait to race in front of packed crowds again as he goes for the win with Team Wiggins.
“There’s a large crowd here and there’s a bit of a party atmosphere,” concluded Tennant.
“It’s quite unique – I do a lot of races I wouldn’t do at World Cups or World Championships, I wouldn’t compete in a points race, a scratch race or a longest lap, so that’s entertaining.”
See the world’s best road teams take on the champions of the track in the Revolution Track Cycling Series. Tickets now on sale at http://cyclingrevolution.eventbrite.com
