Introducing...
Every month, we introduce some of the Kingston Wheelers and Dan Lloyd is here for March 2010 alondside Kingston Wheeler Lise Sørensen.
You might know Dan as one of the Cervélo Test Team riders where he's been a key part of the team, helping to set up wins in the classics and Giro d'Italia alike. But he's also half-local, he used to live in Teddington and has done some local races.
Name: Dan Lloyd
Age: 29
Any significant others: My wife Lorraine and son Ralf.
What made you start cycling?I was 14 my best mates Uncle used to give him MBUK (a MTB magazine) when he'd finished reading it. I was looking through a few of them and really fancied having a go. My dad bought me a MTB a good few months of pestering later, and I was hooked from the off.
What bike do you ride: I have a cervelo S3 for racing, S2 for training and P4 for time trials. They are all fantastic bikes to ride. A lot of the top end bikes are very good these days but with our bikes you just sit on them and pedal and it just feels perfect. There is never the excuse in our team that our equipment isn't good enough, everything we use is the best of the best, from nutrition and clothing right through every component of the bike.
Give us a brief cycling background: I started racing my MTB when I was 14, did that until I was 20, hopped over to France for a couple of years as an amateur and then rode for Endurasport, Flanders, Giant Asia, DFL, An Post and finally Cervelo. Most of my teams before now have been small outfits with a small budget but they've always had a good race program and so I've been racing against the pro's since 2003.
What was your best performance or ride?I would probably say the Tour of Qatar last year, or maybe the Tour of Flanders was what gave me the most personal satisfaction.
What was your worst day on the bike? You get a few of them as a cyclist as you all know! The mountainous day at last years Tirreno Adriatico always sticks out in my head as a very long day of suffering. When you're on a bad day, everything hurts, you aren't capable of moving up the bunch and it's even harder when you're at the back. I was certainly pleased to cross the finish line that day, 7 hours of suffering!! Little did I know there would be a 4 hour transfer to the hotel still to come....
Who is your favourite pro or inspiration? When I was younger I really used to admire the hard men of Flanders and Roubaix. Rock hard men in rock hard races. I remember I would start training at the same time they started racing, I'd do 4 hours, get home, shower, turn the TV on and they'd still have 3 hours to go! It used to blow my mind as I was shattered from my own four hours, and the fastest part of their racing was the last hour.
What is your favourite bike food? The Zipvit apricot energy bars are tasty.
Where is your favourite cycling location? Clermont Ferrand has some of the most beautiful training roads I've ever been on.
Most likely to say: Something sarcastic.
Least likely to say: "A pint of lemonade please."
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