º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ launches new Lightning Cycling franchise

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has underpinned its commitment to women’s sport with the launch of a new Lightning Cycling franchise.

Developed with investment from The Recruitment Group, the new team will consist of six female athletes who will compete on the national stage.

The franchise will also boast an unrivalled backroom offer, with the team supported by University experts.

The interdisciplinary team includes support from experts in coaching, strength and conditioning, nutrition, performance lifestyle, physiology, physiotherapy, and performance analysis in bike fitting and training science.

The team also benefits from extensive cross-campus collaborative research and development, with the world-leading academic departments of the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences and engineering providing cutting edge sport science and aerodynamics support.

The team will perform in the National Road Series, National Circuit Series, the Tour Series, British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS), and the recently announced ‘º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Cycling Festival’, held on campus in May.

The team will also showcase its talents throughout April and May in the ZRL e-racing events.

Dr Dave Nichols, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ’s Cycling Programme Manager and Lightning Cycling lead said:

“The formation of the Lightning Cycling program is a huge statement of our intent and establishes º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ as the university leader in cycling.

“Our new Lightning team provides a unique development pathway for female athletes to combine the demands of rigorous elite racing and training schedules, while fully supported to complete a prestigious degree. We believe that elite cycling and education should not be a choice.”

With the addition of cycling, the University’s Lightning franchise offering now stands at four with teams already competing in netball, rugby, and cricket.

John Steele, Executive Director of Sport, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ, said:

“The Lightning Cycling programme reinforces our commitment to developing women’s sport at the highest level at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ.

“ The launch of our latest Lightning team brings a new cohort of elite-level athletes, supported by our world-leading performance teams, to our campus.  The team competing on the national stage, will undoubtedly help attract the next generation of top sporting talent to º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ.”

Ross Munro, Strategy & Integration Director, The Recruitment Group, explained the reasons behind its investment in Lightning Cycling:

“We partnered with the º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Lightning cycling team for many reasons, the main being that their ethos to provide the very best education and professional athletic options to their students and riders has a huge amount of synergy with The Recruitment Group’s mission ‘to put people first’.

“º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ are the only university to offer this level of competition whilst allowing students to obtain a degree, and we loved that they are doing this and putting their athletes and students prospects first – both on and off the track.

"We’re looking forward to a deeply integrated partnership where we can utilise º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ’s performance expertise to support our employees to be the best they can be.  From optimised nutrition and sleep strategies for our teams to national brand coverage through the University’s network and events, we’re incredibly excited to be working with the team from º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ Sport.”

For further information on Lightning Cycling visit HERE and for more information on The Recruitment Group visit HERE.

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: PR 21/49

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2020 QS World University Rankings and University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times University Guide 2019.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is in the top 10 of every national league table, being ranked 7th in the Guardian University League Table 2021, 5th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2020 and 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2021.

º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

The º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking.

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