Ed Clancy knows a few things about bike racing. During a professional career that spanned from 2004 until 2021, the Yorkshireman was a key part of the all-conquering Team GB track cycling squad.
Best known for his success in the team pursuit, Clancy’s trophy haul includes three Olympic gold and one silver medal, along with six golds in the world championships and five in the European championships. Oh, and he helped set eight world records.
The lastest e-bike news in your inbox: get our FREE newsletter
So it’s perhaps no surprise that Clancy, 38, has just signed as an ambassador for the new EBK e-bike racing series. Except he says decision to become involved in the series isn’t related to his racing past – but his new life as a ‘casual’ cyclist.
“E-bikes are just something I really believe in,” he says. “I’ve got a commuter e-bike and I absolutely love it. It makes commuting by e-bike into Manchester and Sheffield a genuinely viable alternative to sitting there in my car getting frustrated and bored with life. It gets me exercising, and it makes me happy.
“I’ve just got an e-mountain bike. Not for commuting, not for racing, not for heart rate monitors, not for cranks, just because it's fun. And it’s way more fun than an analogue mountain bike.
”I’m approaching my 40th birthday, and I don't care about winning the Olympics anymore. I just love e-bikes.”
Move Electric vs an Olympic gold medallist
Clancy was unveiled as an ambassador for EBK at the Lee Valley VeloPark in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, where Move Electric was given the chance to ride with him around the venue’s amazing, undulating 0.9-mile road course.
We’re riding on BMC Roadmachine AMPs, sleek, lightweight racing-style e-bikes. They’re the road legal versions, so the electric assist is only offered up to 15.5mph, compared to the 55mph top speed Swiss firm BMC is promising from the spec machines it’s developing for EBK.
Given this is a casual outing, I'm quite glad that I'm not on a machine likely to hit 55mph. That said Clancy, who used to average 38mph over the 4km (2.48-mile) team pursuit distance, could probably get close to 55mph on his Roadmachine if he really wanted.
Clancy’s passion for e-bikes is clear as he sets off, pulling a series of casual wheelies and fair zipping around the track. We take a short detour around a slightly hilly section so Clancy can really showcase the effect of the electric assist, while already getting excited about how EBK riders can use that power to mix up their race strategies.
Another benefit of electric boost: it makes it surprisingly easy to keep up with a triple Olympic gold medallist. That said, Clancy is clearly in relaxed mood and absolutely not pushing the pace at all. You strongly suspect that if he really put his mind to it, I wouldn’t exactly put up much in the way of competition. In a bid to avoid humiliation, it’s clearly time to distract Clancy by asking him lots of questions about EBK.
Why e-bike racing is going electric
In a way, the new EBK series fuses elements of Clancy’s racing past and his more relaxed present – but it also promises something entirely new. The category is aiming to create a whole new style of racing, with criterium-style events taking place on city centre circuits designed and with powerful prototype e-bikes that will allow riders to use electric power for tactical boosts.
Clancy first started talking with EBK creator Andy Moss about a year ago. “A lot of people reach out to me, but his message about an e-bike racing series really caught my interest,” says Clancy. “I was recently retired from professional sport and Team GB from the Tokyo Olympics. We’ve been having conversations in the background, but in the last six months things have started getting a bit real.”
Of appeal to Clancy was the list of big companies involved in the category, including BMC which will produce the bikes that every team in the series will use. And having already sampled electric technology in commuter and mountain bikes, Clancy thinks that “electric road bikes have got massive potential.”
He adds: “The e-road bikes the likes of BMC have already produced are exciting, and EBK will have a sort-of racing superbike. They can absolutely fly. You can point it at a slope and do 50mph uphill without even breaking a sweat. You could put any Tour de France winner to shame on one, even if you’re a moderately fit amateur cycling wearing jeans and a T-shirt.”
EBK chiefs are still working out the final details of the category, with a series of trial races during to be held this year – with the first at an as-yet undisclosed location in London – ahead of a full series in 2024. The circuits will be in city centres and range from 1.5 to three miles long, featuring fast and slow sections, along with ‘power zones’ featuring steep artificial hills.
High-powered electric vehicles racing on city centre circuits? It’s fair to say that EBK chiefs have taken some inspiration from the ABB Formula E World Championship. Which is just fine by Clancy - who happens to be a big motorsport fan with a genuine interest in Formula E.
“When it comes to criterium-style town centre racing, in my opinion it’s always been the most exciting and spectator-friendly form of road racing,” he says. “The Tour de France obviously have a massive following, and a huge heritage. And it’s a real feat to see the endurance athletes and the cycling world do their thing over a month in France.
“But if you’re not into cycling, it can be hard to get into. But people love to see town centre racing. It’s fast, it's furious, there are crashes, it’s quite tactical, and there’s always a big, chaotic sprint at the end. And if you add e-bike technology to that, it’s going to really resonate with spectators and put e-bikes and active travel really on the map.”
How e-bike racing can help improve road bikes
BMC is still working on the prototype e-bike that will be used in the series, but have confirmed that it will be capable of speeds up to 55mph. Clancy says that showcasing the potential of e-bikes in such a format could have a transformative effect - while also creating a forum to further develop technology.
“When I watch Formula E or see something like a Porsche Taycan, it makes me realise electric cars aren’t just about saving the planet, they can be exciting performance cars as well. This is the same concept. So we’re going to have incredibly exciting racing, but most of all what we develop for the series can have relevance in the real world.
“The riders will have a finite amount of battery to get through these races, so they won’t be able to go on turbo mode throughout. They’ll have to think about how to manage battery power. So the teams are going to create apps to do that, and riders will haver to work with engineers and technicians to work out how best to spend the power, and whether to use it coming out of corners, on the climbs or on the straights. Will there be lifting and coasting like in other sports?
“Once we start developing this technology on the race track, I can guarantee you in a few years manufacturers will have an app on your phone where you can type in your journey and it’ll know the headwinds, wind direction, the elevation, the air temperature, the time of days and it will space out that power to get you to your office as fast as possible, with minimal effort.”
Initially, Clancy expects EBK to draw in road and track riders in a similar fashion to regular criterium racing, but as the bikes develop “we could get to a point where it's less about the riders input into the machine and more about bike handling skills and tactical awareness. So then we might start to see mountain bikers and BMX riders coming in.”
How EBK can help boost cycling uptake
But while Clancy is excited about how EBK might progress and help e-bike technology develop, his real excitement about the series is in how it might create new bike fans. Boosting active travel is a real passion for Clancy, who was recently named as South Yorkshire’s active travel commissioner. He accepted the role from a genuine desire to help promote cycling, particularly among the young.
Move Electric is talking to Clancy in the bowels of the VeloPark’s Velodrome, where he claimed one of his golds during the 2021 Olympics. But he says that what he’s proudest of isn’t his gold medals or other trophies, but how the success of that event has created a genuine legacy through promoting cycling and investing in infrastructure.
“When I got into cycling it wasn’t about saving the planet or commuting, and it wasn’t about winning the Olympics or doing anything aspirational,” he says. “It was about fun. And you see that now with e-bikes: whether it’s a mountain bike or commuter bike, whether it’s me or you, or a young lady, everyone gets on an e-bike and can’t believe how much fun it is.
“It’s exactly like how everyone remembers the first time they drove a bike without stabilisers. E-bikes are that sort of freedom, but times ten. Kids today are really switched on about saving the planet, and they’re all for efficiency, sustainable ways of getting around. If they have a safe and real alternative to a motorised vehicle, they'll take it. And putting that form of transport in a real showcase format is hopefully going to help boost that.”
READ MORE
Subscribe to the Move Electric newsletter
e-CARS
What is a heat pump and how do they benefit electric cars?
Bold new Volkswagen ID 2all previews sub-£22,000 electric car
e-BIKES
Ten electric bikes we're excited for in 2023
Nine ways to keep your e-bike safe
E-bike theft: how common is it and what can you do to protect your e-bike?
Haibike AllMtn CF 6 e-bike review
e-MOTORBIKES
10 electric motorbike start-ups you should watch out for
Energica e-motorbike to take on all-comers in US racing series
Ducati: How the Italian motorbike brand is gearing up for the electric era
e-SCOOTERS
Planned laws to legalise private e-scooters face delay
Leading e-scooter firms team up on best-practice guide for cities
Ambiguity over e-scooter legality causing ‘confusion’, says police chief
e-WORLD
Solar panels: 8 ways the sun can power your electric life
First ride: Lunaz Upcycled Electric Vehicle bin lorry