As Le Tour arrives on our streets we talk to the Cambridge academic behind British Cycling's technical excellence about his love of bikes and racing.
Cambridge is making a tangible contribution to the efforts for Rio and Tokyo.
Professor Anthony Purnell
Professor Anthony (Tony) Purnell started racing when he was 13. Riding a shiny, second-hand Carlton bike, he raced and he raced.
His competitiveness almost led to the ruination of his studies, but fortunately he managed to get to University and flourish, studying at Manchester, MIT and Cambridge.
That led to a successful career working with electronic systems and software for cars and trucks before moving into Formula 1 with the Ford-owned Jaguar team. Throughout a career in the motor-racing industry he never lost his love of two-wheeled, leg-powered machines. He now owns seven bikes, and he’s even raced the amateur stages of the Tour de France.
Now he works for the British Cycling team – taking a holistic approach to improve performance ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games. His work at the University of Cambridge is complementing that role – and making a real contribution to the nation’s Olympic dreams.
“My love of cycling started early on,” said Tony “I did a paper round for months and months and saved up enough to buy a second-hand Carlton Racing Bike. I would’ve been about 13 years old and I immediately started to race it, joining a local club in Surrey.
“I raced cyclo-cross in the winter. In the summer I raced two or three times a week without any idea what I was doing. Looking back now I know I was doing everything wrong in the light of modern training know-how.
“I think I liked it because of the freedom it gave me. At the age of 14 I could go all the way to Brighton on my bike – I was just delighted at how you can go so far.”
His cycling almost cost him a place at university he explained: “I used to race absolutely fanatically to the point that my school work suffered. I got only okay A Level results but luckily I still made it into Manchester University and then knuckled down and got scholarships to MIT and Cambridge.”
The hard work led to a great start in business: “I stumbled into starting my own business in electronics and software for cars.
“That – Pi Research - went really well and we pretty much dominated motor racing with our kit. We made software for trucks (helping with emissions and fuel consumption). We were behind one of the first “drive by wire” lorries that led to Ford buying us out in 1999. It was fantastic for me. I had to work for Ford for two more years as part of the contract and I loved it and was promoted to be part of their motor racing Jaguar F1 programme.”
But then Ford sold the F1 team to Red Bull and eventually Tony left, joining the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) where he spent his time travelling the world seeing some of the greatest racing technology in action.
After leaving the FIA Tony says he took a “leisurely” year doing consultancy and getting back on the bike. “I loved racing and got back into it. I have since done seven amateur stages of the Tour de France (the Etape du Tour). The Tour itselft is a great event and I am amazed at the hype it gains considering it is a sport that is not even shown on mainstream TV. Personally I did have fantasy that one day I would go off at the front of mountain stage and when I actually did some of the stage races later in life I was living out that fantasy. In the Haute Route race (7 days, 500m across the Alps) I was 30th for 2 years and 25th the last year I did it – but that still placed me hours behind the winners.”
Last October Tony “retired” from racing due to increased commitments, but still keeps his hand in training a student cyclist at Trinity Hall, where he holds a fellowship.
The reason for that retirement is a new job – heading up British Cycling’s so-called “Secret Squirrel Club” responsible for technical development.
He took up the job after being approached by Olympic champion Chris Boardman, said Tony: “Chris was pretty over-committed and he asked me if I would take over the Secret Squirrel job. He was pretty up front about the fact it was a poison chalice as all the low-hanging fruity had been picked so it is hard to find gains now.”
With that in mind Tony is working hard with an eye to Rio 2016 and even Tokyo in 2020. And his Cambridge role as the Visiting Royal Academy of Engineering Professor in Systems Engineering means the University is playing its part in the lead up to the Olympics. “The students are a bright lot and they do a good job. On the whole it is them teaching me. The work here is all from projects we [Secret Squirrel Club] thought would be nice to do but cannot put on the priority list. I have four students working for me and I have two postdocs – one full time. So it is quite a big effort now. Cambridge is making a tangible contribution to the efforts for Rio and Tokyo. “
Working in Cambridge at the Department of Engineering he can’t help thinking about how his approach might bring improvements to the sport the University is international renowned for: “I look at what we are doing and look at he Cambridge Rowing boat and wonder if I should pick up the phone. The engineering approach definitely works in sport and rowing is so similar to cycling.”
But that is perhaps for another day.
In the meantime he still loves his bikes: “I have bikes coming out of my ears, including three ballistic, top-of-the-range, carbon-fibre, rocket-ship, road racers, and one I don’t maintain with the strategy that no-one is going to nick it.”
Professor Anthony Purnell was talking to Paul Holland.
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