Ian Stannard

Career

Early career

Born in Chelmsford, Stannard grew up in Milton Keynes. He initially focused on both road and track cycling, winning a gold medal in the time trial at the 2004 Commonwealth Youth Games, and a gold in the Under-23 Team Pursuit at the 2006 UEC European Track Championships, alongside future Sky teammate Geraint Thomas. Stannard made his professional road debut in August 2007 joining as a trainee. He rode for in 2008 and came third overall in the Tour of Britain riding for the Great Britain team. In 2009 he joined the new team, and was selected to ride the Giro d'Italia, aged just 21. Stannard finished 160th at the Giro.

Team Sky (2010–2020)

2010–2011

Stannard joined the new British Pro Tour team on an initial two-year contract for the start of the 2010 season, and focused more on the Classics and one day races. He took a third place in freezing conditions in Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne, and completed a 1–2–3 at the British National Road Race Championships behind teammates Geraint Thomas and Peter Kennaugh.

Stannard almost took victory in the 2011 Gent–Wevelgem, after breaking away on the final climb, the . He was part of a move with Peter Sagan, Maciej Bodnar (both from ) and Sylvain Chavanel () with 34 km to cover until the finish. The quartet kept clear of the chasing peloton until Stannard broke free and crossed the flamme rouge alone. He was passed by the field with some 500 m to go, as Tom Boonen sprinted to victory. He obtained his first professional win at the Tour of Austria, winning stage 5 of the race, where he got the better of a group of five escapees in the sprint. Stannard was part of the Great Britain team that helped Mark Cavendish win the road race at the UCI Road World Championships, with a vital pull in the closing stages to keep Cavendish towards the front of the peloton. Stannard also featured in a 14-rider lead group at the end of season Paris–Tours race, finishing fourth. One of the hardest working domestiques in the peloton, Stannard rode a total of 14713 km during 93 race days in 2011.

2012

In 2012, Stannard won the London Nocturne by lapping the field. He also won the British National Road Race Championships, winning ahead of Sky teammate Alex Dowsett. Stannard was selected as part of the Great Britain team for the Olympic road race, alongside David Millar, Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish. With the team aiming to lead Cavendish to a sprint victory on The Mall, and despite the best efforts of Stannard, Team GB were unable to pull back a large breakaway group on the run in to London, with the gold medal going to Alexander Vinokourov. Stannard again represented Britain at the UCI World Road Race Championships and was active in a breakaway with Andrew Talansky on the penultimate lap, eventually finishing in the main group.

2013

In freezing conditions at March's Milan–San Remo, Stannard initially rode at the front of the race in support of Geraint Thomas, but attacked with Sylvain Chavanel after Thomas crashed. Stannard led over the Poggio di San Remo, only to be caught on the descent by a chase group of five riders. Stannard made a final move in the final 2 km but was chased down by Peter Sagan, and he finished sixth in the sprint. He took top-ten overall finishes at Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Bayern Rundfahrt, finishing ninth and eighth respectively, before taking a second-place finish at the British National Road Race Championships in Glasgow, being outsprinted by Mark Cavendish at the finish. Stannard was selected to ride the Tour de France for the first time, and played a key role as a domestique for Chris Froome, who went on to win the race overall. Following the Tour de France, Stannard took two second-place stage finishes at the Eneco Tour, and the Tour of Britain – the latter result coming in an individual time trial – with a seventh-place overall finish in the Tour of Britain.

2014

Stannard began 2014 in good form, finishing fourth overall in the Tour of Qatar in February. Stannard won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad – the opening race of the Flanders Classics – after he out-sprinted his breakaway companion Greg Van Avermaet, thereby becoming the first British rider to win the race. In Gent–Wevelgem, Stannard crashed heavily into a roadside ditch and was taken to hospital. He was diagnosed with fractured vertebrae, ruling him out of the rest of the classics season. Stannard made his comeback to the road, riding for the English team in the men's road race event at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. A clearly uncomfortable Stannard withdrew early on in the race, which took place in treacherous rainy conditions – only 12 riders finished out of 140 starters – and which was eventually won by his Team Sky teammate Geraint Thomas. Stannard attempted another comeback, riding for Team Sky in the RideLondon–Surrey Classic. Stannard was noted for his hard work in successfully placing teammate Ben Swift in the eventually victorious breakaway group. Stannard was selected to ride the Tour of Britain, but broke his wrist in a crash on the first stage, putting an end to an injury plagued season.

2015

Stannard recovered from his injuries for the start of the 2015 season, again placing fourth in February's Tour of Qatar. At the end of the month, Stannard won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, defending his 2014 title – the first time a male rider had won consecutive editions since Peter Van Petegem in 1997 and 1998. He defeated Niki Terpstra in a two-man sprint, after spending the final 40 km in a four-man group with a triumvirate of Terpstra, Tom Boonen and Stijn Vandenbergh. He also fended off attacks by Boonen and Terpstra in the closing stages of the race. He was also part of the selection that won the team time trial at the Tour de Romandie, and he finished third in the British National Road Race Championships.

2016

In an interview in January, Stannard confirmed that he would not compete in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad or Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne – having previously appeared in the opening double header of the Belgian classics season every year since 2009 and forgoing the opportunity to win the Omloop for the third year running – in order to focus on peaking for the Flemish Cycling Week. He also explained that his preparation for the spring classics would include debut appearances at the Volta ao Algarve and Paris–Nice. Stannard finished third at E3 Harelbeke, leading a small group across the line behind his victorious teammate Michał Kwiatkowski and Peter Sagan, who had broken away from the group earlier. He also finished on the podium at Paris–Roubaix, where he finished third in a sprint from a five-man group which had formed when Stannard animated the race with an attack on the cobbled section at Camphin-en-Pévèle. Stannard was part of the Tour de France-winning team, regarded as Sky's key domestique on flat stages, and he ultimately took a victory at September's Tour of Britain, following a 40 km solo attack on the third stage.

Post-2016

Stannard started his 2017 season with a block of racing in Australia, which culminated in a stage victory on the final day of the Herald Sun Tour, attacking inside the final kilometre. Having signed a three-year contract extension earlier in the season, Stannard also played a part as a domestique in the Vuelta a España success for Chris Froome and . In 2018, Stannard took a second career stage victory at the Tour of Britain, when he won the penultimate stage of the race from a solo move at around 16 km remaining. He recorded his first podium finish at the British National Road Race Championships since 2015 in 2019, when he finished second behind teammate Ben Swift, having "softened up the others" for Swift.

Retirement, directeur sportif

Following the COVID-19 pandemic-effected 2020 season, Stannard announced his retirement from competition that November after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. In February 2021, Stannard joined UCI Continental team as a directeur sportif, remaining with the team until the end of the 2022 season, when he joined his former team – since renamed as the – in a similar role.

Major results

Road

Source: ;2004 : 1st [[File:Gold medal blank.svg|15px]] Time trial, Commonwealth Youth Games : National Junior Championships ::1st Time trial ::3rd Road race : 2nd Paris–Roubaix Juniors ;2005 : 1st Overall Tour du Pays de Vaud ::1st Stage 3 (ITT) ;2007 : 1st Clayton Velo Spring Classic : 1st Eddie Soens : 1st Milano–Busseto : 4th Overall Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23 ;2008 : 3rd Overall Tour of Britain ;2009 : 1st Stage 1b (TTT) Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali ;2010 : 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour of Qatar : 3rd Road race, National Championships : 3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne ;2011 (1 pro win) : 1st Stage 5 Tour of Austria : 4th Road race, National Championships : 4th Paris–Tours ;2012 (1) : 1st Road race, National Championships : 1st London Nocturne ;2013 : 2nd Road race, National Championships : 6th Milan–San Remo : 7th Overall Tour of Britain : 8th Overall Bayern Rundfahrt : 9th Dwars door Vlaanderen ;2014 (1) : 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad : 4th Overall Tour of Qatar ;2015 (1) : 1st Omloop Het Nieuwsblad : 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour de Romandie : 3rd Road race, National Championships : 4th Overall Tour of Qatar ;2016 (1) : 1st Stage 3 Tour of Britain : 3rd E3 Harelbeke : 3rd Paris–Roubaix ;2017 (1) : 1st Stage 4 Herald Sun Tour ;2018 (1) : 1st Stage 7 Tour of Britain ;2019 : 2nd Road race, National Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

Track

;2004 : Commonwealth Youth Games ::3rd [[File:Bronze medal blank.svg|15px]] Individual pursuit ::3rd [[File:Bronze medal blank.svg|15px]] Scratch ;2005 : 1st [[File:UEC Champion Jersey.svg|20px]] Team pursuit, UEC European Junior Championships : 1st Points race, National Junior Championships : 2nd [[File:Silver medal uci.svg|15px]] Team pursuit, UCI World Junior Championships ;2006 : 1st [[File:UEC Champion Jersey.svg|20px]] Team pursuit, UEC European Championships : 1st UIV Cup, Stuttgart (with Andy Tennant) : National Championships ::2nd Team pursuit ::3rd Scratch : 3rd Team pursuit, UCI World Cup Classics, Sydney

References

References

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