Sam Nisbet: “My biggest dream would be to race at the Tour de France”

Jersey cyclist and civil engineering student Sam Nisbet is on the fast track to achieving his dream of competing in the Tour de France.

Over £100,000 is set to be distributed to 23 local athletes as part of a new performance scheme helping islanders to excel in their chosen sport.

Jersey Sport this month announced that a total of £103,500 has been allocated to allow the athletes – who compete in 11 different sports – to access professional development workshops on the Performance Sport Programme.

One of the athletes set to benefit from the scheme is Samuel, or Sam, Nisbet who is on his way to completing a Civil Engineering degree at The University of Bath.

Like all budding road cyclists, the 21-year-old has set his sights on one day competing for the yellow Jersey in the Tour de France.

Express sat down with Sam to chat about his sporting ambitions, and how the new funding programme will help him to achieve them…

Can you tell us about your sporting journey so far?

My parents encouraged me to participate in lots of sports including football, rugby, running and then cycling and I really enjoyed cycling so I kept doing it.

I started out with Jersey Youth Cycling where the coaching team encouraged us to try all different cycling disciplines. After a few years of riding with Jersey Youth Cycling I turned to ex Commonwealth games athlete Lynn Minchinton-Gilley and with her guidance I improved technically and physically.

Then as I moved to the UK for university, I started to work with ex-professional cyclist Tobyn Horton as he had knowledge of the racing scene in the UK.  

With Tobyn coming from Guernsey he understood the challenges we as Islanders faced when racing competitively.  Each year with Tobyn, I’ve improved substantially and have now race at national level in road racing and cyclocross against some of the best cyclists in the UK.

Did you expect to get this far in your sport?

Initially I never even considered the fact that I could be racing in some of the biggest cycling races in the UK as I just wanted to have fun.

As I moved to the UK for university, I did start to realise that I do have some potential and could be one of the best national road and cyclocross riders.

What do you love about your sport?

I love riding my bike as I get to explore new areas and visit cool places.

In Bath, I can ride over to Cheddar Gorge, Stonehenge and Castle Combe. I also love the racing side of cycling as I am a really competitive person.

How do you feel about being chosen to benefit from the Performance Sport Programme?

I’m extremely grateful to be recognised as an athlete with potential, and I think the support they are offering will be invaluable to me and the other athletes this year.

How will the programme assist your sporting progress?

The programme will allow me the opportunity to race at an even higher level in Europe, which will hopefully develop me into becoming an even better cyclist. With the support I have access to, I can achieve even better results at national level as well.  

Cycling is an expensive sport at the highest level, with races all over the country most weekends.  Having this support will allow me to attend the highest level races I can.

What is your sporting dream?

Just like most cyclists, my biggest dream would be to race at the Tour de France.

Another one of my sporting dreams would be to race at the Tour of Britain, as this would be my home stage race.