Laid low by a virus, Nathan Smith has stepped away from racing after “it all came crashing down”, reports Peter Cossins
Young British rider Nathan Smith caught the attention of the cycling world with bronze at the Cyclo-cross World Championships last January, but has been absent this winter after being forced to leave the sport due to an ongoing battle with illness.
Smith’s ride in the junior CX Worlds was one of the most eye-catching stories of the championships in Fayetteville, USA. Informed by the UCI on the eve of the race that his bikes couldn’t be used in the event as they hadn’t gone through the official testing process, the British rider was thrown a lifeline by Belgian cross legend Sven Nys, who loaned Smith his own bikes.
That success looked set to launch the Birkenhead North End CC racer on the path taken by the likes of Tom Pidcock and Ben Turner, especially when it was confirmed that he’d been signed by top cyclo-cross team Tormans. Yet, after a few outings in their colours, Smith stepped away from racing, his physical and mental condition undermined by an illness that has dogged him for months.
“Over the past nine months or so I’ve kept getting ill, and then at the end of June I got pretty sick. I think it was Covid or some sort of similar virus,” Smith tells Cycling Weekly. “I think that it affected me more than I thought. All summer I just kept training, but I wasn’t getting the numbers out. Physically I was struggling, but also mentally, and it all suddenly came crashing down at the end of September. As a result, I’ve ended up taking a bit of a break away from it all. I’m still unsure what I’m going to do next.”
Potential on hold
Smith says that he still rides occasionally, but isn’t sure whether he wants to return to racing when his health is fully restored. “Because the illness was building up so much and it got so hard mentally, it feels that the passion might have gone, but I don’t think it’s fully gone,” he says. “It’s such a hard thing to think about because I obviously have so much potential. I’m just giving it time because there’s no point rushing back to it straight away.” He spent the period leading up to Christmas working on a farm that sells Christmas trees. “It’s quite a physical job to be honest, so it’s keeping me fit, and I’m enjoying it,” he explains. “In the new year, I’ll probably rethink things and maybe go back to racing or look at other options.” Continuing his education is one of those possibilities. Smith sat his A-levels last year, which provided another distracti
