Matthew Stephens (born 4 January 1970) is a British former

road racing cyclist Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most comm ...

and cycling presenter who competed as a professional between 1998 and 2011. He was the 1998 British National Road Race Champion.

Biography

As a junior rider, Stephens won the

Junior Tour of Wales The Junior Tour of Wales is an annual cycle race for junior male riders, held around Brynmawr, Blaenau Gwent, Wales. First held in 1981, the race is the final round of the British Cycling Junior Road Series – and as such attracts the best junio ...

in both 1987 and 1988, one of only two riders to win the race twice. He represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, finishing 61st in the road race. Stephens finished 8th in the Amateur World Road Race Championships in 1995, forming part of a break on the second lap of the race alongside eventual winner Danny Nelissen and earning Team GB their squad for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 (automatic qualification for the Games was restricted to nations with finishers in the top 15 of the 1995 World Championships). However, he was not selected for the Olympic Road Race team that year. He became the British National Road Race Champion in 1998. After this he turned professional with the British-based Harrods team in 1998, before riding for the

Linda McCartney Racing Team The Linda McCartney Racing Team was a British professional road bicycle racing team. History The team began in 1998 with Linda McCartney Foods, maker of vegetarian food, sponsoring vegetarian riders and staff. The company was started by Sir Pau ...

in 1999 until their demise in February 2001. During the 2000 3-week

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

, he battled through with injuries from a fall on day 2 of racing, earning media admiration and ultimately dropping out 17 days later. He rode for

Sigma Sport Sigma Sport is a German manufacturer of electronic sports equipment. Products Rox and Topline product lines of heart rate monitors, altimeters, and bicycle computer, bike computers. See also

* Polar Electro * Garmin Forerunner Watch bra ...

between 2001 and 2011, acting as rider/manager from 2010 onwards. He combined his racing at Sigma Sport with a career in the police with

Cheshire Constabulary Cheshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Cheshire in North West England, comprising the unitary authority, unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of ...

, which he joined in 2001. A broken knee in the 2011 Paris-Troyes ended his racing career. Since retiring from racing, he has written for various websites as well as being the 'specialist' on

ITV4 ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV plc. The channel focuses primarily on general entertainment programming targeting a male audience, including action series and films, ...

's Halfords Tour Series and

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

coverage, and commentating on live races for British Cycling's

Premier Calendar The British Cycling Premier Calendar Road Race Series is a season-long competition run by British Cycling. It comprises a series of road bicycle races for the country's top domestic road riders. Organisation and events In 2010 points were awar ...

and

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

. He also worked as a presenter for

Global Cycling Network Global Cycling Network (GCN) is a cycling-related YouTube channel which was launched in the United Kingdom in 2013. The channel's parent company, Play Sports Network, became a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery through its TNT Sports unit in 20 ...

. On 24 April 2018, he announced on the weekly Global Cycling Network (GCN) show that he would leave GCN, shifting his focus to race commentary work and live events. Since 2018, he has presented "Matt Stephens Cafe Ride" for the Sigma Sports YouTube Channel. During these episodes he interviews a figure from the world of cycling during a cycle ride and "cafe stop". He also hosts a popular podcast in which he interviews figures from the world of cycling.

Major results

;1987 : 1st Overall

;1988 : 1st Overall

: 1st Overall National Junior Road Series ;1989 : 1st Hessen Rundfahrt ;1993 : 1st Overall Tour of the Peak ;1994 : 3rd National Amateur Criterium Championships ;1995 : 1st

Tom Simpson Thomas Simpson (30 November 1937 – 13 July 1967) was one of Britain's most successful professional cyclists. He was born in Haswell, County Durham, and later moved to Harworth, Nottinghamshire. Simpson began road cycling as a teenager ...

Memorial : 3rd

Rás Tailteann Rás Tailteann (; "Tailteann Race"), often shortened to the Rás, is an annual international cycling stage race, held in Ireland. Traditionally held in May, the race returned after a hiatus in 2022 as 5 day event held in June. By naming the rac ...

: 7th Road race, UCI Road World Amateur Championships ;1997 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;1998 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

Road race, National Road Championships : 2nd Havant International GP : 3rd Overall

Tour of Greece The Tour of Hellas is a road bicycle racing stage race. It consists of five stages and is usually held between April and May. The race was first held in 1968 as the ''Antiquities Trophy'', and was later known as the ''Tour of Hellas (or Greece) ...

;1999 : 1st

Memorial : 4th Road race, National Road Championships ;2000 : 2nd Overall Tour of the Cotswolds : 4th Overall

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a stage race, multiple stage bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily ...

: 4th Road race, National Road Championships : 8th Overall

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (currently branded as the Santos Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia. It is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and UCI Women’s WorldTour ...

;2001 : 1st

Manx Trophy The Manx Trophy or Isle of Man International Road Race is a bicycle road race run annually on the Isle of Man. In the 1960s the race attracted the world's top professional cyclists including Fausto Coppi, Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx. The ...

: 3rd Lincoln International GP : 3rd Tour of the Peak ;2002 : 2nd Neil Gardner Memorial ;2003 : 3rd Havant International GP : 1st Overall Tour of Northumberland ::3rd Stage 2 ;2006 : 1st Worcester St Johns RR : 3rd Overall

Tour of the Reservoir The Tour of the Reservoir is a road bicycle race for Men and Women around Consett and Edmunbyers Derwent Reservoir, Northumberland in the north of England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the Unite ...

: 3rd Rydale GP ;2007 : 3rd East Yorkshire Classic Roadrace ;2008 : 4th Grand Prix of Wales ;2009 : 7th Rutland–Melton International CiCLE Classic ;2010 : 2nd Dumfries Bike Fest Grand : 9th East Yorkshire Classic

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

*
Matt Stephens Cafe Ride"
at Sigma Sports YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Matthew 1970 births Living people English male cyclists British male cyclists Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Great Britain British cycling road race champions People from Edgware Cyclists from the London Borough of Barnet Cycling announcers