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

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 common ...

, who rode as a professional between 1998 and 2011.

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 juni ...

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 northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ...

, 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 Daniel ("Danny") Wilhelmus Maria Nelissen (born 10 November 1970 in Sittard, Netherlands) is a Dutch former professional road bicycle racer and former sports commentator at Eurosport. He won the 1995 amateur world championship and was named ''Dutc ...

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 Paul ...

in 1999 until their demise in February 2001. During the 2000 3-week Giro d'Italia race he battled through with injuries from a fall, earning media admiration. 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 bike computers. See also * Polar Electro * Garmin Forerunner The Garmin Forerunner serie ...

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 English unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Borough of Halton and Borough of Warrington. The force is responsible for policing an ...

, 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 was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports, cult classi ...

Halfords Tour Series The Tour Series is an annual series of cycling criterium races held in the United Kingdom since 2009. It is televised by ITV4 in the UK. The competition emphasises team effort with individual wins deemed less important. The races are held over 1 ...

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 the S ...

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 by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international 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, a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

channel backed by Shift Active Media. 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"

Major results

;1987 : 1st jersey yellow

Overall

;1988 : 1st jersey yellow

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 teenag ...

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 Road racing, road race of road racer may refer to: * Road racing in motorsport * Road running on foot * Road bicycle racing * ''Road Race'', initial name of 1976 arcade game ''Fonz'' (video game) * Roadracers (1994 film) * Roadracers (1959 fi ...

, UCI Road World Amateur Championships ;1997 : 3rd

, National Road Championships ;1998 : 1st MaillotReinoUnido

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

Tour of Greece The International 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 ...

;1999 : 1st

Memorial : 4th

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

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a multiple stage 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 in February. It usually co ...

: 4th

, National Road Championships : 8th Overall

Tour Down Under The Tour Down Under (branded as the Santos Tour Down Under under a partnership arrangement) is a cycling race in and around Adelaide, South Australia, and is traditionally the opening event of the UCI World Tour and features all 19 UCI World ...

: Giro d'Italia (withdrew) ;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. ...

: 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 : 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 British male cyclists English male cyclists Cyclists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists for Great Britain British cycling road race champions People from Edgware Sportspeople from the London Borough of Barnet Cycling announcers