Brian Smith (cyclist)

Brian Smith
Smith at the 2016 Tour of Britain.
Personal information
Full nameBrian Smith
NicknameSmithy
Born (1967-07-07) 7 July 1967 (age 57)
Paisley, Scotland
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider (1991–1999)
Team Manager (2011–2016)
Commentator
Rider typeAll-rounder
Professional teams
1991–1993Banana–Falcon
1994Motorola
1995–1996Plymouth
Managerial teams
2011Endura Racing
2012Team NetApp
2014–2016MTN–Qhubeka
Major wins
One-day races and Classics
National Road Race Championships (1991, 1994)

Brian Smith (born 7 July 1967 in Paisley) is a Scottish former racing cyclist turned commentator and manager.

Before turning professional Smith rode for the French amateur team Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt.[1] He won the professional men's race at the British National Road Race Championships in 1991 and 1994, and was runner-up in 1992 and 1993. He competed for Britain in the 1996 Olympic road race and represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 1986, 1990 and 1998. He also won the Grand Prix Midtbank in 1994.

Since 2009, he has commentated on cycle racing for British Eurosport. He also joined the Endura Racing cycling team as general manager in 2011. Following Endura's merger with the German-based NetApp squad at the end of 2012 to form NetApp–Endura, Smith was initially appointed to the role of assistant general manager[2] before becoming the team's Business Development Manager.[3] In July 2014 team MTN–Qhubeka appointed Brian Smith as interim general manager until the end of the year as he had participated in the formation of the now-defunct Cervélo TestTeam.[4] In addition Smith acts as manager to Czech rider Leopold König.[5] In April 2016 it was announced that Smith would leave Team Dimension Data (as MTN-Qhubeka had become) at the end of the month by mutual consent, with Smith explaining that his role had become less hands-on and more focused on administration and logistics with the team's achievement of UCI WorldTeam status.[6]

Smith is the founder of the Braveheart Cycling Fund, which was launched in 2003 to support young Scottish racing cyclists.[7]

  1. ^ "Young Scots get on their bikes for France's cycling schools". The Scotsman. 10 July 2004. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  2. ^ "Smith and Sans Vega to NetApp-Endura management". cyclingnews.com. 20 November 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  3. ^ "Brian Smith appointed as Business Development Manager for Team NetApp – Endura". NetApp–Endura. 21 June 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  4. ^ "Brian Smith, nuevo mánager general interino del MTN-Qhubeka / Profesionales / Noticias del ciclismo / BICI CICLISMO".
  5. ^ Benson, Daniel (3 August 2014). "Transfers: König has contract offers from three WorldTour teams". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  6. ^ Benson, Daniel (28 April 2016). "Smith: I expect Doug Ryder to take over my role at Dimension Data". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
  7. ^ "About the fund". braveheartfund.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2014.