Tom Southam

Tom Southam
Personal information
Full nameTom Southam
Born (1981-05-28) 28 May 1981 (age 43)
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb; 11.3 st)
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeStrong
Amateur team
Nantes 44
Professional teams
2003–2004Amore e Vita
2005–2006Barloworld
2007Drapac–Porsche Development Program
2008Team Halfords Bikehut[1]
2009–2011Rapha Condor

Tom Southam (born 28 May 1981)[2] is a British former competitive cyclist from Penzance, Cornwall who competed professionally between 2003 and 2011. He represented Great Britain in five World Championships and rode in several UCI ProTour events.[3] Southam currently works as a directeur sportif for the World Tour team EF Pro Cycling.[4]

Southam has a master's degree in Professional Writing from University College Falmouth and co-wrote the book Domestique: The True Life Ups and Downs of a Tour Pro with former team-mate Wegelius. The book was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award in 2013.[5] He has also written for magazines including Rouleur and Procycling. He retired from full-time racing in October 2011, remaining with his final team Rapha Condor–Sharp as their press officer.[6] He also worked as the team's assistant manager, twice guiding riders to overall victory in the Tour de Korea, before agreeing to join another former team, Drapac Professional Cycling, as sports director at the end of 2014.[7] In October 2016 it was announced that Southam would move to a directeur sportif role at Cannondale–Drapac for 2017 due to the merger of the Cannondale and Drapac squads.[8]

During the 2005 UCI Road World Championships in Madrid,[9] Southam agreed to join Charly Wegelius in riding under instructions for the Italian team rather than in support of longshot British leader Roger Hammond.[10] British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford stipulated that neither rider would likely ride for the British national team again.[1] Southam returned to race for Great Britain team at the 2008 Tour of Britain.[11]

Southam is a member of Abbots Leigh Cricket Club, and once batted at 11, scoring an unbeaten 1 run in a twelve run tail-end partnership.[12]

  1. ^ a b Birnie, Lionel (9 January 2008). "Southam Signs for Halfords Bikehut". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  2. ^ "An interview with Tom Southam". cyclingnews.com. 31 January 2005.
  3. ^ "Press Release". Drapac.
  4. ^ "UCI Team Info EF Pro cycling". UCI.
  5. ^ "MA Writing acclaim for novel 'Domestique'". University College Falmouth. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  6. ^ "Tom Southam - Press Officer". Rapha Condor-JLT. Retrieved 13 February 2014.
  7. ^ "Vogels resigns as Drapac's sports director". sbs.com.au. 27 November 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  8. ^ "Cannondale-Drapac announce Canty, Clarke and Scully signings". cyclingnews.com. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  9. ^ Elite Mens World Championship Road Race Archived 12 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine BritishCycling.org.uk, accessed 1 September 2009
  10. ^ Snowdon, Graham (13 October 2005). "Herety resigns over team tactics". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  11. ^ "2008 Tour of Britain Start List". Cycling Weekly. 29 August 2008.
  12. ^ "Registration". abbotsleigh.play-cricket.com. Retrieved 4 June 2023.