Para-cyclist William Bjergfelt said it was “fantastic” to see his sacrifices pay off after winning his first World Cup road race in Belgium.
The 44-year-old from Portishead, Somerset, recently took a two-year sabbatical from his engineering job to focus fully on selection for the Paris Paralympics in 2024.
Bjergfelt took gold in the World Cup C5 road race in Ostend last weekend.
The result followed third place at a World Cup round in Italy last month.
“I’m probably one of the oldest guys still racing in this category at this level and I’m acutely aware that I can’t carry on forever,” Bjergfelt told BBC Radio Bristol.
“At the same time that’s another reason why I’ve taken the sabbatical from work.
“To sacrifice that wage, income that would be helping me and my family, then to be able to get a win out of it – something I’ve never done on the road and I know it’s rare for me to win a sprint as well.
“To win the sprint, put out record numbers for myself and to get the win myself as well is fantastic.”
Bjergfelt agonisingly missed out on selection for the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021 after breaking his leg in the months before.
In order to give himself the best chance of making Great Britain’s squad for the Games next year, he decided to put his day job on hold to focus full-time on his cycling career.
“I’ve always worked as well as having a family and everything else so now not to be working, to be able to rest after I’ve been out training is making an absolutely ridiculous difference,” Bjergfelt said.
“When I came home from work before I’d come home, have a spoonful of peanut butter, a double espresso coffee and then I’d be out on my bike for three or four hours.
“Whereas now I’m getting up in the morning, I’m doing a little bit of core work before I go out on the bike, then I go out on the bike, then I’m doing some stretching and mobility, possibly having a snooze, then off to do all the normal stuff with my family in the afternoon and the evening.
“It’s making an absolutely ridiculous difference and it’s the biggest game changer for me in the last 12 months.”
‘Need to be in the mix’
The winning start to the year has given Bjergfelt confidence in the build-up to his major focus for 2023 – the World Championships in Glasgow this August.
“The primary goal now is to come out of Glasgow with a medal – any coloured medal – that helps hopefully secure my spot on the Paralympics squad for Paris next year,” he said.
“The British Cycling squad are such a strong squad. You’ve got 14 male riders on there and of those 14, 10 or 12 of them have got world champions jerseys on their backs and world records, and all sorts of things.
“The prediction is that eight or nine males are going to go to the next Paralympics and I need to be in that mix.
“I need to be one of those guys who’s getting one or two medals and then I know my place is being prioritised.”
Bjergfelt was a mountain biker earlier in his career and was involved in a head-on collision with a car while training in 2015 that doctors thought would end his cycling career.
While he said his time trialling still needs work before the summer – Bjergfelt finished eighth in the C5 TT in Ostend – he thinks his years racing on the road are coming into fruition. In 2021 he became the first Para-cyclist to ride the men’s Tour of Britain.
“All the years of experience have really helped me when it comes to the road race. I can be quite canny and I have a very good understanding of how everyone is working for or against each other in these races,” Bjergfelt said.
However, earning his place in a first Paralympics next year is still the ultimate aim.
“I’m acutely aware that to get to Paris I need to perform a level above again,” Bjergfelt continued.
“For the sacrifice I’ve made to come away from my normal day job and have my normal salary coming in – my wife has had to do an extra day of work to compensate for that – there’s extra motivation to make sure I’m doing everything that I possibly can to make myself in the best condition I can be in and the best form I can be in when it counts.”
