Jim Brown | In search of a breakthrough

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Our latest podcast episode features an in-depth interview with Jim Brown, the first of five new signings for the Canyon dhb SunGod team.

In our minds, Jim is one of the most under-rated young British riders around. He dreams of winning Roubaix one day but after a difficult first two years at the under-23 level, the Yorkshireman hasn’t yet had the opportunity to show his full potential.

As a junior, he grabbed our attention with plenty of top results without ever quite grabbing that big win. In 2018, for example, he was 2nd in the Keizer der Juniores, 4th in the E3 Harelbeke, 6th in the Guido Reybrouck and 7th in Gent-Wevelgem. A fine tally, especially considering that more often than not he was up against Remco Evenepoel that year.

In 2019, his first as an under-23, the first half of his year was interrupted by injury. But he finished strongly, riding the Tour de l’Avenir – where he grabbed a top 10 on stage 4 – and was then part of the Great Britain team at the Tour of Britain that catapulted Matt Walls to some top sprint results.

This year Jim has been based with the French elite team CC Étupes, the team Adam Yates rode for before he turned pro. Like every other road rider in the world, he endured a disrupted race season. Nonetheless, he enjoyed a lot more racing than his British-based peers, picking up several podiums and top tens along the way.

His team would have been happy to keep him, but when Canyon dhb boss Tim Elverson came calling, Jim decided to join the British based team. As he explains in the interview, the team will have six under-23 riders next year, and hopes to put together a race programme that will take in some of the top under-23 races in Europe.

With a good run of form, the right team support and a set of races that will suit him, it could be that 2021 is the year that Jim truly begins to demonstrate his potential.

In the interview, Jim explains how he got into cycling doing club runs on a tandem. He reviews his junior years, explains what kind of rider he is, discusses a tough year at the GB Senior Academy, tells us how he found racing in France with CC Étupes and explains why he decided to join Canyon dhb SunGod.

NOTE: THIS VERSION OF THE INTERVIEW HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY EDITED TO REMOVE THE NAMES OF CANYON DHB SUNGOD'S OTHER NEW SIGNINGS! IT WILL BE REPLACED BY AN UNEDITED VERSION ON FRIDAY

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