Lockdown Locks and Cycling’s Dry Ends
By: Henry Rounce
Tags: Coronavirus, Cycling, Shane Archbold, Deceuninckquickstep, Girona

Shane Archbold wins the 2020 Road Cycling Nationals in Cambridge. Photo credit: Dave Morrison

After 32 days of lockdown in northeastern Spain, Shane Archbold’s girlfriend told him his mullet looked terrible.

His ginger locks, so accustomed to flying behind him like a kite in a stiff breeze, were getting restless. So was his partner.

“She made a DIY head mask to replenish the dry ends apparently. I don’t know if it works but that’s how bored we are, and how nice and soft I’m getting on the inside,” he says.

While many people around the world have resorted to crude hair cuts, relying on a flatmate with a bowl and a gnarly kitchen knife, the mullet, like Archbold, isn’t going anywhere.

Confined to his Girona apartment, the only fresh air he gets is a once-a-week visit to the supermarket. The strict rules have been in place since March 14, and look set to be extended too, with Spain’s prime minister asking parliament for another 15-day extension to try and slow the spread of the coronavirus.

The cycling world is in a similar state of flux. All races have been put on hold until July 1, while the Tour de France has been pushed back, ambitiously, to the end of August.

With the chain thrown off the bike, the sport is already feeling the pinch. Several top-tier teams, like Mitchelton-Scott, CCC and Astana have been forced to make pay cuts. Fortunately, Archbold’s Belgian outfit, Deceuninck-Quick-Step, have indicated it’s business as usual for them.

“I got paid the full amount last month and I haven’t had any contact about that [pay cuts]. I’ve had warnings from my personal manager to expect it at some stage, that was a blanket thing for all teams … for the moment, everything’s as normal, which is a relief.”

It’s about the only part of his life that remains the same. His days go by spending “as much time as possible doing small tasks”, reading books, cooking, playing PlayStation, and training. While some riders are clocking up hour after hour on Zwift, the 31-year-old doesn’t see the point of going over the top, when he still doesn’t know what the rest of the season looks like.

“Two hours a day, six days a week is enough to tick by on for me. As long as the core stability stays there, and as long as the intensity’s good, I don’t need the 30 hour weeks like I normally would at this time of year.”

Archbold checks in with his team trainer daily, while he talks to management once a week. They know as much as their riders about what’s going on, and have said they’ll update them when they hear something concrete about the rest of the season.

This isn’t the first time the Flying Mullet’s been put into lockdown this year. At the end of February, coronavirus enveloped the UAE Tour. The race was cancelled following Stage Five, after two staff members returned positive tests for Covid-19.

All of the riders, journalists and officials were quickly swept away and quarantined in their hotels, leaving Archbold and good mate Sam Bennett stuck in their room for days.

“I think the only thing I think back to about that is how serious people didn’t take it, and people with power, so to speak, in the world.”

In the end, eight members of UAE Team Emirates tested positive for Covid-19, along with other riders and staff from the Gazprom-Rusvelo team. It was an early warning sign for the sport, and one it seemed to ignore.

“It’s frustrating that had just happened, and then a week later I was still racing, and then another ten days later my colleagues were still racing.”

While many riders are eager to get back on the bike again, Archbold’s better suited than most to handle the uncertainty. His career has been a story of stops and starts.

In 2016, he broke his pelvis after a sickening crash at the Tour de France. Back problems soon followed, and German team Bora–Hansgrohe decided not to renew his contract. After being spat out of the World Tour peloton, he wasn’t sure whether he’d make it to the top again.

Irish team Aqua Blue Sport handed him a lifeline in 2018, only to fold at the end of the year. He moved on to EvoPro Racing, and then signed a short-term deal with Bora. His perseverance was rewarded with a win on Stage Two of the Czech Tour, and his on-going partnership with Irish sprinter Sam Bennett saw the pair make the move to powerhouse Deceuninck-Quick-Step at the end of last year.

Archbold’s cycling resurrection was capped off in February at the Road Nationals in Cambridge. The world-renowned lead-out rider hauled in George Bennett with just kilometres remaining, and continued his attack to win an emotional title.

Shane Archbold celebrates winning the Road Cycling Nationals. Photo credit: Dave Morrison

While he’s barely had the chance to show off the national jersey in Europe, the juddering nature of his career means he’s used to accepting the position he finds himself in.

“It has made me a lot more resilient to things like this … this is an easier situation for me to deal with considering everyone’s in it together. It’s not just me against the world as you see it on your down days, it’s the world against the virus.”

And the best way to win the battle at the moment is staying inside.

Tucked away in his apartment, he’s just finished a Wasjig. It’s a popular puzzle series, where you don’t know what image you’re trying to create.

With cycling on hold, and the world more confused than ever, all anyone can do is try and work out the best picture, piece by piece.