Brown targeting World Tour contract
By: Henry Rounce
Tags: World Tour, Cycling, Ntt Cycling, Sport, Connor Brown

Connor Brown in action for the NTT Continental Cycling team. Photo credit: NTT Pro Cycling

Unless it’s a family catch-up, a group Zoom call is never good.

It’s how New Zealand cyclist Connor Brown found out about the future of his Continental team. After six years, Japanese telecommunications company NTT decided they wouldn’t be renewing their contract, leaving the organisation in a perilous position.

“It was pretty upsetting they decided to pull out for next season,” he explains from Italy. “The team is still searching for other options and they want to keep going forward for 2021, but it’ll just be whether they can find a sponsor or not.”

The fragile nature of sport, particularly cycling, has been exposed during the coronavirus pandemic. Several teams have lost sponsors and vital income, and there’s likely to be more suffering as the peloton tries to rebuild.

But despite the gloomy outlook, Brown is upbeat about his chances of finding another gig.

“I’m pretty confident in my ability this year and some of the results I’ve had so I’m still positive I can make it to the next level maybe in the next season, or the season after that.”

Brown’s certainly impressed in his final year at the Under-23 level. He’s already had a taste of the World Tour as well, riding the Giro della Toscana and the Coppa Sabatini in September.

“That was a pretty cool experience. In Toscana, I spent like 170 kilometres in the breakaway, so the team was pretty happy with that. It was an eye-opening experience going on the team bus and stuff like that, you dream about things like that when you are really young.”

Connor Brown competing in an European race. Photo credit: NTT Pro Cycling

Brown’s family is originally from South Africa, and after he was born in Cape Town, they moved to New Zealand when he was four. He got into cycling when he went to high school at St Kents in Auckland. While he originally started with triathlon, he soon fell in love with the bike, and continued after school, spending time with Team Skoda Fruzio.

The 22-year-old is still figuring out his style on the road, settling on being a puncheur for the time being.

“I’m not really a sprinter, I’m not really a climber, I’m probably more suited to the time trial. But I can climb some shorter ones, and I can sprint when there’s a small breakaway and do pretty well there.”

It’s been one of the toughest years he’s had on the bike, starting with the lockdown restrictions in Europe, and the struggle to find motivation in and around July. Even when racing started again, he faced a hectic schedule, and couldn’t make the start line for an event earlier this month after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus.

While it’s been a tumultuous season, Brown managed to make his mark during one of the biggest races on the Under-23 calendar, finishing third on Stage 7 of the Baby Giro.

“I actually started the race last year but I had a lot of mechanical problems and I was forced to pull out. I had a lot of unfinished business this time around and I wanted to do something memorable. I just had a fire in my belly.”

Despite giving everything on the day, he was caught by eventual race winner Tom Pidcock, who’s since signed with cycling heavyweights Team Ineos.

Brown’s hoping he can make a similar step to the next level, with his dream a spot on the World Tour. Left with just a few race days this season, he’s going all in to try and make it happen.

“Races like Paris-Roubaix, Flanders, they’ve always had a special place in my heart. I think I’m a rider suited towards the Classics so it would be pretty cool to do those one day.”