Maindy Flyers Cycling Club

Club History

In the early 1990s, when no cycling club specifically for children existed in Wales, the Maindy Flyers youth cycling club was established as a cycling club in Cardiff, with the sole aim of providing a fun and safe community environment for young cyclists to learn and develop within the sport.

Despite minimal funding and equipment, the club’s talented and passionate volunteer coaches quickly created an unbeatable team spirit that attracted children from across Cardiff who just loved riding bikes and enjoyed making friends. Producing elite cyclists was not the original intention.

The Maindy Flyers, has nurtured a string of elite riders such as Elinor Barker, Meg Barker, Luke Rowe, Owain Doull, Elynor Bäckstedt, Zoe Bäckstedt and 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas – to name but a few. A snapshot of some of the success the clubs alumni have gone on to achieve over their distinguished careers includes 4 Olympic Gold medals, 3 Commonwealth Gold Medals, over 20 World Championships and of course the winner of the Tour de France.

It is a community club where volunteering and peer learning is at the heart of the ethos of club values – younger riders look up and train with older riders in the club. The success of those who have gone before has given untold inspiration to current and future members. The club has gone from strength to strength over the years has a rich history in which the club is extremely proud of. The story of – simply passing Maindy Cycling Track and deciding to give it a go and join the Maindy Flyers – is a story told over and over and has resulted in a fantastic, rich, and inspiring contribution to the sport. To current and future members of the club, in the words of Geraint Thomas, ‘Dream Big’!

 

Elinor Barker, European, World and Olympic Gold Medallist

‘Maindy track is a really important place to me. It’s where I first rode a track bike, and where I was welcomed into the Maindy Flyers as a ten-year-old. I’m a firm believer that without stumbling across this facility, minutes from where I grew up, I would never have got into the world of cycling that’s been my life for the past 15 years.’  Quoted 2020.

 

Book links

Maindy Flyers – The world’s most successful cycling club

 

Media Articles