Will Perrett on 'hypocritical' battle to be environmentalist and pro cyclist at Track Champions League

ByBen Snowball

Published 07/12/2022 at 07:08 GMT

Britain’s Will Perrett finished seventh in the men’s Endurance league at the 2022 Track Champions League – an impressive return given he only switched to full-time riding earlier this year after juggling another life as an environment consultant. Perrett admits that track cycling is not that sustainable but hopes that is partly negated by the promotion of healthy transport.

Will Perrett admits that his dream to become the best track cyclist possible slightly undermines his previous life as an environment consultant.

After finding himself without a team when the Covid pandemic hit, the 26-year-old Brit took a part-time job working on green initiatives, measuring the environmental impact of big warehouses and working out how to limit the damage.

A two-year stint as a consultant followed as he continued training, before he left to pursue cycling full-time ahead of the World Track Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France in October.

UCI Track Champions League

'You gain 10 watts in morale!' - Kenny and stars explain why London velodrome is so special

00:02:10

|

09/12/2022 at 06:56

Perrett also competed in the second series of the Track Champions League this autumn, where he spoke to Eurosport about his twin interests.

“I am [environmentally conscious]. But it is difficult when you’re a cyclist and flying off to all these events to say, ‘yes, I’m really conscious about the environment’,” he said.

“But of course, I try to do certain things – trying to reuse things, not just buying things just for the sake of it, recycling and [using] sustainable transport. You ride your bike to places, you walk to places, you don’t just hop in a car.

“I do understand it’s quite hypocritical when I’m trying to be a professional cyclist and that also involves a lot of air travel.”

• 'I’m going to mesh it together' - TCL runner-up Archibald vows to come back stronger in 2023
• 'I didn’t do anything wrong' – No regrets for Lavreysen despite narrow defeat to Richardson

'Laura, stop doing this!' - Blythe v Kenny sprint race

Perrett finished seventh in the men’s Endurance league at the Track Champions League on 87 points, completing an impressive series for the Brits with Mark Stewart and Oli Wood finishing third and fourth respectively in the same classification.

But he confesses track cycling is “not the most sustainable”, a negative he hopes is outweighed by the sport’s other benefits.

“Probably not very [sustainable], is the short answer, with how much energy it costs to heat these venues, to fly all the different cyclists in from all over the world.

“But on the other hand, you could say it’s promoting cycling as a sport and if it means people get on their bikes and start using it as a sustainable form of transport, it is positive thing.”

Asked how he would apply his environmental expertise to the Track Champions League, Perrett said that small changes could make a big difference.

“There are 72 athletes competing. If each individual athlete just did a small thing, it would make a big difference,” he said.

“It would be more sustainable, obviously, getting the bus across like a lot of the athletes have done from Paris, rather than jumping on a plane. There are little things that you can do.”

- - -

The UCI Track Champions League will return for season three in 2023 - and you can watch it all live and on demand on discovery+

UCI Track Champions League

The Track Champions League - the hottest ticket in town

00:02:11

|

08/12/2022 at 10:45

UCI Track Champions League

Kenny, Archibald and Rowsell share their London velodrome memories

00:07:20

|

08/12/2022 at 11:04

UCI Track Champions League

Messiest, latest, loudest… TCL roommates dish the dirt on each other

00:01:53

|

14/12/2022 at 14:15