Ian Boswell on joining Team Sky in 2013: ‘Sometimes I felt unworthy’

Ian Boswell recounts how challenging it was to be the low man on the Team Sky totem pole when he joined the super-team in 2013.

Boswell told Cyclist that he was overwhelmed by the superstar company at the UK powerhouse now called Ineos Grenadiers when he joined as a WorldTour rookie a decade ago.

“Sometimes I would feel not worthy or necessarily mentally confident in my ability,” Boswell told Cyclist. “Especially when I first joined Team Sky in 2013, I was instantly in this environment with superstars like Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Richie Porte, and Geraint Thomas.

“I felt unworthy of being at that team at that point in time because I didn’t feel like I was performing to the level that I was capable of, but also that maybe the team had initially expected – even though I had some good performances as a U23,” Boswell told the UK website.

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The interview explores Boswell’s struggles within the UK team and his later transition to gravel racing.

He retired in 2019 following injuries with the now-folded Katusha, and began working with Wahoo Fitness. He won the 2021 edition of Unbound, and now he’s mixing his schedule around gravel events and industry work.

“If you look at road cycling, there’s a team around you and everything is taken care of. If you don’t succeed, you feel as if you’re letting the team and staff down,” he said.

“One thing that I’ve found very rewarding with gravel is that I’m self-dependent. I’m pumping up my own tires, deciding what food I’m going to bring, making my own strategy, booking my own flights.”

Read the full interview here: Cyclist