'If you want something badly enough, you make it happen' - Tiffany Keep interview
Global Peloton speaks to South African rider at the Tour of Britain Women
The gap between the smallest and biggest teams is vast at the Tour of Britain Women. Most of the WorldTour teams have driven their fully kitted-out team buses over from continental Europe, all of them aiming high at stage wins and the overall classification.
Meanwhile, five British continental teams also compete, their budgets around 5-10% of the best-resourced outfits of the race. In the most part, their goal is to make it to the end of the race in Glasgow and give their sponsors some exposure. Some aim higher, with hopes of springing a surprise result or making it into the breakaway, if there is one.
24-year-old Tiffany Keep is feeling good after stage one. Too good maybe. She felt that she had more to give on the first stage. “I really wanted to do something on stage 2,” Keep recalls and told her soigneur that she hoped to make the breakaway on stage two.
“I think for us, for the smaller teams in the race, getting in the breakaway is a really big deal. It's actually a lot harder than people think as well. You're never guaranteed that when you try to get up the road that they're going to allow you to stay away,” Keep tells Global Peloton before the start of stage 3.
Read more:
Le Court-Pienaar bruised but looking ahead at Tour of Britain Women
'Rwanda is safe' - The latest on the Kigali World Championships
The story of A.R.Monex - the team that discovered Isaac Del Toro
The DAS-Hutchinson rider was successful, spending 90km in the break on day two’s romp through the north east of England and picking up the combativity prize, which meant a trip to the podium at the end of the stage.
“I didn't think it would actually happen. You can never guarantee all those things,” Keep added.
“I went over the top of another attack that my teammate went in initially. Once she got brought back, I saw the opportunity, and I was like, ‘I've just got to go for it’.”
“It ended up being a very long day out, but very successful in the way that we managed to pick up the sprint points and the QOM points, and I got a lot further I think maybe than I would have thought. Then I got to be on the podium at the presentation. It was amazing.”
From South Africa to the UK
2025 is the South African’s third full season racing in the UK. It’s never easy for South African riders to make it over to Europe, something that is vital if they want to have any career as a cyclist.
Keep’s ambitions are high, and the Tour of Britain Women showed that Keep can more than keep up in a WorldTour race. Not many continental level riders where strong enough to escape the grasp of the bunch during the four-stage race.
“I think with anything in life, if you want something to happen, you will make it happen. That was 100% the case for me,” Keep said.
The 2021 World Championships in Belgium were a turning point for Keep, who still works part-time to fund her career. That was the moment she made the decision to commit everything to her cycling dream.
“I remember the first day of the World Championships I did as an under-23. I was like, right, next year I'm graduating from my university degree. I'm going to have a little bit more time.”
She spoke with Ian Watson, manager of amateur team Brother UK – LDN, which has become the UCI continental Das-Hutchinson team today, who took her on a short-term basis.
“That first year was a really good start. I learned so much from that year that I was so keen to come back and just keep building.”
“That first year, we only raced in the UK. Then the following years, we began to race more internationally. Racing in Europe is really where I want to be. It was really cool to progress through the team without having to move to another team.”
This year, Keep has had a more than solid season, backing up her strong showing at the Tour of Britain Women with fourth on stage three of the Tour de Feminin and a third place at the South African national championships.
“It's been quite a journey,” Keep concludes as she rides off to the start of stage three.
Thanks for reading Global Peloton!
If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing.
You could also…
And if you’re feeling super generous, you can Buy Me a Coffee