Adam Blythe

Adam Michael Blythe (born 1 October 1989) is an English former professional road and track racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2010 and 2019 for the , , , , and teams. Blythe began racing at a young age and went on to become a member of British Cycling's Olympic Development Programme.

Amateur career Born in Sheffield, Blythe began cycling at a young age with the Sheffield Phoenix club. Cycling was a family activity, his sister Kimberley Blythe was also fairly successful as a young rider.

Blythe became Derbyshire's Junior Sportsman of the Year in the East Midlands Sports Personality of the Year Awards, 2005.

Blythe left British Cycling's Academy Programme by mutual consent in February 2008, and went to race in Belgium. He stayed with the ex-professional cyclist, Tim Harris, in Westmeerbeek, near Antwerp. Blythe was awarded a Cycling Time Trials scholarship to enable him to race on the continent and develop further. He raced for the Wielerclub Des Sprinters Malderen which is a feeder club for a professional team. He also received support from the Dave Rayner Fund during his time in Belgium.

Professional career Blythe returned to Belgium to ride for the DAVO squad in 2009, under the tutelage of Kurt Van De Wouwer, a former professional. He had joined pro-tour team as a trainee in July 2009, it was announced on 7 September 2009 that he had signed a two-year contract with Silence-Lotto in the wake of a string of good results for the team.

In 2012, Blythe followed his teammate and close friend Philippe Gilbert to the .

In 2014, Blythe rode for the newly formed British team. After a very successful year competing on the British domestic scene, Blythe joined Australian team for the 2015 season. After one season there in August 2015 it was announced that Blythe would be moving to for the 2016 season, where he would be reunited with directeur sportif Sean Yates, who worked with Blythe during his time with NFTO.

With folding at the end of 2016, Blythe joined the squad for its inaugural season in 2017. Following the announcement of 's collapse, in September 2018 Blythe announced that he would return to for the 2019 season, linking up with former teammate Caleb Ewan as part of the latter's sprint train, with an additional role as a domestique for the team's classics squad.

In October 2019, Blythe announced that he would retire at the end of the season. He was also "on-site" reporter for NBC Sports' coverage of the 2020 Tour de France, and fulfilled that role again in 2021.

In November 2019, Blythe announced that he was taking up a role with David Millar's cycling clothing brand CHPT3 as a product marketing executive.

Major results Road

2006 3rd National Criterium Championships 2007 1st Overall Driedaagse van Axel 1st Sprints classification 1st Points classification 1st Combination classification 1st Stages 1 & 4 1st Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne Juniores 6th Paris–Roubaix Juniors 2008 Tour of Hong Kong Shanghai 1st Stages 2 & 3b 2009 1st Circuit du Port de Dunkerque 1st Stage 7 Thüringen Rundfahrt der U23 2nd Grote 1-MeiPrijs 5th Antwerpse Havenpijl 2010 (4 pro wins) 1st Overall Circuit Franco-Belge 1st Points classification 1st Young rider classification 1st Stages 1 & 3 1st Nationale Sluitingsprijs 3rd Omloop van het Houtland 4th Grand Prix de Fourmies 4th Schaal Sels 2011 2nd Houtem–Vilvoorde 3rd Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem 4th Overall Ronde van Drenthe 1st Young rider classification 7th Overall Tour de Wallonie-Picarde 2012 (2) 1st Binche–Tournai–Binche 1st Stage 1 Paris–Corrèze 2nd Omloop van het Houtland 3rd Handzame Classic 4th Grand Prix d'Isbergues 10th Overall Tour of Qatar 2013 4th Overall Tour of Qatar 1st Stage 2 (TTT) 2014 (1) 1st National Criterium Championships 1st RideLondon–Surrey Classic 1st Otley GP 1st Ipswich and Coastal GP 1st Circuit of the Fens 1st Jersey International Road Race 2nd Beverley GP 3rd Beaumont Trophy 6th Rutland–Melton International CiCLE Classic 2015 2nd Stafford GP 3rd Overall Tour de Korea 2016 (1) 1st Road race, National Championships 2017 2nd Nokere Koerse 2nd Handzame Classic 4th Ronde van Drenthe 2018 (1) 1st Elfstedenronde 2nd Road race, National Championships 5th Handzame Classic 7th Ronde van Limburg 9th Three Days of Bruges–De Panne

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Giro d'Italia DNF DNF — 166 — — — — Tour de FranceDid not contest during his career Vuelta a España — — — — — — — 155

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish

Track

2006 1st Team pursuit, UEC European Junior Championships National Junior Championships 1st Scratch 2nd Points race 2nd Madison, National Championships (with Matthew Rowe) 2007 1st Team pursuit, UEC European Junior Championships 1st Madison, National Championships (with Luke Rowe) 1st UIV Cup, Six Days of Ghent (with Peter Kennaugh) National Junior Championships 2nd Scratch 3rd Points race 2013 2nd Madison, National Championships (with Peter Kennaugh) 2014 2nd Team pursuit, National Championships