Unique coach and athlete relationship on the tandem

The tandem pairing of Hannah Pascoe and Laura Thompson produced an outstanding eighth-placed finish in the time trial and 11th in the road race in their Para-cycling Road World Cup debut last weekend.

Successful athlete-coach relationships generally have a bit of magic which makes them special.

But what about the chemistry required when your coach is also your teammate and you are trying to force your way back into the national high performance para-cycling programme as a road rider?

Consider the relationship between Hannah Pascoe and sighted rider Laura Thompson - not only has Thompson recently taken over the pilot role, she has also been Pascoe’s coach since the blind rider first turned her hand to cycling.

Pascoe, who lost her sight completely just over a decade ago at the age of 26, had completed 16 marathons and two half Ironman events before shifting her attention to the velodrome.

She competed at the UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Brazil in 2018, but ultimately lacked the physiology to be a top level track cyclist and when the Tokyo Paralympics were postponed due to Covid, Pascoe and partner Nick Crawford started a family, welcoming son Max.

“The best thing ever,” Pascoe says.

“I’m so glad we decided to have Max when we did and it was the right time to have a break. I’ve come back into it wanting to redeem myself from before, when I didn’t really know a lot and I was terrified and way too hard on myself mentally. I just wanted to come back and do it a different way and it’s been amazing.”

“She’s come back a different athlete from before,” Thompson adds.

“She’s way tougher, more committed to what she’s doing. She’s been working really hard and training really well and it’s been cool. Hannah is very determined, she’s everything you want in an athlete in terms of the work that she’ll put in and the effort that she’ll make. It’s been interesting seeing her push her boundaries.”

Meanwhile, Thompson, a former New Zealand basketball representative, has been a force in para-cycling, recognised for her contribution in the 2013 and 2022 New Years Honours lists.

She won gold, silver and bronze with Phillipa Gray at the London Paralympics in 2012 and eight medals at track and road world championship level with Emma Foy from 2014 to 2016 before moving into coaching.

As coach, teammate and support person when competing at events including last weekend’s Para-cycling road World Cup in Belgium, Thompson and Pascoe are about as close as it’s possible to get.

It’s also made for some interesting coaching ‘experiments’.

“With Hannah being blind, there are a lot of challenges that people probably don’t really think about. In terms of watching someone complete a skill, you get a lot out of that and Hannah doesn’t get that most of the time. We’ve been working really hard to find different ways for her to learn cycling skills, like getting out of the seat or doing a standing start, that’s been quite a fun wee project.”

One ‘experiment’ to work on Pascoe’s coordination involved putting Pascoe on a two-wheeled bike on her own for the first time since she lost her sight.

Fair to say it was a short-lived experience.

“There were a few heart issues…but it was a cool thing to do, you were buzzing off it,” Thompson said.

“I haven’t been back on it since,” Pascoe laughed.

Thompson has loved getting back onto the bike.

“It’s been really cool actually. It’s a different type of coaching where you are actively involved in all the processes. I’ve been on the tandem for a long time so you get a good feeling for what people are up to on the back. Doing sport in a different way after coming back from having three kids is also enjoyable. Being a bit more time poor, it’s been interesting how much I can get out of my body in short periods of time.”

Hannah light-heartedly describes Thompson in different ways depending on the role.

“As a coach, she’s scary - and as a teammate, amazing,” she says with a laugh.

“Laura has been amazing to learn from on the front of the bike. Laura has all this knowledge from past racing and what the body needs to do in order to do something really good. When we were racing (at the national championships) it was amazing to be racing with someone who was as passionate about it as I am.”