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England squad abandon plans to cycle to Euros training over 'health and safety fears'

Hodgson sought out training bases with cyclable routes in France, but he's now been told 'non'...

The England squad may have to abandon plans to cycle to daily training during Euro 2016 over traffic fears.

The team will be heading to France next year to compete, and Roy Hodgson was looking into alternative modes of transport after heavy traffic in Rio de Janeiro at the World Cup last year meant that it took the men 45 minutes by coach from Sao Conrado beach to their Urca military base training ground.

Recently, Hodgson found a base for his Liverpool players that allowed them to cycle to training.

Although options are available during the Euros, he has had to rule them out because of the risk of players being run over.

"That [cycling to training] was one of the things we were looking for," Hodgson told ESPN FC.

"The place we have actually found would give us that opportunity. It would involve cycling on the road for a small amount of time. For health and safety reasons, I have been told, it is not possible."

Hodgson is sworn to secrecy over the team’s location but the South of France and Paris have been mooted as options.

"We have highlighted and sent our first choice into UEFA," he said.

"It has to be ratified, of course, and we are still open in case even better comes up.

"But we have got a place we have asked UEFA to keep for us and that has been saved for us at the moment."

Last year we reported how Hodgson enlisted the help of Sir Dave Brailsford ahead of the FIFA World Cup in the hope that the national team’s players could learn from the success of Great Britain and Team Sky's cyclists.

Hodgson said at the time: “He’s prepared a team of British cyclists to win gold medals and he may be able to give the players a feel for how he’s done that.”

It wouldn’t be the first time that Brailsford, who was born in Derbyshire but grew up in North Wales, has been sought out by football managers eager to learn how he masterminded Team GB’s dominance of the track events at the past two Olympics and Sir Bradley Wiggins’ and Chris Froome’s victories for Sky in the Tour de France.

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson met with him after the Beijing Olympics, and following Team GB’s success at London 2012, so too did Roberto Mancini, then manager of Manchester City, whose Etihad stadium lies across the road from the National Cycling Centre.

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8 comments

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Legin | 9 years ago
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West Ham United usually have their players cycling to training on their pre-season tours that are often based on a training camp.

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mrchrispy | 9 years ago
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Isn't it usually the footballers that are the menace on the roads....the drunk/speeding drivers will be the ones on the bikes.

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SteppenHerring | 9 years ago
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It's tempting to respond that the reason Sky/Team GB cyclists are successful is because they bust a gut training and aren't a bunch of overpaid, coked up gang-rapists.

So I'll post that then.

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chokofingrz | 9 years ago
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Being a pro footballer must be awful - no road cycling, no skiing, presumably no deep water soloing, no sharp objects around the house (yet they still manage to crock themselves weekly by dropping mugs or mayonnaise bottles on their feet). I'm surprised they let them use things like cars, stairs and lace-up shoes.

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giff77 | 9 years ago
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Eh? I could understand if this was in the UK where the motorist treats the cyclist with contempt. But in France? And not even France. But South France where the locals are falling over any number of pro cyclists out training. H&S strikes again.

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Bob's Bikes | 9 years ago
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Does he actually cycle himself? I could see some of his reasoning lets face it a squad of pampered little princesses would be absolutly terrified of doing this on british roads.
But in France the cycling nirvana?

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Leviathan | 9 years ago
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I didn't know we had qualified yet.

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seyghal | 9 years ago
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"Recently, Hodgson found a base for his Liverpool players that allowed them to cycle to training." - perhaps he wouldn't allow LFC players on the coach due to his experience at the club?

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