Welsh Para Pair James Ball And Steffan Lloyd Pedal Towards Paris Glory

By David Williams

Is there a higher form of trust than riding a Paralympic tandem?

A visually impaired ‘stoker’ provides power and is guided around the velodrome track at breathtaking high speed by a sighted pilot.

It is one of the most exhilarating sights in sport as Welsh pair James Ball and Steffan Lloyd prepare to fulfil those roles for ParalympicsGB at Paris 2024, with communication and a strong relationship fundamental to their hopes of victory.

Lloyd will make his Paralympic debut next week in Paris, as pilot to countryman Ball in the men’s tandem B 1km time-trial event.
The two have been working together for two years, winning a number of medals as part of a developing partnership.
“We’ve really got to know each other on and off the bike,” said Lloyd.

“James instinctively knows what I’m going to do on the track, and we’ve become good friends. We have the same sense of humour, the same interests and I know I’ve got a great friend out of doing this, as well as many medals we might win.”

The power of support.

Enjoyed working with @BritishCycling's @jamesball_91 and @Steff_lloyd23 as part of our video series with @LottoGoodCauses #Paris2024 #Paralympicspic.twitter.com/mfA3oQn96C

— Sportsbeat (@Sportsbeat) August 20, 2024

Ball started his sporting life as a sprinter who switched to cycling having narrowly missed out on the London 2012 Paralympics.

Joining forces with former pilot Lewis Stewart, Ball won Paralympic silver in debut at Tokyo 2020, covering a kilometre in 59.503 seconds.

“It’s like a balancing act on a tandem really,” said Ball. “I’m trying to be as smooth as I can while Stef’s in control on the front. When we’re going round the corners at high speed, we’re trying to be as in sync as possible and we want every training session to be like that.

“We’re just trying to be as steady as we can, even with all of the force that’s going through the bike. I just want to support Stef to do the best possible job that he can and get the fastest time.”

https://twitter.com/UCI_paracycling/status/1687508559343362059

Ball and Lloyd suffered a freak crash in 2023, an incident that proved a real jolt to their Paralympic preparations and left the former particularly shaken.

“It was no-one’s fault, but it set us back quite a bit,” said Ball. “I found it very difficult to get back on the bike and fully commit to all of the efforts we were doing.

“I learned that it’s so much harder when you have two people on the tandem, two people’s emotions, so it needed a lot of perseverance and trying again and again to get back to peak form.”

https://twitter.com/BritishCycling/status/1583168901646778368

The duo is among the 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – this is vital for their pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

“I don’t think we could have done any of this without the backing of The National Lottery,” said Lloyd. “We have one of the best tandem bikes in the world and it’s such a solid bike, which gives us so much confidence that we have all of the tools possible to perform.”

Ball said: “We have such a big support network helping us, great coaches, good medical staff, and everything we need. That wouldn’t be possible without The National Lottery.”

Discover more grassrots to glory stories of athletes like James Ball and Steffan Lloyd by following #TNLAthletes.

It's also GOLD and a WOLRD TITLE for @LibbyClegg as she teams up with pilot Georgia Holt, and James Ball piloted by Steffan Lloyd, to win the 750m Tandem Team Sprint for Great Britain! pic.twitter.com/yD6Gnxf1tE

— Scottish Cycling (@ScottishCycling) October 20, 2022