Matt Bostock hopes ‘friendly rivalry’ will bring out his best as Nocturne returns

After overcoming the fallout from a serious crash at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Matt Bostock arrives at the City of London Nocturne with renewed confidence

Matt Bostock is hoping a friendly rivalry with teammate Ollie Wood at the City of London Nocturne will supercharge an extraordinary summer on the bike.

The City of London criterium race is a new event developed by the founder of the original Smithfield Nocturne, bringing a fast-paced, urban feel to elite cycling, as food stalls and street music grace the event.

As a crit race specialist, Bostock is delighted to see world class racing back in the capital, especially with the bulk of the crit season and Commonwealth Games to come after. He said: “I’ve seen a lot of things obviously in the past about how good it was, so the fact a new event is coming back while I’m still racing is amazing.

“I spoke to [2017 winner] Brenton Jones and Ed Clancy. I saw how good it looks and the atmosphere obviously factors in Nocturne.”

Three-time Olympic gold medallist Clancy claimed victory in 2015 and 2018 before the event’s hiatus, but Bostock will have to tussle with RCC Racing teammate Ollie Wood if he wants to claim the title. He said: “It’s a friendly rivalry. In an ideal world, we’d share the wins out, but obviously that’s not as simple as it would seem. We can’t let it slip so if it does fall to one of us we have to win. It is a healthy bit of pushing each other on.

“You don’t really get a chance to properly take it in, when you’re racing but maybe we can watch a bit of the women’s race and soak it in that way.”

The 28-year-old has endured a difficult few years since a terrible crash at the 2022 Commonwealth Games put him in hospital, but after a strong showing at the UCI Track World Cup, he seems in good form. And with a potential Commonwealth Games return for the Isle of Man coming up this summer, it’s not hard to guess who his idol is.

He said: “It has been one of my biggest goals throughout my life. I watched Mark Cavendish win the scratch race gold when I was about 10 years old with my dad. It’s the first memory I have of watching professional cycling and I was just screaming at the telly and couldn’t really believe that this Manx cyclist was going to win the Commonwealth Games.

“I’m not going to be anywhere near the level of Cav, but it would be nice to get a medal and replicate him in that way. In 2022, I had a good year. I was doing really well and then I had concussion that lasted six months. Through the whole thing, I have thought that the potential was there.

“It’s kind of like a stone left unturned and I never wanted to stop without giving up my all.”

Beyond the Games, Bostock is targeting the Tour of Britain as well as domination across the crit season and already has the elimination and scratch race National Championships under his belt in 2026. He said: “The main chunk for me is always the crits. I made a career winning crit so that’ll be the aim again.”

To find out more and enter races go to www.racenocturne.com