One weighs around 170kg, while the other has a minimum weight of just 6.8kg. One is powered by 25 litres of fuel, the other by 125 grams of carbs. One requires heavy leathers that can add 10kg to the rider’s weight, while the other’s kit weighs mere grams. One can hit top speeds of 300km/h, while the other can top out on a long descent at just over 100km/h. Yet, despite these differences, both share two wheels, a thrilling race scene, and a fearless rider — Scott Redding, world superbike pro and elite-level cyclist.
Redding has been a professional motorcycle rider for almost two decades now after announcing his arrival in 2008 when he became the youngest ever rider to win a Grand Prix at just 15 years and 170 days, a record he held for 10 years. His motorcycling palmarès grew rapidly and he won five races in his first year with Abruba.it Racing-Ducati and seven the following year, along with over 30 podium finishes. Redding, born and raised in Quedgeley, Gloucester, stepped up into the World Superbikes, signing with BMW, and has been riding for the team since 2022.
Like many professional athletes, racing started early and Redding began racing in 2001 when he was eight years old. But he was used to being on two wheels by this point, whether that was on a mini-motor or a good old BMX or mountain bike. “I got into cycling as a kid. That was my go-to thing,” he told Rouleur from Portugal, where he had just finished motorbike racing for the weekend. “When I was 13 or 14 and I started training for motorcycle racing, I started doing some cycling on and off over the years. It was part of my training as people would say that cycling was how you got fit.”
Fitness and weight management is what has kept Redding on the road bike – he’s one of the tallest riders on the motorcycling scene, and therefore, one of the heaviest, meaning he has to work hard to keep ‘lighter’ for racing. Having tried various other methods such as running, the gym, and even boxing, he felt the low-impact nature of cycling was more beneficial to his body, implementing it into his weekly training regime. But it was during the Covid-19 pandemic that he ramped things up on the cycling side.
“I was in the USA a bit more and I went from doing like two or three hours to doing five or six hour days on the bike and then I started racing – it was like a snowball effect and I got addicted to it,” he said. “I never thought I would be a good cyclist, especially in racing. I started as a category four rider and then built up. I won my first race and then I was up in category three, then category two, and then I got my category one. It was a mega journey, but it really just started as a fun thing.”
An athlete's mindset
As a professional athlete, Redding understands and knows the dedication and hard work it takes to achieve the desired results. It’s instilled in him to push himself – that’s what has seen him rise up the ranks in the motorbike world. But the big difference between his racing on the track and his racing on the road bike is that he has to do all of the work. “In my line of racing with motorcycles, the machine has a big percentage on how good you can be,” he added. “And that’s something that can be quite frustrating.”
Cycling has therefore given him an outlet to express any frustrations he has felt from motorbiking, knowing that if he suffers poor results on the road bike, he can progress his own body for better results. It’s also given him time away from his professional career, breaking away from the stress and pressure that comes with being an athlete. “It gave me hours to filter through everything, rebuild my mind too, which has been great,” he said.
However, Redding is an athlete. Hardwired to want the best, but busy trying to be the best in his profession. “You can’t be elite in two disciplines,” he stated, reflecting on his struggles to see his best results on the road bike this year. “I miss the consistency in cycle training. Through the winter, I really build up a good base and I am the best cycling athlete I can be in January and February – probably the worst time to be the best for the race season. Then throughout the year, every time I am away for a week or two weeks, I am not resting or recovering, I am putting my body through the stress of motorcycle racing, physically and mentally, so I can never really stay at that fitness.”
This peak in the early season races was evident in his results from 2024: second at the Costa Mesa Grand Prix, fourth at a CBR Dominguez Hills crit, and a stage win and an overall victory at the Tour of Murrieta – all races in the USA. The string of high finishes trails off as the season goes on and Redding’s motorcycling season starts, travelling across the globe to compete in the circuit’s biggest races.
“I mean, I am happy with my performance, but at the same time, I get a little bit frustrated because I know what my potential could be if I was dedicated to the sport. Sometimes, if I am in a race, like the Lincoln GP, for example, I would love to finish that race. I was in the break for three or four laps and I was feeling really good, but it just comes down to consistency – I wasn’t consistent enough in my training to be able to just finish, whereas if I was doing that race in February, I know I could finish very well in that race,” Redding said.
But this is something that Redding has to accept if he wants to continue being a successful athlete in motorbike racing. Travelling and racing takes up a lot of his time and while he has a bicycle that he keeps with the team, finding the time to get a ride in while being committed to media requests, race preparations and the race itself, is difficult. “I try to remind myself that I do it for fun,” he added.
That’s what led him to go on a three-day bikepacking trip along the UK’s Kings Alfred’s Way – a 350km-long gravel loop around Wessex. After feeling frustrated in regards to his performance on the bike and “falling out of love with it”, Redding needed a reminder as to why he rides his bike, beyond weight management and racing. And although the aim of the ride was to be relaxed, Redding still had some calculations and times in his mind he wanted to achieve, but the King Alfred’s Way made sure he stuck to his true intentions. “We’d get a certain distance and I remember thinking, we aren’t going to be there until nine o’clock in the evening, we still have six hours of riding to go. Mentally, that was quite difficult because I had to completely let my guard down,” he said.
Redding continued to add that the bikepacking trip worked, he was reminded as to why he loves cycling – going out with friends for hours on end, exploring different places, and getting from A to B under your own steam. However, he won’t be moving from the road racing scene anytime soon, adding: “I can’t say I am a massive tent type of guy.”
Gravel racing, however, is more appealing for Redding. He recently qualified for the Gravel World Championships in Belgium, but the birth of his son stopped him from racing in the event won by Mathieu van der Poel. “I was just happy to qualify and get the medal,” he said. “It has been a bit of a dream.”
Translating performance from the track to the road
“Motorcycle racing is very hard. I am basically racing for 30 minutes above threshold, which in reality, doesn’t feel possible, but with all the adrenaline and the racing you are doing it is full on” Redding said. “Sometimes you’re like, I can’t do it, especially when we are racing in places and it’s 40 degrees, we have leather suits on, its high humidity, and there is the pressure of the race mentality.
“But then when I am cycle racing, I get to these points and think I have to keep going and that’s when you realise how far you can push yourself. So, you mentally toughen yourself up and realise how far you can actually push your body. I have found that in motorcycle racing I am pushing myself hard, but I know I always have a bit more in the tank.”
Being able to give your absolute all on the road is what it takes to be successful, however it is much more than just emptying the tank as Redding explained, cycle racing is about managing your effort and being smart throughout a race so you have enough in the tank to get you to the finish – something he compares to the tyres on motorbike wheels. “If you start a motorbike race and burn out your tyres on the first five qualifying laps, then the chances are, you’re not going to win that race,” he said. “The same goes for managing your legs.”
Another element which has benefitted him in the realm of road racing from years on the motorbike is cornering. In World Superbikes, racers can tackle corners with speeds of 220km/h at a lean-to angle of around 60 degrees, so Redding is an expert in speeding around corners on his road bike, with no fear or hesitation holding him back. He classifies himself as “one of the best, if not the best cornerers, at least in the UK”.
Redding is also able to see when a gap opens up, making moves to set himself up for a sprint to the finish line – something that not everyone is able to spot so easily. He can pick a race line, stick with it, and sniff out the opportunities. At over 200km less per hour too, Redding has boundless levels of confidence in his ability to handle the road bike in the bunch.
While Redding noted that in motorbike racing the machine does a large amount of the work, he does not discredit the importance of a good road bike when cycling. Coming from a sport where companies are pushing the boundaries all the time in terms of technological developments, Redding finds the tech in the cycling industry very interesting and ensures that his set-up is the best to get the most out of his performance. “If you want to win, you’ve got to have the best parts,” he said, referring to both his races on the motorbike and on the road bike.
A team effort
In 2021, Scott Redding decided to create his own cycling team, Thriva-SRCT, with a few friends and sponsors he'd connected with through his motorbike racing career. These partnerships were crucial to the team's formation. “I was very lucky to have Muc-Off support at first, they kind of put it together,” Redding said.
Muc-Off still supports the team, as well as several other brands, including STYRKR, BMW, Thriva, Fizik, and Stork, but it is not an easy task finding brands and companies to back the team, who pay for everything for their riders and unfortunately, it has not been smooth sailing. “Last year, we shut the team and we lost a couple of our good riders and we did manage to push through for another year and unfortunately, even with the results we’ve been achieving, we are in the same position now,” Redding added. “We’re doing our absolute best, but it is so hard to find funding to keep running year by year.”
The driving force behind Redding’s decision to start the team was his desire to support young talent, particularly those sidelined due to financial constraints – evident he explains in both motorcycling and cycling. His goal is to provide these riders with the resources to help them reach their full potential. To that end, the team offers a complete package, including top-spec Storck bikes, kit, helmets, race entries, and coaching support. – “I wanted to provide the free package,” Redding said.
Building a cycling team from scratch has been a learning experience for Redding, especially given his lack of background in the cycling industry. Securing funding is only part of the challenge; finding the right staff and riders to fit the team’s culture has also been critical. Over time, Thriva-SRCT has gained a reputation for its strong team environment. Redding, who is not only the team owner but also one of the eight riders, plays a key role in motivating his teammates during both training and races. Drawing from his experience in professional motorsports, Redding knows that team spirit is essential, whether they’re winning or losing.
“What I always say to the guys is that I don’t care if you win or you finish 40th, for me, I just want you to finish. It’s important to finish no matter what and as long as you give it your absolute best, I’ll go home happy,” Redding said. “At the end of the day, we are not pro, so you’ve just got to enjoy the journey and that’s where we excel. Then when we do win, it is absolutely mega and that for me is the top of the top, but the journey to get there is a massive part of it.”
And while Redding loves to go deep into race mode on his road or gravel bike with his team, as a professional athlete, he loves to be in the same environment as others with the same athlete mindset as himself. He added: “I love it when everyone is wanting to be the best they can be. We all talk about different race scenarios, how we can diet better, perform better, work together more smoothly, and I like that. I also love seeing the guys doing that.”
Redding admits that securing sponsorship for 2025 is again a challenge for the team, but he remains determined to give his riders the opportunity to do what they love most – ride their bikes, because that is what he loves to do too. So, just as he navigates the fine balance between the raw power of his 170kg superbike and the precision of his lightweight 6.8kg road bike, Redding is now focused on helping others navigate their own journeys, whether it's on the track or on the road. Despite the vast differences between motorbike racing and cycling, his passion for two wheels – whether fuelled by horsepower or pure leg power – remains the constant force driving his ambitions forward.
