A British sprint cyclist, and three time silver medallist behind Sir Chris Hoy, has won his first professional sponsorship deal as he tries to rebuild his career following injury.
23 year old David Daniell, who works full time as a coach for Glasgow Life at the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome in Glasgow, has signed a one year deal with Cycle Law Scotland, a specialist law firm set up to represent cyclists involved in road traffic collisions.
The deal comes after an extremely difficult period for David who was at the top of his sport winning a silver medal for Keirin cycling at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games before vital knee surgery left him unable to return to training for 15 weeks.
David was just 14 years old when he was scouted by British Cycling at his school in Middlesbrough and joined the regional cycling team as an endurance racer. From there he went on to succeed as a sprint cyclist when he was selected by national coach, Ian Dyer, to join the Olympic Development Programme opening up his opportunities to race internationally.
Over the next few years, David rose up through the ranks and went from a junior to a senior member, eventually moving to Manchester to train with the likes of Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny as part of the adult British Cycling Academy.
Then in autumn 2012, after badly twisting his leg on a casual road ride, David lost around 40% of the cartilage in his joint causing a massive impact on his training schedule.
Despite intensive therapy and a gradual return to training, David was unfortunately dropped from the British team just before Christmas 2012 as he was no longer able to perform at the level he had shown pre-injury.
Commenting on this time in his life David said, “I felt like everything I had spent so long working for had just been taken away from me and it was an extremely tough experience to go through.
“It was incredibly frustrating as, in my mind, I felt like I could still ride at the level I had before but my body was just not up to it.
“I found myself unemployed with no way of funding myself through training. It was then I decided to make the move to Glasgow. I managed to get a job coaching at the velodrome which was a huge step forward as it allowed me to continue my training and pay the bills at the same time.”
After arriving in Glasgow, David was introduced to Brenda Mitchell, the founder of Cycle Law Scotland through connections at the velodrome. She became increasingly interested in David’s plans to return to international competitions.
In December, a full sponsorship deal for 2014 was agreed to help David maintain his bikes and equipment as well as financing time on the track.
Cycle Law Scotland founder Brenda Mitchell said, “Cycle Law Scotland is delighted to offer David sponsorship for the next year as he truly deserves a helping hand. He has worked tirelessly to rebuild his dream of being a professional cyclist and it is important his hard work is recognised.
“Cycle Law Scotland was set up to provide cyclists with unrivalled, specialist, personal legal representation in the event of an accident. Cycling is our passion and we are dedicated to promoting the sport as much as possible.
“I look forward to sharing David’s journey over the next 12 months on his road back to competitive racing.”Submit
David said, “The support from Cycle Law Scotland is a massive help towards the everyday costs of being able to train and getting me back to competitive level.
“With their support, my dream of qualifying to cycle for Scotland in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast City Australia can become a reality.”
David also hopes to compete at Glasgow 2014, however he will have to represent England as he has not yet been resident in Scotland long enough to qualify.
Cycle Law Scotland is preparing to announce further sponsorship deals in the near future as part of its commitment to supporting cycling at all levels across Scotland.
CLS is also behind the campaign for stricter liability, Road Share, which aims to change Scots Civil Law to protect the most vulnerable on the road.