Stephen Williams (cyclist)

Stephen Williams
	Williams at the 2023 Paris–Nice
Personal information
Full name	Stephen Williams
Born	9 June 1996 (age 27); Aberystwyth, Wales
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	59 kg (130 lb; 9.3 st)
Team information
Current team	Israel–Premier Tech
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Climber
Professional teams
2016	JLT–Condor
2017–2018	SEG Racing Academy
2018	Bahrain–Merida (stagiaire)
2019–2022	Bahrain–Merida
2023	Israel–Premier Tech
Major wins
	Stage races Arctic Race of Norway (2023)

Stephen Williams (born 6 June 1996) is a Welsh professional cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProSeries Team Israel–Premier Tech.^[3] His career wins include overall victories in the 2021 CRO Race and 2023 Arctic Race of Norway, and stage one of the 2022 Tour de Suisse.

Career

After racing for JLT–Condor and SEG Racing Academy as an amateur, he joined Bahrain–Merida as a stagiaire in August 2018 and became a full member of the team in 2019.^[4] Along with Mark Cavendish, he had planned to join B&B Hotels–KTM for the 2023 season but the team collapsed before the season began. He later accepted an offer for 2023 from Israel–Premier Tech on a one-year contract.^[5]

Race wins

Williams made his breakthrough in the 2018 Ronde de l'Isard, an under-23 event in France. Williams dominated the four-stage race, winning the first and second stages on his way to victory in both the general and mountain classifications. He also won stage five of the Giro Ciclistico d'Italia or "Baby Giro" in the same year.^[6]

His first professional victory was stage five of the 2021 CRO Race, a result that also gave him the lead of the race. He rode to the line in a three-rider breakaway on the sixth and final stage, finishing second on the day but sealing overall victory by seventeen seconds.^[7]

Williams achieved his first victory at UCI WorldTour level on stage one of the 2022 Tour de Suisse, sprinting to first in a strong group ahead of Maximilian Schachmann and Andreas Kron.^[8]

He claimed his second overall professional victory at the 2023 Arctic Race of Norway. Williams began Stage 3 in ninth position and won the stage to lead the race by one second over Christian Scaroni. Both riders finished the fourth and final stage in the leading group but neither gained bonus seconds which confirmed Williams as the overall winner.^[9]

Grand Tour participation

Williams was selected by Bahrain–McLaren to ride his first Grand Tour at the 2020 Vuelta a España. He was in 155th place after stage 10 and withdrew from the race prior to stage 11.^[10] His next appearance in one of cycling's showpiece three-week races was at the 2023 Giro d'Italia. Despite relegation from the UCI WorldTour and failure to pre-qualify as one of the two best ProSeries teams in the previous year's points list, Israel–Premier Tech was given an unexpected invitation after both Lotto–Dstny and Team TotalEnergies declined their guaranteed wildcards. Williams finished the race in 93rd place and recorded his highest Grand Tour stage result to date, sprinting to 12th place in the final stage around Rome.^[11]