Exposed by a KOM… the story of the ‘pro’ Nick Clark

Exposed by a Strava KOM: The many lives of a fake pro cyclist

It’s an interesting story for anyone who’s bored..

A guy makes up a small story, the world snowballs from there….

I feel a certain amount of sympathy in some ways and it appears he did do some good in the world at times… but… well, he was a bit liberal with the truth too

A guy makes up a small story, the world snowballs from there

Not to spoiler, but that’s someway from the reality of that story!

That link doesn’t work for me – anyone else?

Fine for me.

Jeez, I haven’t been so surprised since the time I beat Lewis Hamilton to the World Karting title in 98!

It’s an odd story!

His end venture , and fabrications, is the sort of thing which could get him filled in if he tries that with the real players.

A mad story and I ended up getting drawn in to read it all…

Cracking read that was, fascinating story.

I sense a sponsorship deal with Rich Energy in the offing.

Amazing the lengths some will go to.

And that’s just talking about whoever wrote all that 🙂

I just read that yesterday, it’s a hell of a story. Must’ve taken quite a bit of research to find all that out.

Read that a couple of weeks ago, it was a fascinating story.

I think you find Walter Mitty’s like that in various sporting arenas but that one takes it to a whole new level.

the story of the ‘pro’ Nick Clark

A guy makes up a small story, the world snowballs from there

Not to spoiler, but that’s someway from the reality of that story!

Nick Clark eh? That’s not insider knowledge is it @nickc

Haha, I doubt I’d have the energy needed to pull off the total nonsense that guy managed. That’s the thing that always surprises me the most with stories like this; the effort you’d need to go through every single day just to keep up with all the lies you’ve told must be utterly exhausting.

Yeah, you wonder what was going through his mind when he wasn’t in the presence of others, keeping up the pretence. I imagine it wasn’t a happy place.

It’s an interesting tale, the bloke is clearly a fantasist and narcissist who has allowed a fake persona to consume his entire reality, and hurt others in the process, but I can’t help wondering if it deserves 10,000+ words.

It’s a lot of time and energy expended by a reporter to bring down what is still a relatively small fish.

It’s a lot of time and energy expended by a reporter to bring down what is still a relatively small fish.

As with that, i do question ‘why’

Sure it seems the guy was a bit of an arse/bully to the Ladies team, but the reporter didn’t know that at the start and was already balls deep into the story by that stage…. but for what end goal ? He was just a bloke running a shop who had a few odd stories that didn’t stack up.

 by a reporter to bring down

Nick Clark bought all of this on himself, the reporter is just telling the story.

I just wonder where the money came from. Doesn’t sound like the bike shop made any. Was it all from those dubious CEO jobs?

He was just a bloke running a shop who had a few odd stories that didn’t stack up.

No different to lying on a CV really. I know a guy who has just gone to prison for 5 years for that (amongst other things).

New link?

Link didn’t work for me either, but this one did…

Will read

DrP

Nick Clark bought all of this on himself, the reporter is just telling the story.

True, but I can’t help thinking it all stems from that KOM he broke being the reporter’s. (it may not have been but it feels like it!)

He was just a bloke running a shop who had a few odd stories that didn’t stack up.

That was your takeaway from this? You missed all the stuff about his “army” career? his university degrees? the tattoo?  The wild misogyny involved in the female cycling team? The damage that’s caused? There’s a psychological drama going on in that mans head that should in any other circumstances need the help of professionals to resolve. From cycling he’s gone on to reinvent himself again but this time in a gun shop.

 but I can’t help thinking it all stems from that KOM he broke being the reporter’s.

Nah the KOM was just the can of worms being opened I think, Nick Clark beat even Sepp Kuss’ time up there.

In the course of dozens of interviews over well over a year, a few words kept coming up: Sociopath. Liar. Narcissist. Another term emerged: pseudologica fantastica. Others spoke of the experience as a kind of folie a deux – a shared delusion, where others are caught up in another’s lie, coming to nestle inside of it with the liar.

Sorry but can someone remind me who this article is about. 🙂

That seems a very long article spun out of a much shorter story.

It does remind me of one of those Netflix documentaries which take six episodes to tell you someone is basically a bit of a liar and a conman.

That seems a very long article spun out of a much shorter story.

Yes it’s not a story for those with attention spans that mean people like him can easily fool people like them. 😁

20 chapters?! Does sound like an interesting tale though, maybe something to read on the shitter for the next few weeks 🤔

the effort you’d need to go through every single day just to keep up with all the lies you’ve told must be utterly exhausting.

Yeh, but for £160K a year salary, a country house and a flat in Downing Street you’d make the effort

really ? we have to drag it back to politics?

really ? we have to drag it back to politics?

Are you new here or something? 😂

Bit worried the next chapter will be about a madman rampaging through suburban America armed to the hilt from his gun shop, in full camo outfit, avenging all that have wronged him.

Guys like this shouldn’t be allowed near firearms, but hey, it’s his constitutional right….

heck of a thing!

what a wild story. Some people are just very strange.

It did make me think…. when was the last time i told a lie and i honestly cant remember?! But as a multiple tour de france, rampage and EWS winner, why would i need to lie?!

Id say that guy has similar levels of narcissism to Johnson tbf!

We all tell lies & embellishments , but it must be crazy when youve told so many that you just cant keep track of it all

What an utter scumbag. Imagine wearing someone else’s military service medals and passing them off as your own.
Amazing that he got away with it for so long, but then for most people trust is the default position.

Moral of the story…. don’t cheat to get a KOM. Serious stuff. 🙂

The main thing I am left wondering is… how lousy were the riders in his fanclub/shop teams? Surely they must have thought he was hot stuff not to see straight through the Paris-Roubaix invite in 2018.

But this excerpt suggests he really wasn’t: “Clark himself competed in four Cat 3 road races in total, finishing in the back half of the field on each occasion.”

Yeah I imagine even at my fittest on a good day with a tailwind that any ex pro who isn’t a 100 years old and still rides regularly would destroy me easily.

How do people like this make so much money & get away with it for so long. It’s like they have the cheat codes for life

Amazing that he got away with it for so long, but then for most people trust is the default position.

If you go back just far enough that the internet isn’t always reliable and there’s no (easy) way of checking – plus he’s a nice / charming / helpful guy, it’s not that difficult to get away with it.

The claims are believable enough without being outlandish – things like a Bronze medal in a Junior race, well who on earth remembers things like that?! You’d just take it at face value. It’s not like claiming you won the Tour, everyone would see through that in seconds. Obscure enough that no-one will really go and check it, big enough that it’s still very prestigious.