James Ball is preparing for his sixth tandem pilot, and this time his new partner used to race against him. Aaron Pope and Ball were rivals at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow three months ago. Now they are learning to ride as a team before the Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, which begin on Thursday.
A tandem partnership takes practice: the rider and pilot must work together on the same bike. For Ball, a new partner means a fresh start, but also a chance to build toward major goals. He hopes Pope can help him defend the world titles he won with Steffan Lloyd in 2025.
At the Commonwealth Games, Pope piloted Neil Fachie to two gold medals. Ball and his previous pilot, Matt Rotherham, won silver in the men's tandem B 1,000-metre time trial and sprint. Their change from opponents to team-mates is a big shift, but Ball says the early training has gone well.
“I'm now with Aaron, so that's been a lot of learning and that's quite important because it's like a proper reset,” Ball said. He added that he felt the same excitement when he first teamed up with Lloyd ahead of the 2024 Paralympics. Ball has worked with six pilots over his career: Craig McLean, Rotherham, Pete Mitchell, Lewis Stewart, Lloyd and now Pope.
Ball, 35, has plenty of experience to share, even as he and Pope learn each other's approach. He said Pope was nervous at first and wanted to show he was good enough. Ball told him that being on the programme was proof of that. Each pilot trains differently, he said, and it does not take long to tell whether a partnership is clicking.
The Apeldoorn championships will give the pair a chance to measure their progress against a growing field. Ball said more tandems are on the start list, including two Australian bikes, two German bikes and French teams. Some competitors are new to them, and others they have not raced for two years. He is not putting too much pressure on the results, saying mistakes can be brushed off as the pair learns together.
Ball's record shows what he has already achieved: he has won medals at all nine of his previous world championships, including eight golds, six silvers and four bronzes. He also has two Paralympic golds from Paris in 2024 and a silver from 2021. His first world championship golds came in Los Angeles in 2017, where he and Rotherham won the sprint and 1,000-metre time trial. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Paralympics, giving the new partnership a long-term target to work toward.
Ball says change has kept the sport fresh, and he has no plans to retire soon. He hopes to defend his Paralympic sprint title in Los Angeles; the 1,000-metre event has been removed from the programme. For now, Apeldoorn is a first test for Ball and Pope—and a chance to see what they can build together.