Education
During the 2005 UCI Road World Championships in Madrid, Southam and Charles Wegelius chose to not ride to protect longshot British leader Roger Hammond, but instead to help his Italian professional teammates.
During the 2005 UCI Road World Championships in Madrid, Southam and Charles Wegelius chose to not ride to protect longshot British leader Roger Hammond, but instead to help his Italian professional teammates.
He represented Great Britain in five World Championships and rode in several UCI ProTour events. British Cycling Performance Director Dave Brailsford initially stipulated that neither rider would ride for the British national team again, however Brailsford subsequently signed Southam for Team Halfords Bikehut in 2008. Southam has a masters degree in Professional Writing from University College Falmouth and co-wrote the book Domestique: The True Life Ups and Downs of a Tour Pro with former team-mate Wegelius.
The book was nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award in 2013.
He has also written for magazines including Rouleur and Procycling. He retired from full-time racing in October 2011, remaining with his final team Rapha Condor–Sharp as their press officer
He also worked as the team"s assistant manager, twice guiding riders to overall victory in the Tour de of Korea, before agreeing to join another former team, Drapac Professional Cycling, as sports director at the end of 2014.