Archie Ryan has had his ups and downs in the fledgling years of his career, enduring long periods on the sidelines due to injury before coming back and enjoying great success. In recent months he has had to call upon that ability to take the rough with the smooth during what he calls a "bumpy start to the season".
However, having got one of his best winters ever under his belt, the EF Education-EasyPost rider said he is confident for the challenges to come, including the the Ardennes classics.
He told stickybottle he was still healing from a nasty crash on one of the gravel sectors at Strade Bianche last month; just one of the set-backs thrown his way since the start of the 2025 campaign.
"It was really cool to be there but I crashed on the second sector so I wasn't there for very long, and I had a pretty bad one," Ryan explains of his crash that forced him out of the Italian semi-classic.
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"I got into the car at the feed zone, which wasn't much fun. I was pretty beat up so I had to stop. I was scared of having a concussion, so it was best not to continue. I thought 'if I crash again, then I'm a goner'.
"So it ended a lot sooner than I wanted but that made me want to go back and get it right another time," he said, adding as he crashed on the second sector he did not get a taste of the hilly section of the race which would have suited him better.
"It was pretty nuts, you're literally in a gravel race. There was dust everywhere and you can't see anything. When I was out the back in the cars, you couldn't see a thing because all the cars are kicking up the dust and you can't see five metres in front of you. So it was pretty crazy, it was an experience for sure.
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"I've had a lot of road rash from the gravel, it tore me up a bit more than tarmac, I still have it. It's taken a long time (to heal) but I'm getting there."
Though Ryan was forced out, his Irish team mate, Ben Healy, was 4th on the day while Dane Michael Valgren was 8th, making for a successful outing for the team.
Ryan will get back into action at Gran Premio Miguel Indurain(1.Pro) this Saturday - where he finished 5th last year - before riding Itzulia Basque Country (2.UWT) next week.
"I'm going okay," he said of his form, despite crashing at Strade then going to an altitude camp and picking up a virus, one of a number that have dogged him since he began his season in Mallorca at the end of January.
"It's been a bit of a bumpy start to the year. But I'm back to it now I'm looking forward to Basque and getting that in the legs before the Ardennes, which are the big ones. And I got fifth in Indurain last year, I know it well so I'm excited to go back. I'm motivated and I'm keen to get stuck in."
At the Ardennes, Ryan said Healy would be a big rider for the team and possibly Richard Carapaz, depending on his race programme.
"I just want to be there in the final and be part of the race," Ryan said. "That may mean helping Ben when I can, or being of use putting him into position or going up the road or whatever.
"For sure, these races are hopefully ones that I will develop into a leader role, like Ben, in the future years. So I'm just trying to take these opportunities to learn and help Ben, and see what I can do myself."
