Irish junior cyclist, Patrick Casey, has been signed by the Bora-hansgrohe World Tour team's junior squad for next season, and secured backing from Red Bull, after rising to the top in trials held by the team. After a battery of testing carried out on all the hopefuls in Austria, Casey and Austrian rider Anatol Friedl secured the team slots and the sponsorship.
The Irish rider - who represented Ireland at the European Youth Olympics last year and at the World Championships this year - said he thought he had no chance when he entered the 'Junior Brothers' process, which was launched in conjunction with Zwift and Strava.
However, Bora-Hansgrohe’s head of scouting and development, Dr Christian Schrot, has now explained how the 16-year-old Irish rider's test results identified specific factors about his physiology that marked him out as one for the future; specifically as a general classification rider.
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He said Casey's "resistance to fatigue" was notable and was an attribute that indicates his general classification abilities as he develops in his career.
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“We knew him already through our scouting and also from races, we followed him," Dr Schrot. "Also in the lab testing we already saw good numbers, but the room to improve is quite good, which gives us confidence that we can really bring him forward in the next few years.
“Patrick and Anatol showcased all round natural talent as individuals and one thing that really impressed us was their incredible determination and stamina. You can see they really want this and have the passion and drive to make it happen so it made our decision really easy. Cycling is not an easy sport, it takes guts and grit and that’s something that Patrick and Anatol have.”
For his part, Casey said indoor testing never usually suits him and he thought the testing had not gone that well. However, when he heard he had won the process, he said he was delighted. He was now really looking forward to the opportunity of racing with the new team, Bora-hansgrohe’s U19 Auto Eder squad, and as a recipient of the Red Bull athlete partnership deal.
"I'm just very proud and really happy to have won it. It hasn’t set in quite yet and it probably won’t until next year when I’m racing with the team and racing in the Red Bull helmet," he said. "When I've met everyone and experienced it, it will probably sink in a bit more and I’ll probably understand what it means, but for now I’m just over the moon.
"For me I'd say the end goal is the same as everyone else, I want to do this professionally, be a professional cyclist and race in a World Tour. Race the biggest races at the highest level, that’s why I’m here."
