"My Training Week": Young gun Dylan O'Brien; less is more in winter

One of the best juniors in the country this year, Dylan O'Brien outlines his typical training week as he prepares for the U23 ranks.

Having been one of the best juniors in the country over the past couple of years, Dylan O'Brien this year missed out on selection for the European Road Championships due to illness. But he bounced back well in a year that saw him take some very promising wins including the final stage of the Junior Tour of Ireland.

Fully recovered in the latter part of the season, he would win back his place in the Irish team and was selected to ride the World Road Championships in Spain in September.

He is now preparing for his first year as an U23 rider and is combining his cycling with studying, as he sits the Leaving Cert next year. He is training regularly both on and off the bike but at this time of year he opts to keep it simple.

Name: Dylan O'Brien
Age: Turned 18 years this week
Club: Leaving O'Leary's Stone Kanturk CC for Aquablue

Typical training week in recent weeks

In action in Belgium, leading, earlier this year; just one of numerous foreign excursions he rode well on.

Monday

“I usually take today off as I’m usually after two big days over the weekend and need the day to recover from that.”

Tuesday

“I'm in the gym on Tuesdays for a big day and doing a bit of running for general fitness. I'd also do leg weights such as squats and lunges as well as core work. In total I’ll spend about an hour and a half to two hours and be fairly wrecked by the end of it.”