The new season is now in full flow. And though we've seen just four weeks of racing, there are many things we know now that we didn't know one month ago; here's some of them. (Photo: Sean Rowe)
It’s all about Sean McKenna
With six wins under his belt, the man who moved from UCD CC to Aquablue during the off season has wintered well and is developing at a rate of knots. It will be interesting to see if he is selected to ride the Nations Cup on the Irish team this year despite being based on the home scene. But so dominant has his form been that national selection to race abroad cannot be very far away. (Photo: Sean Rowe)
One swallow doesn’t make a season
Damien Shaw also looks to be motoring; he won last Saturday at the Tour of Ards and also took the Cycleways Cup in brutal conditions two weeks ago. Commitments to the paracycling national track team have pulled him away from racing a little in recent weeks but he’s exactly where he needs to be. He will be best when the going gets hardest. (Photo: Marian Lamb - Cycling Ulster)
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Irish riders won’t be shooting on-board footage
A couple of weeks ago when Paddy Clarke (already a double winner this year) shared some on-board footage he shot while winning in Loughrea on the opening day of the season, stickybottle published it and thousands of you tuned in. The footage was really good quality and brought us inside the bunch on a wet and mucky day. Interesting too was that Clarke’s power output was shown on screen in real time. But Cycling Ireland last week warned that any such devices are regarded as “technical innovations” and as such must be cleared with the UCI before use. Boo hoo.
Christopher McGlinchey is a road shark
Having established himself as a leading downhill rider on the Irish scene and also competed internationally, including at World Cup races; Christopher McGlinchey has been a revelation on the road in recent weeks. He’s not entirely new to road racing but the 20-year-old has clearly moved it up a notch. He has bagged three wins – last Sunday's Danny Boy Race in Derry along with the Phoenix GP in Co Antrim and the Annaclone GP in Banbridge. In the process he’s gone from A4 to A2 in just four weeks.
Rumours of Aqaublue’s demise were exaggerated
With Joe Fenlon, Damien Shaw and Bryan McCrystal all departing Aquablue for Team ASEA over the winter, it looked like Tim Barry would for once have much reduced firepower. But with Sean Lacey clearly going well and the newbies – Greg Swinand, Colm Cassidy, Sean McKenna and Anto Walsh - also firing on all cylinders the team looks as strong as ever. (Photo: Joe Duffy)
Team ASEA has had a quiet start
The new squad has some absolutely fantastic names in the shape of the aforementioned Shaw , McCrystal and Fenlon. It also counts among its ranks Ali Macaulay, Duncan Fraser, Roger Aiken and Chris Reilly – all hugely strong. However, despite Shaw’s two wins the team’s start has been lower key than one may have expected; though Reilly and McCrystal were 2nd and 3rd to McKenna in Summerhill on Saturday. And big wins for both, and the others who have ridden well in recent weeks, don't look too far away. They still seem most likely of the domestic squads to do damage on the Rás in May. And they are perhaps looking to that rather than early season success. (Photo: Marian Lamb - Cycling Ulster)
Sam Bennett can win WorldTour races very soon
In his second year in the ProContinental ranks, Bennett has already taken one win – the final stage of the Tour of Qatar. He was 3rd last Thursday on stage 2 of Tirreno-Adriatico and can win a WorldTour race from a sprint on the form he currently has. He needs to get his timing bang on and get a clear run of the line; after that he can really beat anyone on his day now.
Nicolas Roche scores top marks so far
It’s been a great start for Roche so far in his role supporting the team leaders in the early season major events.
He’s played a very active and strong part in two victories through the team’s marquee names - Chris Froome at the Vuelta A Ciclista Ruta del Sol and Richie Porte’s triumph at Paris Nice which concluded on Sunday. Though the competition in the team is fierce, Roche looks as good as anyone to get the main men into the major yellow jerseys and you can almost bank on him being in the Tour team come July. Next up is Volta A Catalunya starting next Monday and (whisper it) that team looks Tour-esque in its make-up; Froome, Porte, Roche, Konig, Lopez, Poels, Kiryienka and Siutsou.
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Matt Brammeier is back where he belongs
He’s shown flashes of what he’s capable of, with a 140-kilometre break at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad illustrating that he belongs at this level, having bagged a two-year ProContinental deal with MTN-Qhubeka. We’ll know an awful more when he tackles back-to-back WorldTour events in the shape of E3 Harelbeke and Gent-Wevelgem on March 27th and 29th. They will be followed by the 1.HC-ranked Scheldeprijs a week later. If he does a good job there and helps the team get the results they are capable of via Edvald Boasson Hagen, Gerald Ciolek and Tyler Farrar; then who knows, a debut Tour the France could be in the offing.
Fiona Meade looks set for the international peloton
Following a stellar season last year when she won a stage of An Post Rás na mBan and took the points jersey before adding the National Road Race Championships, Cork woman Meade looks set to leave Ireland for a period to race abroad. If so, she could push for national selection and possibly even break into the squad for the World Championships come September. She looks to be going well, having won the opening round of the women's National League in Blarney on Sunday. Watch this space. (Photo: Jimmy McElroy)
Cycling Ireland needs to move on road closures issue
The cancellation this week of the Ben McKenna, Harry Reynolds and Jezzer Wherity memorials usually promoted by Balbriggan Cycling Club is a worrying development. Fingal County Council and the Garda have been pushing for the roads to be closed for the races and while the dispute was sidestepped in recent years, the line now seems to have hardened. The club fears if it relents once it will always need to apply for road closures. It is felt this may involve considerable expense in the future and will also make organising races, perhaps nationwide, much more difficult. In order to avoid a dangerous precedent, the club has refused to bend to the pressure being applied on it and so the races for the weekend after next are off. Dublin's Phoenix Park once was the scene of races almost weekly through the summer. But gradually it was made harder for clubs to hold the events there. Eventually racing stopped, with the cycling scene locked out of a park that was once its playground. Cycling Ireland needs to move to ensure the issue in Fingal is resolved in our favour and avoid any contagion of the authorities insisting roads must be closed in order for bike races to be safe. One of the federation’s directors, Senan Turnbull, was director of community, culture and sports at Fingal County Council for over a decade. He was brought onto the board from outside the traditional cycling community because of his experience. This worsening problem looks like an excellent opportunity for a man of his skills and with his contacts.
Paidi O'Brien can land a really big one
It seems like only yesterday that O'Brien opted out of the An Post-Sean Kelly team on the Continent in favour of a return to Irish racing. But O'Brien now has four years of college under his belt and is closing in on his final accountancy exams. Through college, and despite being a parent, O'Brien has continued to win some great races including - among many others - stages in the Suir Valley Three and gold at the National Criterium Championships. He has three wins under his belt already this season and after his most recent on, in the Bobby Power Memorial in Carrick on St Patrick's Day, he told stickybottle he intends to ride the Rás again next year when his studies are dusted. His speed, and the additional time he will have available to train, means O'Brien can still win stages in the Rás. He's only just gone 31 years so has plenty of time to get those wins in the big one and possible even claim the national road title. (Photo: Michael Meade)
Eddie Dunbar is on his game
Dunbar jumped from the Irish junior scene into the UK pro peloton over the winter. He was 3rd in his first race and scored another top 10 the weekend before last. He was in action in Belgium last weekend; with confirmation his team is looking to Europe to compete a welcome sign for a man who can catch the eye of much bigger teams immediately. (Photo: VeloUK.net)
Daire Feeley is not too far behind
Second to Paddy Clarke of Fitscience in Loughrea and to McKenna in the Mick Lally Memorial, Feeley took a great win at Rás Maigh Eo at the weekend, after an aggressive man of the match performance. Heavily marked, he could not escape the bunch on the opening and closing road stages. But he won the short time trial in between by 35 seconds to take overall victory. (Photo: Jimmy McElroy)
Michael O’Loughlin has taken over the junior crown
Having finished an amazing 8th in the junior time trial at the World Road Championships last year, it is not news that O’Loughlin looks like the pick if the juniors one month into the season. With wins in Rás Luimní, Blarney and Carrick (above) and a runner-up spot in Broadford against the elites, the teenager is going extremely well. But he says he is trying to keep a lid on his form for later in the year. (Photo: DC Images)
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