Downey had his best result of the season on international duty last weekend in France
Sean Downey has said his strong ride in Brittany last weekend has been a welcome confidence boost and that he is now looking forward to the challenges ahead for the rest of the season and beyond.
The U23 international was eight overall in the Kreiz Breizh Elites Three-Day (four-stages) after finishing seventh in the decisive time trial in the UCI 2.2 event and then going on the attack on the final stage to try and improve his position.
“We were going onto the last lap on the circuit on the last stage and Sam (Bennett) shouted at me to go. He attacked and I was right on his wheel and he drilled it for me until he could go no further, then I managed to get across the rest of the gap to the break on my own.”
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“The lap was around 8km and when I got across to the break I went to the front and drilled it to try and get some time to move up the GC. But I think by that point the sprinter’s teams behind were getting more organised so they closed us down near the finish.”
Downey said the Irish team he was on for the race rode very well as a unit with Ronan McLaughlin particularly strong and trying to get him clear to gain time on the last stage in the same way that Bennett had.
“He went but I was blocked in so I couldn’t get after him, but Ronan was definitely very strong and they really rode well.”
Downey said he believed the UCI points he scored and those picked up by Bennett for 9th on the opening stage should mean Ireland is now a certainty to be in the top 26 nations in the next UCI U23 European rankings; with the top 26 nations to qualify a team for the U23 World Road Race Championships in Valkenburg in September.
“We were 21st in the last rankings and there is a small chance we might be up to 20th now. That would mean we would get a four man team at the Worlds. But we might well but just outside the top 20 and get three riders in.”
Downey’s TT performance in France last weekend has put him squarely in the frame for a TT place at the Worlds, where Ireland will most likely have two riders in the test and three in the road race.
He said while the TT in the upcoming U23 European Championships in Zeeland, Holland, was “pan flat” and not suited to him, it would offer a good chance to assess his condition against the best U23 testers from other nations.
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“I know the Worlds TT is definitely more up and down, more rolly. That would suit me better than a flat course but it will be good to do the Euros and give it my best shot and see where I am.”
Based in France before his move to the An Post-Sean Kelly set up at the start of the current season, Downey is rock solid in his belief that he made the right move.
He said the racing in France, like that last weekend, was always more undulating than in Belgium and so suited him better. However, Belgian racing was harder and faster and had brought him on.
“It has definitely hardened me up. It is so much faster; attack after attack and nobody gives up. In France it was generally fast for the first hour; then it settles a bit and gets faster towards the end of the race. But in Belgium it is much more about positioning, it’s line-outs for most of the races.”
“In France you would race and then recover the next day and be training again the day after that. In Belgium it takes two days to recover; if you do two races in a few days of each other it is a question of racing and recovery.”
“I also know that because the up and down racing suits me more, when I go to another country like France last weekend I might have the condition to do something. I was determined last weekend to do something; get up on a stage or on the GC. The Irish team we were on was sent to mainly try and get the UCI points for the Worlds so it was definitely worth sending us.”
Apart from the Euros and hopefully the Worlds this month and next respectively, Downey said the race calendar for the An Post-Sean Kelly team was “pretty packed” with UCI ranked races this month and next.
While the team is riding the Tour of Britain, with that race finishing within a couple of days of the U23 Worlds TT he felt it was unlikely he would be able to do both.
“Overall I have been happy with the season so far. The team said to me early on that it was about learning and there was no pressure. Maybe they will put a bit of pressure on me now to see how I handle it, we’ll see.”
“From the very start I was glad I joined the team; the atmosphere was great, they look after you well. I haven’t even thought of next year yet. I suppose the talk about that will start fairly soon. For me, I feel I always had a bit of bad luck here and there the last few seasons. Last weekend things feel into place.”
“Sam was saying to me that he felt it was very hard, maybe the hardest race he had done. I didn’t feel that way. It’s about finding your feet a bit I suppose and continuing to progress and that’s what I want to do next year; to get to the start of the season and know from my season this year what to expect, how it all works and to keep progressing as a bike rider.”
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