The class of 2015, left to right: Adam Stenson, Jake Gray, Michael O'Loughlin, Darragh O'Mahony and Simon Tuomey on the start line in Richmond (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Coming from a small cycling nation like Ireland, which still has a relatively small domestic racing scene, the step up for our junior riders when they race abroad can be huge.
In strong European cycling nations there are opportunities every week to compete in much longer and faster events against better riders, and more of them.
It means when our teenagers are selected to ride abroad, it often involves a shock to the system that many they are racing against simply don’t experience.
In recent years Cycling Ireland has done a very good job in getting our best youth riders abroad to race – via the Talent Team 2020 programme.
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And the juniors have also competed on foreign soil much more often than most previous generations.
Some have done so with the help and support of Cycling Ireland. Others have opted for independent summer racing and tracing trips to France and Belgium.
In the vital last hour of the junior road race at the World Championships Michael O’Loughlin had the legs to go off the front (Photo: Sean Rowe)
And a growing number have been assisted by the excellent Belgian Project, which places them with guest families in Belgium where they can take in all the racing they need.
But while all of these avenues are welcome, Irish juniors are still on the back foot going into major championships because the bigger nations’ riders are simply riding at a higher standard more often.
And that’s why the performances of the class of 2015 were especially impressive in the junior road race at the World Championships in Richmond at the weekend.
Michael O’Loughlin was able to animate the race in the crucial last couple of laps when the big guns came out to play. But all of the others rode out of their skins too.
The team consisted of O’Loughlin, Jake Gray, Adam Stenson, Simon Tuomey and Darragh O’Mahony.
O’Loughlin faced serious set-back in the junior TT midweek when a cable came loose on his bike and his chain was stuck in the little ring.
Jake Gray looks like he has been in a real battle as he finishes the junior road race in Richmond (Photo: Sean Rowe)
The mishap ended his chances of a crack at a medal; a huge blow for a man who was 8th in the Worlds TT last year and had won a Nations Cup test this year.
However, news from within the camp is that he showed great professionalism and immediately refocused on the road race.
And when it came, he put in one of the best rides ever by an Irish junior at this level.
When the race exploded on the penultimate lap and a 13-man group of what proved to be the strongest riders in the race pulled clear, the Carrick-on-Suir student was among them.
The medals winners would all come from that group.
And while O’Loughlin simply couldn’t hold the best of them last time around the circuit, he is one of only a very small number of Irish juniors able to go forward with attacks at the pointy end of a World Road Championships.
His 41st place on the day, some 1:04 behind the winner, completely disguises the quality of his performance.
Darragh O'Mahony pushing on in the wet despite the early crash that left him injured, as the cuts on his right knee reveal (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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Stenson and Gray – both first year juniors - also finished the race and on the basis of their performances can expect to find themselves in Irish jerseys throughout next year, though others are pushing forward too.
Both held their positions very well in the bunch and put in two huge fights to stay there for as long as they did.
Gray ran into some difficulty on the third last lap but even when he found himself off the back of the peloton as it morphed into a select group, he kept his head down and fought all the way to the finish.
He came over the line in 112th place, completely spent, on a day when 60 riders abandoned or were pulled out because they had fallen so far behind.
Stenson lasted a lap longer and was still in the thick of it until the racing exploded towards the back end of the penultimate lap.
He positioned himself really well all day and remained doggedly in the group as it got smaller and smaller.
And like Gray, even as the strongest group of juniors in the world pulled away from him, he fought all the way to the finish for the very best result he could achieve.
He finally finished in 89th, some 7:25 down.
Tuomey got caught behind a crash on the opening lap and had to put in a huge effort to get back on; not exactly the start you want in a World Championships (Photo: Sean Rowe)
With another winter of training and an additional season of racing in their legs, both could go to the Europeans or the Worlds next year and hope to play a part.
Stenson has already enjoyed some success at the European Track Championships, where he won one of his races in the six-event omnium.
While the team rode very strongly in the US, the event was not without incident for them.
Tuomey and O’Mahony have had great seasons where they have shown real racers' instinct and the genuine class that should deliver further success.
But in Richmond they unfortunately hit trouble almost from the gun. On the first circuit of eight, O’Mahony crashed and Tuomey got caught behind the same pile-up.
It was exactly the start they wanted to avoid, especially since junior championship racing can see a frantic start and rarely any breaks in the pressure where a rider might gather himself.
Stenson fought all the way to the finish to post a really strong result, especially for a first year junior (Photo: Sean Rowe)
But to their immense credit, both fought back onto the bunch, although the chase would have taken a huge amount out of them.
And while they got back on, punctures would intervene to cause further heartache, and they would be tailed off.
However, they battled on well and clearly wanted to give the national jersey all the respect they could for as long as they could.
Tuomey, for example, continued until the second last lap. It was a very unfortunate race for both, but they fought well against the hand they were dealt.
Obviously both would have liked to have joined the others and finished the race.
But on the basis of what we have seen from these five riders, there will be great days ahead for all of them.
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