Angus Fyffe talks coming back from a year wiped out by over-training during the winter. But he's changed things around and he looks back in great condition (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Angus Fyffe took something of a comeback win at the Cycleways Cup on Sunday following a 2018 season written off by training too hard.
And he is now hopeful that last year will prove a once off blip in what has otherwise been a very successful rise in Irish cycling since his junior days.
In 2014 Fyffe won the Mid Ulster GP A1 race as a first-year senior. The following year he won the Armagh Criterium and was runner-up in the Ciclisport GP, the McCann Cup and on the final stage of the Tour of the North.
Fyffe competed for the second part of the 2016 season with An Post-Chainreaction after completing college exams in Ireland.
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That season he rode Gent Wevelgem on the Irish U23 team was well as taking a Tour of Ulster stage win and also winning Tour of the Mournes, the Newtownards Crit and Donegal Bay Kermesse.
However, it was in 2017 that he really moved it up a notch; riding particularly well.
During one of the first weekends of that campaign he won both the John Moore Memorial and McCann Cup.
Angus Fyffe takes the sprint for 2nd from Ryan Reilly in the U23 contest at the National Championships in 2017 (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
In 2017 he also took the Wallace Caldwell Memorial around the same time, making the Irish U23 team for some early season classics as a result.
Fyffe again competed in Gent Wevelgem, making the breakaway on the day, and the U23 Tour of Flanders shortly afterwards.
He was also runner-up in the Shay Elliott Classic and on a stage of the Tour of the North while placing 5th overall in the Tour of Ulster.
In the same season he took 9th in the elite road race at the nationals and silver in the U23 contest. He won the East Tyrone GP and represented Ireland at both Rás Tailteann and Velothon Wales.
But last year was much more subdued for him; a struggle with little to cheer about.
Looking back on it now, with a good win under his belt already this year, he’s clear why the wheels came off in 2018; over-training.
Angus Fyffe feels the pain on the Kemmelberg in the U23 Gent Wevelgem three years ago (Photo: Oran Kelly)
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He lost form to such an extent he said that while he won on Sunday he was simply glad to be racing well again.
Having just turned 24 years old, the Caldwell Cycles Omagh rider was now hopeful it will prove a turning point for him.
“I was delighted to have good legs again; more so than the win; last year was such a disaster.”
He believed the training programmes he was following were far too much for him.
The training, he added, simply ran him ragged; leading to a very poor season by his own standards.
“I couldn’t have ridden out of your way,” he said of last season. “I was run into the ground over winter 2017 and I paid for it the whole year."
Get your hands up in the air: Angus Fyffe takes Cycleways Cup victory in the snow; one to remember for the Omagh man (Photo: SeanRowe)
Angus Fyffe continued of his poor condition last yea from overtraining: “Races I should've been competitive in; I was straight up getting dropped.
"I ended up missing the Rás and the nationals due to it, which was disappointing.
“I started fresh this winter with good friend Marc Potts keeping me right training-wise. And I’m back feeling good on the bike again.”
How first win of 2019 was secured
Fyffe said last Sunday’s Cycleways Cup was a very hard race, with only about 25 riders remaining in the main peloton after the first lap of three.
And in that group, he said, the Bio-DHL-FR Services team had healthy numbers and were strong.
That team’s prominence combined with the elements to ensure the race for victory didn’t really start until well after the halfway point.
After getting clear in what would prove the winning escape some 70km into the race, Fyffe and his fellow escapes rode through until the final time up the main climb on the course, where the eventual winner attacked.
“I give it a nudge and Conor McCann came with me,” he explained. “We rode hard over the top and got a gap straight away.
“I was worried about (Damien) Shaw and (Dillon) Corkery behind; you could never count them out of it.
“With about 7-8k to go I turned the screw a bit and ended up by myself. It was nice to win solo.”
Asked what the next few months held for him, he said the priority was to enjoy the bike again and enjoy his racing.
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