By Shane Stokes
Immediately after crossing the finish line, the tears welled up. Rory Townsend
had just became the Irish national champion and as riders, officials and
friends came over to congratulate him, the emotion kept building.
He wept when Wiv SunGod teammate Matthew Teggert put his arms around him.
He wept when he stood resting against a van beyond the finish line, his hands
over his eyes. And when Townsend was hugged by his father David, a big embrace
of pride and congratulations, the floodgates really opened.
There was happiness, of course, but also relief. Things had worked out; something
he had hoped for had come to pass.
“It is amazing. I am absolutely lost for words. This is a dream come true,”
he told stickybottle then. “Being able to wear the jersey is just such an
honour. This is literally something I dreamt about since I started cycling.”
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His father was similarly ecstatic, similarly relieved.
“This is a long time coming. He’s had a fair amount of bad luck in his career,
with accidents and crashes at crucial moments in the season and so
forth,” he said after the podium presentation. “But he’s had a such a great
spell over the past few weeks training in the lead up to this that it was all
going well. Still, it is beyond our dreams that he should be able to get this
result.”
Townsend has had a strong showing in a number of events this season, including sixth in the 1.2-ranked Arno Wallaard Memorial in the Netherlands and 13th in the 1.1 Volta Limburg Classic. More recently he had stage places of first, second and fifth at the Rás Tailteann, finished fourth overall and won the points classification.
After the championships, he freely admitted being nervous about riders such as local favourite Eddie Dunbar (Ineos Grenadiers), who is a more successful rider, a better climber and a WorldTour professional.
“He was the main guy I was thinking about coming into the race,” he said, then explaining that he decided to attack prior to the big climbs in order to open up a gap. Having a buffer would, he hoped, enable him to still be with Dunbar at the top of those climbs. And that’s how things worked out.
“I thought maybe this was possible. I was a bit nervous coming into the race,
as I felt I was carrying too much weight. So all race I was conscious about
trying to get ahead for the climbs,” he explained. “I knew that I could ride at
a good pace on the flat and my own pace on the climb. So I had that tactic
loosely in my head. Then everything just seemed to go my way today.”
But looking at this week, this month, this season doesn’t give the full picture. Shortly after he finished tenth in last year’s national championships Townsend told stickybottle he wasn’t sure if he could keep going in the same way he had been. If he didn’t get a bigger contract, he suggested he’d be scaling back.
“It’s not an option for me anymore, unfortunately. It’s basically a financial
thing,” he said then. “I simply can’t afford to carry on the way I’m going. So
yeah, I’m just at a time now where it’s sort of bang or bust.”
He said what would happen if he didn’t get the call up. “I will continue to race, just on a lower level.”
A case of getting a bit more consistency
Following that conversation, Townsend was contacted by two WorldTour teams.
They looked at his 2021 results, including fifth and sixth on stages of the
Tour of Britain, ninth in the 1.1-ranked Heylen Vastgoed Heistse Pijl and a
stage win plus the points classification in the 2.2 Tour de la Mirabelle, and
wanted to talk.
One, an American squad, told him he was one of two riders being considered for a place on the roster. In the end neither of those two got the nod; instead the team opted to re-sign a rider who used to compete for them.
The second team called out of the blue. It was a Belgian squad; they spoke
over a couple of weeks, talking terms, and he made it to their final three. But
once again disappointment, as it signed a Belgian rider instead.
“It is just one of those things, unfortunately,” he told stickybottle then.
“I think age isn’t really in my favour, which might sound weird. But I’m not
considered young anymore. Like, I’m not like Ben Healy, Ben is sort of like a
real up and comer. And I’m not that anymore.
“The sport is getting younger, they are just picking kids out of their teens
to go to WorldTour teams. So it is difficult. The only thing I can set myself
apart with is results. But with Covid and everything, and then a bit of a lack
of consistency this year from injuries and stuff, I just haven’t really done
enough to, I suppose, break the barrier.
“I have been talking a lot about it with my parents and obviously they were
gutted for me. I just said it’s one of these things. There’s a load of guys in
my situation who, given a shot, are good enough, and would probably do very
well. And I believe if I was at WorldTour I would perform really well, and be a
better rider than I am right now. But I’m not good enough right now to break
through that barrier. It is just a case of getting a little bit more
consistency of races to get into it.”
Townsend had previously studied Sport and Exercise Science in St. Mary’s
in Twickenham, but hadn’t finished the course. He came under pressure from the
university to complete it and needed to commit.
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His father explained the situation. “He has been finishing his degree. That has taken a lot of time this year. Basically the university, which has been very supportive, turned around and said ‘you’ve got to get it done this year, or else…’ And so that has meant that he has had to really knuckle down to his studies in order to get his sports science degree finished as well.”
He referred back to the indications Townsend gave last autumn that he might
scale back on his racing. “I think it was getting to a point where, with the
run of bad luck that he has had over the past couple of years, that he felt
that he needed to make a big decision. But everything is up in the air now, of
course.”
He accepted that having the national champion’s jersey would boost his son’s
standing within pro cycling.
“Absolutely. So we are very excited about the future now.”
I have a responsibility to the jersey now
There’s been quite a turnaround in the months since last year’s national
championships. As Townsend himself notes this week to stickybottle, there has
been a lot of changes since then. He looks back at his sentiments last year and
feels in a very different place.
“It was funny being at nationals this year because obviously it was the exact
race last year—when it was held at a later date—when I was there considering my
next move. My team at the time, Canyon dhb, wasn’t 100 percent sure that they
were going to go ahead, so I wasn’t really sure about things from that aspect.
“I decided that if I didn’t make that move up [to a higher level], it was time to start thinking about, or at least preparing myself for that next stage in life.”
He says that going back to finish his degree has been laying the foundations
for what comes next, even if he is hoping not to have to rely on finding work
outside cycling anytime soon. He notes that St Mary’s has been good at being flexible
with his racing commitments, something he is grateful for, and also that he has
been taking a wider approach to everything he does.
“I’ve just had a bit more of a more broad focus within cycling. I haven’t
been wholly focussed on just riding this year. I have been doing my coaching
and doing jobs outside of just racing to basically prepare me for what I do
next. But I have also had certain targets throughout the year that I still
wanted to go well at, ones I felt that I could prepare for well. Previously I
would go to every race trying to give myself the best opportunity I could.
Whereas this year it was very much picking some unique targets.
“So, for example, with the Ronde van Limburg early season I wanted to go
quite well there. And then I’d hoped to do well at the Rutland race in the UK
with Lincoln GP the following week, but I crashed really bad at Rutland, so
that pushed me back a little bit. But thankfully the uni work has provided me
with a bit of a distraction, to some extent.”
Athletes have a very singular focus, and sometimes a one-dimensional approach
to life. Having a tunnel vision is often seen as the way to go, putting
everything into getting the best possible result.
He’s worked hard in order to fit everything in, but he also believes that
not being so fixated on his racing has actually paid off for him.
“In the build-up to nationals, I am usually quite nervous and quite agitated
that week [before the race]. But the last week was good in a way. I had my
dissertation due, so I spent most of my time just focussing on that. That
really distracted me in a positive sense, so that’s been quite good.”
Townsend, who turns 27 today, is racing this season with the WiV SunGod
team. It’s something which evolved from last year’s Canyon dhb SunGod squad,
but has made progress this year in terms of sponsorship, and has big plans for
the future. Teammate Matthew Teggart told stickybottle recently that the squad
intends to step up to Pro Continental level within the next two years.
Townsend was intent on finding a WorldTour team last autumn and went close
to a contract. While WiV SunGod’s ambitions are encouraging, he would jump at
the chance to race at WorldTour level.
His performances this year plus his strong showings in the past highlight
his qualities, and his championship win is likely to further boost his
motivation and also his standing within the sport.
“As far as this result goes, it has the potential to unlock some more doors,”
he says. “I’m finishing uni soon, and I still potentially have the biggest race
of the year with the Tour of Britain. I will give myself the opportunity to see
how I go there. I think it would be a real shame not to.
“And, obviously, being in the Irish jersey as well, I want to represent the
jersey well in every race I do. I have a responsibility to the jersey, so I
will be taking the races seriously. That’s something I always have done, to be
fair, but I think now with uni finishing there is an opportunity to work on a
few things that I felt like I have let slip a little bit. I can hopefully have
a really strong end of the season.”
He makes clear that he’d jump at the chance to race at the Pro Continental level or, even better, with a WorldTour team. Going back to university is looking to the future, but it doesn’t mean he wants to leave the sport. “The only difference now is I have a plan b, which is good.”
The next few months will tell where Townsend’s career path may lie. But looking
at his impressive victory on Sunday and his emotional response after the finish
line, two things are certain.
Firstly, becoming national champion was hugely important to him. Secondly, the decision he made to keep working hard within cycling rather than scale back on his racing has clearly paid off.
