By Shane Stokes
Back in action after almost a full year out of racing, Archie Ryan has said his knee injury has fully abated and that his form is building well towards his first big plans next month.
The 20-year-old Jumbo-Visma Academy rider competed in the Umag Trophy event in Croatia on Wednesday, working for his team and rolling in as part of the main bunch in 66th place. The peloton was one second behind the winner Daniel Auer (WSA KTM Graz p/b Leomo), with Ryan’s fellow Irishman Darren Rafferty 32nd on his debut with the Hagens Berman Axeon team.
Ryan will be pleased with his showing, given that he missed almost the entire 2021 season due to his injury. He competed just four times, all last March, and missed months on the bike.
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“The training has been going brilliant,” he told stickybottle. “Everything has gone perfectly, no hiccups, so I can’t complain. All is well. My knee has turned out super, so I’m happy out.
“My form is really good. The plan is to have quite a slow start to the season as it’s been a year without racing. The team wanted to take it real easy with me, to just do a couple of one day races to get back into the swing of things. But the form is good, so we will see what happens.”
Ryan showed his strong climbing talent in the past by winning the final stage of the Junior Tour of Wales in 2018. This helped secure a slot with Jumbo-Visma’s development team for 2020, and he went on to place seventh overall in the 2.2-ranked Albertina Baltyk - Karkonosze Tour, as well as sixth and seventh on stages plus a fine eighth overall in the Ronde de l’Isard.
And while 2021 was a wash-out due to problems with his crucial ligament, the problem was rectified through sessions with experienced physical therapist Gerard Hartman plus a battery of prescribed exercises.
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Having got his first race of the season under his belt, Ryan will next compete in the Porec Trophy on Sunday, another 1.2-ranked event in Croatia. On March 18th he is due to ride the Youngster Coast Challenge in Belgium.
Given that he is a specialist climber, he knows he will have a set task rather than a free rein to go for his own results.
“The form is good. However, I am doing three flat one-day races, so I won’t be challenging,” he explained. “I will be doing a lot of work for the boys, which I love doing anyway. That’s the way they are easing me into it. The three one day races are all flat and it's a little bit easier for me just to work for the team and get back into the swing doing a race, you know. No pressure really, just do my bit for the boys.”
However he is hoping to have more opportunity in hillier events such as April’s Giro del Belvedere and GP Palio del Recioto. “The target for now is just to prepare for those,” he said. “They are the first goals of the season.”
Ryan’s presence in Jumbo-Visma’s Academy team is a reflection of his ability and, providing this season goes well, could be a pathway to competing with the WorldTour branch of the squad. It has won some of the biggest races in the sport, such as Primoz Roglic’s overall successes in the Vuelta a España the past three seasons.
Ryan was scheduled to step up to the WorldTour squad in last year’s Ruta del Sol in May, but his knee issue stopped that from happening.
“I was down to make my pro debut there as we thought I would be back no problem,” he told Sticky Bottle last August. “But the injury never went away and I couldn’t start. Obviously it was a big disappointment.”
With his knee now working as it should, he will hope to make the step up this season.
