By Shane Stokes
Talented young Irish climber Archie Ryan has spoken on the eve of the Tour de l’Avenir, saying he is in a good place heading into the prestigious under 23 event and hopes to be in the position to challenge for a strong GC result when the race hits the high mountains.
The 20 year old is one of six Irish riders who will line up in what is regarded as the under 23 version of the Tour de France. It begins in the Vendée region of France on Thursday and finishes in the Alps ten days later on Sunday August 28th.
“L’Avenir is on the horizon now and I am really, really looking forward to that,” Ryan told Stickybottle on Wednesday. “There is a prologue team time trial tomorrow night, which will be interesting. I am really looking forward to getting stuck in. I am definitely looking towards a good GC result. I think it is all about just getting to the mountains in one piece and hopefully not losing much time at all.”
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Also donning the green jersey are Darren Rafferty (19), winner this year of the Strade Bianche di Romagna and recently eighth in the Commonwealth Games time trial, Rás Tailteann stage winners Kevin McCambridge (20) and Adam Ward (21), Rás King of the Mountains Dean Harvey (19) and Liam Curley (22), who has also ridden well this season.
Team manager Martyn Irvine said last week that he believes Ryan could shine in the mountains.
“Personally I would like to put some protection around Archie in the early days, to keep a team around him because his skillset will come to the fore at the end of the week,” he stated. “I think that would be a good idea to make sure we get him to the hard stuff in good condition.”
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Ryan also sees avoiding trouble as crucial to his hopes.
“The flat stages and the TTT are all about staying safe and getting to the mountains where I can try to do my thing, hopefully, if the legs are good,” he said. “We have got a really strong team here as well, so we have got lots of opportunities with other boys as well.
“It is really, really exciting to see what we can do. It is a super strong team. So, like I said, exciting.”
Ryan has bounced back this year after recovering from a long-running knee problem. He had arguably his best result of the season earlier this month when he took seventh on a stage and sixth overall in the Sazka Tour against a field containing some WorldTour competitors. He was also second in the best young rider classification there.
That performance was followed by the news that his Jumbo-Visma Development Team has extended his current contract by a further year.
“I had a good race there [in the Sazka Tour] and good news also with the contract extension, so I am happy out,” Ryan told Sticky Bottle. “I am really happy to extend with the team. For me it is a really good place to continue developing, and since coming back from injury I have really come on a fair bit in just a couple of months.
“So I am hoping to continue that [improvement] with them into next year. That is exciting.”
