By Shane Stokes
Customarily racing with the Jumbo-Visma Development Team, Archie Ryan was part of the Ireland National Team during last week’s Rás Tailteann and is now setting his sights on the national championships.
The 20-year-old Wicklow rider is a climbing specialist and while the Rás route was flatter than he would have liked, he is hopeful that next Sunday’s road race championships course will suit him better.
“Everyone is telling me it is made for Eddie Dunbar, which will hopefully suit me,” he told stickybottle after Sunday’s final stage of the Rás Tailteann. “I had a look at it actually on the routes [online]… It doesn’t look too hilly, which I was surprised by, but hopefully there are some really grippy roads and it will be a real hard race.
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“I haven’t actually done a nationals under 23 or elite before, because I have been injured the past two years. So I am really, really looking forward to it. It will be great to ride a race with the elite boys, the big boys are hopefully coming home. It will be a really good hard race.”
Ryan was held back by knee problems in 2020 and 2021, missing a lot of racing and training, but he is getting back up to speed again this season. In March he was sixth on a stage and seventh overall in the 2.2-ranked Istrian Spring Trophy race. In April he placed seventh in the 1.2U GP Palio del Recioto – Trofeo C and last month he was 11th in the 1.2 ranked Flèche Ardennaise race.
Those results helped ensure selection for the Irish team in the Rás Tailteann, an experience he was enthusing about on Sunday.
“It was brilliant. It was an honour to be back in the green jersey, as it always is. It was a great race with the boys - two stage wins, third and fourth on the GC. We got the KOM jersey today, we salvaged that. Daire [Feeley] was in it but we managed to pull Dean [Harvey] up the climbs and he won the sprints. So it was a successful day.”
Following Rory Townsend’s sprint win on Saturday, the team had been hoping that he would repeat the feat on Sunday. In the end Kevin McCambridge (Britain Trinity Racing) put in a super ride to win solo. Townsend had to be satisfied with fifth.
Ryan would have liked another Irish stage success, but was quick to complement McCambridge on his performance.
“I’m happy Kevin won, he’s a good mate of mine,” he said. “Unfortunately Rory didn’t get that second win that we wanted. But he was up there in the sprint, we gave it a good crack.”
Ryan played a team role during the race, most often helping others. The race profile was the flattest in many, many years and for the flyweight climber that didn’t play to his strengths. But he enjoyed it regardless, and told stickybottle that he wished it was its traditional eight days instead of this year’s five.
“We sort of went down to the mountains and went around the mountains. It was a bit funny,” he said, speaking about the low number of climbs. “But it was brilliant. I love actually racing races that don’t suit me, because there are no expectations or pressure. So I can just do what I can to help the boys. It is just great fun, just racing my bike, you know?”
Ryan put in his most prominent showing on Sunday’s final stage, going clear in a breakaway group inside the final 30 kilometres with race leader and ultimate Rás winner Daire Feeley (Cork All Human/Velo Revolution), William Perrett (Dublin Spellman Dublin Port) and Dean Watson (Britain Embark-Bikestrong).
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They stayed clear until just before the final lap, being reeled in with approximately 12 kilometres to go.
Ryan was pleased with his showing, having felt that he was not quite recovered from his participation in the four-day 2.2-ranked Raiffeisen Oberösterreich Rundfahrt, which ended just days before the Rás began.
“It was good to be up the road. I have been struggling with my legs recently,” he said on Sunday. “I had a stage race in Austria two days before this, and I have been creeping since then.
“So it was good to finally find some legs in the Rás. I’ve just been enjoying helping out on the team and not being so much about racing for myself. So it has been a great experience.”
Talking to Ryan about racing and a real sense of enjoyment comes across. He seemed to get a buzz out of his Rás participation and is upbeat about what he does.
"At least part of that may be due to his relief at being able to compete without injury once more; he was on the sidelines for the best part of two years and was able to return to full training and to competition after doing several sessions with the famous therapist Ger Hartmann in Limerick.
So how are his knees now?
“They are good,” he said, smiling. “I was in a big pileup on stage one and I whacked my knee on some dude, so it was pretty sore in the past couple of days. But it managed to heal up nicely, thanks to our swanny [soigneur]. I am quite thankful. It is all fine, I am flying along now.”
Ryan has several days to recover before Sunday’s road race championships and will hope both to be in flying form and that the course is sufficiently difficult to suit his characteristics. If so, he should be one of the contenders for the under 23 title.
Beyond that, he has a vague outline of what races he might be competing in.
“I might be doing Euros…I don’t know, it depends on selection,” he said. “I have got a training camp with the team in July, and then I think maybe Sazka Tour in August before hopefully l’Avenir.”
He is also hoping to get the opportunity to compete alongside some of Jumbo-Visma’s WorldTour team, something which has been made possible by a UCI rule which permits riders on a development team to ride in combined squads in certain races.
Ryan had been due to do exactly that in the 1.1-ranked Volta Limburg Classic on April 2nd, but missed the chance due to contracting Covid.
“I hope I get the opportunity again this year,” he said. “I am sure I will get the opportunity…I will grab it with both hands.”
