Archie Ryan has been given a contract extension with the Jumbo Visma Continental-level team, which is the academy team of the WorldTour outfit of the same name.
The Irish teenager had very limited opportunities to
prove himself in 2020 but when he got his chance he was very much up to the
mark, and some.
While the 2020 season was decimated for him, Ryan was
clearly able to compete in top international U23 races having just stepped up
from the junior ranks.
Though he rode only a handful of UCI-ranked races this year he still joined a very select group of young Irish riders over the last decade able to make that transition out of his junior years and immediately to the front of international U23 events.
“I’m definitely happy with how it
went in the end,” Ryan told stickybottle of his first season at this level,
even though his racing opportunities were curtailed.
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“The team did a great job getting us
racing, though there wasn’t a lot of races for U23s. I’d injured my knee in
April and could only start properly training in July so I never reached my best
form during the season.
“But I’m happy with how I performed
in the races I did. The result at Baltyk in Poland
gave me confidence that I could perform in L’Isard and the form wasn’t bad.
“L’Isard went well and it was great
to experience a proper mountain stage race for the first time.”
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Ryan, who has been combining school with racing so far, got his international racing underway in Poland at the four-stage Tour Bitwa Warszawska 1920 in Poland in mid August. With a prologue TT and three flat road stages, he finished the UCI 2.2 event in 74th overall.
He then rode the Albertina Baltyk-Karkonosze Tour (2.2)
four-day race in Poland in September, which included some climbing which suited
Ryan.
On the final stage, with five 5km climbs, Ryan attacked
on the final ascent and forced a seven-man breakaway clear.
That was enough for him to claim 7th overall and show
himself on the first climbs of the season.
At Ronde de l'Isard in September, one of the biggest U23 stage races in the world, Ryan again excelled when the racing hit the big mountains; his first time competing on that terrain.
On the opening stage he finished in the bunch – as compatriot
Ben Healy (Trinity Racing) was up the road taking 2nd place.
The following day, a split stage, Ryan’s team was 2nd in
the morning TTT. In the afternoon road race stage, finishing atop the cat 1 Hospice de France climb, Ryan was 6th as the field split to pieces.
He was 23rd the following day, on the summit of Ax-3 Domaines, and placed 7th on the final stage – at the front of a
chasing group after three mountain passes – with Ben Healy winning the day.
Ryan’s climbing consistency through the race was very impressive
and ensured he finished 8th overall; a great result at that level.
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