Wilson in Belgium last year in the Irish junior national champ’s colours
By Graham Healy
Antrim teenager and former national junior champion, Jack Wilson is to race again in Belgium this season and says he is hopeful of gaining selection on an U23 team for the Nations Cup.
“My ambitions this season are to get a lot of results, hopefully get on the Nations Cup team, and do a good ride in the national championships,” he told stickybottle.
“When I see how strong Sam Bennett and Sean Downey are though, I know that it’ll be difficult to get on the nationals podium.”
The promising young rider is returning to the ‘UCS Crabbe–Performance Voo’ team, based in Limburg in Belgium, where he raced last year as a junior.
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He had a successful season with the team, notching up two wins in kermesses in addition to a win in a UCI 1.1j race in Brittany; the Ronde des Vallees. He rejoins the team for the 2012 season as part of their U23 squad.
Wilson is looking forward to returning to Belgium, describing UCS as “a really professional set-up.”
The team have provided a platform for other riders, including An Post’s new signing Roy Jans to move up a level.
UCS will only be able to provide Wilson with a bike, team kit and race entries, and he says the only reason he can survive a full season on the Continent is through the help of the Dave Rayner Fund.
“I’m really grateful for this funding, and it’s the only reason I can do this,” he said.
He intends to spend the season in Belgium, only returning for the nationals, and possibly the Tour of the North if his race schedule permits him.
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The UCS Crabbe team are set to take part in a number of the Top Competitie series of races in Belgium, which could see Wilson lining up alongside the An Post team, in addition to other Belgian continental teams.
He is no stranger to the An Post outfit, having joined them on their winter training camp in Calpe in January.
“Ryan Sherlock, Adam Armstrong and I joined up with An Post for their training camp, and it was a great experience,” he said.
“The training involved three-day blocks, followed by a rest-day. I really started to feel the effort after three days, and Seán and Kurt must have noticed this; they started asking me how I was feeling, and suggested I ease off on the distance. But after the rest day, I felt good again.”
A major change for Wilson of late is the fact he has started working with Tommy Evans. It is the first time Wilson has worked with a coach, even though he has been racing since he was nine years old. He feels he has already gained enormously from working with the former international.
“I’ve been working with Tommy for the past three months, and one of the big benefits is that I know what I need to do all the time. Previously, I was just going out training with no real plan in mind.”
He is hopeful that this change along with a good winter’s training will pay dividends.
His good form last season saw Wilson being selected for the Irish team for the Junior World Championships in Copenhagen, alongside Ryan Mullen. However, he was dogged by bad luck.
“I was on fire that day, staying near the front” he recalls.
“But coming into the first corner on the last lap, there was a crash that I got caught behind. I chased back on, and just as I was getting back to the bunch, a Korean rider came down in front of me with 2 kilometres to go, and that was that.”
He eventually managed 29th and is now looking forward to adding to his international experience with another season in Belgium and hopefully national selection for the U23 team.
