John Buller has decided to focus full-time on his cycling in the year ahead after securing a place with French DN1 team Amicale Cycliste Bisontine.
The 21-year-old has raced with his club, Banbridge CC, in Ireland in recent seasons and taken a number of big wins.
With his choice of team in France he follows in the footsteps of former pro rider and Irish U23 champion Philip Lavery, not to mention his own club mates in Banbridge, Matt Teggart and Mark Downey.
Buller, a stage winner at the Junior Tour of Ireland and international rider in his junior days, is a formidable sprinter and says he hopes the move to France will help him step up a level while giving him the chance to do his thing in the group sprints.
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Last year, though so much racing was lost because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Buller took a number of victories, something that has become a habit for him every year in his career.
In 2020 he won the Annaclone GP, Brendan Campbell Memorial, Eddie Crory Cup and a round of the Kinning Series at Nutts Corner.
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“I hope to leave sooner rather than later, potentially towards the end of next week, February 1st at the latest,” he said of looking to get over to France and begin the process of settling in as soon as possible.
“The goals for the year are to firstly enjoy myself; I’m a laid back kind of guy and that can be good and bad I guess at times. I’ll take the year as it comes, enjoy what I’m doing and give 100 per cent to training and racing abroad."
Buller continued: “I’m keen to show my sprint potential over there and hope I can claim an Irish U23 jersey this year. It’s a different lifestyle completely, I guess, and I’m excited and motivated to settle in and get the ball rolling.”
Buller added he had always been used to balancing his racing and training with school and college, as well as a part-time job and family time. While next year will involve more time on the bike, he said he planned having lots of communication with his family.
“It’ll be great to fully commit to the bike for the year and hope I can carry out a good season from that,” he said.
“The calendar is great and hopefully we can get a good run of racing as a team with elite national races, French Cups and UCI races. Our first race is on February 20th so there aren’t many days left before pinning the numbers on.”
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