Familiar sight: Ronan McLaughlin in full flight in the colours of An Post-Chainreaction on the Rás in 2012
By Brian Canty
Ronan McLaughlin brought his six-year spell with the An Post-Chainreaction team to an end this week but said he leaves the team with no regrets. He is now looking forward to the next chapter in his life, though he’s as yet unsure what they are.
The 26-year-old Donegal man said it was “an honour and a privilege” to be part of the squad, particularly with teammates he described as being “like brothers.”
McLaughlin gave an interview to stickybottle last year saying how hard the life of a full-time cyclist was on the Continent, scrapping for places in races and the meagre money on offer.
He said at the time that he did not even own a car and anything he ever earned was put straight back into making him a better rider.
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But a combination of an anti-climactic season – compared to 2012 where he rode at the World Championships - exacerbated by his exclusion from An Post-Chainreaction’s Tour of Britain team, told him it was time to pack it in.
“I finished my season in September and I came home a week before the World Championships and I made the decision to stop around then,” he said.
“It wasn’t for any specific reason. It was always an honour to ride on the team. And it was like this cause we were riding for; fighting for the jersey and delighted to put it on. But all good things come to an end.”
“It was a hard decision to have to make; you put so much work and effort into it. And by making this decision you’re saying ‘it didn’t work out for me’. It was a hard decision but one that had to be made.”
Regrets are things he said he’s lucky to have few of.
“There’s always things you’d have done differently, but only looking back. At the time you couldn’t have done anything differently. I just progressed my training and my nutrition and my dedication over the years.”
“You could say you regret not doing things from the start but the reason you didn’t do things from the start was because you didn’t know; the techniques and all that. But I don’t have any regrets.”
“It was in existence for two years before I was there,” he said of the UCI Continental-ranked team that began life as the Sean Kelly Cycling Academy in Belgium.
“I was there since An Post came on board and it’s been a big institution since then. It made the whole thing so special with Sean Kelly there, in an Irish team. It was a great thing to be a part of and I was proud, immensely proud to be a part.”
“My intention was always to just race my bike internationally. You don’t go into cycling thinking you’re going to make money – if you do that you won’t last very long.”
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“Even for guys at World Tour level, it’s not about money, you ride a bike because you love it and you love racing. It’s not a sport to make money out of it.”
He’s not slow to admit the sport is a results business, of which he got few on the international stage.
“I was always a good worker. I did get plenty of opportunities for myself but the skills that I have are not exactly ones that usually win. (That’s) why I had to go long if I wanted to win, and those don’t often work out. But every year I progressed and that gave me motivation. It was all about being the best I could be.”
“Last year I probably had an opportunity to move teams, especially the second half of the year where I was going really well and rode the Worlds.”
“I thought I was in the right position to build on that and progress, but at the end of the day, when you’re looking to move up a level, you need to do what Sam (Bennett) done and that’s win big races. And I never done that.”
He said he was very grateful to the team.
“I can’t complain a bit about them, not one bad word. It’s probably the best team I ever could have went to, Sean (Kelly) and Kurt (Bogaerts) gave me a big opportunity because they knew I wasn’t the most talented but my attitude was right.”
“And I was always dedicated to training, ate right and slept right. So I don’t think I have any regrets. I’m far from being the most talented fella ever, but I think I got the most out of myself. That’s something to be proud of. I was always trusted to be on the team and do the job that was asked of me.”
One day McLaughlin is unlikely to ever forget was his stunning solo ride in the Rás last year that almost brought him one of the greatest wins in the history of the race.
It was the ill-fated stage from Westport to Bundoran where he was caught 100 metres from the line after being out front for over 70 kilometres.
“The way I see it is; I went as deep as I could for as long as I could. And there’s nothing more I could have done. I was looking for a big win in 2012 because I felt I deserved it and needed to.”
“But that day the line was just 100 metres too late for me, so what can you do?”
Since taking the decision to leave the team McLaughlin has been accumulating coaching qualifications for the sport and that’s an area he’s weighing up at present.
“I would like to give something back to the sport because it gave me a lot. This isn’t the end of me by any means, I’m still going to stay involved and I’m looking at coaching so watch this space.”
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