Christopher McGlinchey was one of the stars of the domestic road racing season in 2016 but he has even bigger goals for 2017, including winning a stage of the An Post Rás. Above, on the ascent of the cat 1 Spelga Dam during Stage 2 of the AmberGreen Energy Tour of Ulster in May (Photo: Stephen McMahon-Tour of Ulster)
By Brian Canty
One of the stars of the 2016 road season, Christopher McGlinchey, has said though he was quietly confident he could have a great campaign at its outset he never expected it to go so well.
In what was his first year fully committed to the road he won the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan, a string of other top domestic events and rode for the national team at the An Post Rás.
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But the 22-year old Chain Reaction Cycles man admits there were breaks he missed and races he didn’t win when perhaps he might have.
“It was a great year for me and it was my first season focusing on road cycling without any off-road commitments like I did in 2015,” he said.
“I was quietly confident coming into 2016 knowing I’d done the hard work in the off-season.
“However, I never expected the year to pan out as well as it did.
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"I had big goals and to be able to pull some of them off was a great feeling and most importantly I was having fun on my bike,” he added.
“In 2017 I want to improve on my consistency,” he continued. “I missed the break in some important races this year and that was purely down to a lack of experience.
“Look at the likes of Sean Lacey (Aqua Blue); he has a knack for never missing the winning break and this comes down to experience and it’s something I'm only going to be able to learn over time.”
In terms of races, he has some big plans again, including the Tour of Ulster, a stage win at the An Post Rás as well as the one-day races.
Speaking of An Post, he had talks with them about joining for 2017 but felt he needed another year before stepping up anywhere.
“I’m very thankful that Kurt considered me for the squad but I felt it wasn't the right time to step into professional racing.
“I want to gain more experience and be at a more consistent level before I make a commitment to ride at that level.
“It's great to have a platform like An Post and now more recently Aqua Blue Sport for Irish riders to step up into the pro ranks.
"And I hope when I'm ready the opportunity will still be there in the future.”
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