Having put aside a full tilt at cycling until his college course was completed earlier this year, the journey to Europe proved a successful one with one victory in Belgium and three at home for Marc Potts (Photo: George Doyle)
Marc Potts is one of a growing number of young Irish riders opting to base themselves abroad for next season.
The Belfast man is set to link up with Belgian outfit Tomacc for much of the coming year.
The 23-year-old raced sporadically in Ireland this year, taking three wins and representing Ireland at the World University Championships in Poland in the summer.
Potts took his first victory in the Donegal Bay CC Kermesse in Mountcharles in May. In July he won the JG Memorial in Cranford, Co Donegal.
He followed that up immediately with another victory, this time in the Velotec Galway Classic.
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But his most impressive ride of the season was his victory in a criterium in the town of Boezinge in west Belgium at the end of July.
On the front of the group in Belgium during the summer, having traded his Omagh CC colours for the kit of Team Tomacc (Photo: Martine Verfaille)
He beat a very good field after going across to a two-man break late in the race; a move that featured team mate and fellow Irishman Ryan Sherlock.
Bridging across with another rider, he then jumped the leading quartet to sail across the line with his arms aloft and is hoping for more next year.
“I’m definitely going back to Belgium with the same team; the calendar we had this year was pretty good,” he explained of his plans.
“We were racing against Continental teams regularly and they weren’t exactly blowing us off the road by any means.”
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However, one of his biggest dates will be on Irish roads in the shape of the An Post Rás in May; a race he has never ridden before due to college exams falling at that time of year.
Fancy a win in your first season in Belgium? Don't mind if I do, thanks very much. Potts romps home in July.
“I’ve got a lot of goals for 2015; probably too many and it’s probably bad luck to say them out loud,” he laughed.
“I’m planning to come home for the Rás and hopefully make an impression there; it’s a great platform to show yourself off and I missed it last year unfortunately.
“The calendar with Tomacc for next season is looking increasingly good too so I’ll have plenty of opportunities to prove myself and hopefully I’ll do that.
“The style of racing over there suits my mentality a bit more than back home.
"Most of the racing is closed-circuit racing around small towns so there are a lot of corners, braking and hard accelerations.
“That type of racing just keeps me excited and I think it also just suits the type of rider I am generally.
“With college behind me and a bit of time on my hands for once I think I’ll be able to pull something out of the bag, let’s hope so anyway.”
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