Though recently out of action with a broken collar bone, national road race champion Damien Shaw has received a call up from Cycling Ireland (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Having won the national road race championships in Omagh last month, Damien Shaw was selected to represent Ireland on both the road and track at elite level.
And while a broken collar bone has meant he cannot honour the commitment to represent his country on the road in France next month as was planned, his appearance on the track in the green of Ireland is thankfully still on course.
The Mullingar man collided with a pedestrian while out training in Majorca just four days after being crowned national champion last month.
However, while he does not know when he will race again, he has returned to training.
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“It was a freak incident in Majorca,” he said.
“It just happened so quickly but thankfully it was a clean break of the collar bone.
“But the muscles around the area are damaged as well so I’ll have to get them sorted before I get back racing.
“You have to be careful with this to make sure it heals properly.”
The timing of his injury was particularly unfortunate as he had been scheduled to start the Kreiz Breizh stage race over the August Bank Holiday in France with the Irish team.
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He has now been forced out of that engagement due to his injury.
His next possible racing outing will be the track season; something he is keen to expose himself to.
“When I was in Majorca I was doing a lot of research into the track; how it’s done, the changeovers, the pacing, the lines,” he explained.
“I’ve done track before but not team pursuit stuff. It’s a lot more technical compared to what I was doing.”
With Ryan Mullen having departed the squad it is likely Shaw will go straight in as his replacement.
“At the moment it’s for me to see if I adapt to it and (Cycling Ireland) to have a look at me.
“I’m not straight in though; you have to earn your place because the lads there now have been there for over a year and it’ll be up to me to step up.
“They do need bodies but there are a few of us fighting for places.
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