Having ridden very strongly last weekend at the European Championships in Italy, 22-year-old Dillon Corkery is next week set for the World Championships; making the cut to represent his country in Flanders.
But it wasn’t that long ago that the young Irishman was working long days pouring concrete on the building sites of his native Cork. Less than two years ago he left that routine behind him – “I wasn’t training like a bike rider at all” - and decided to fully commit to the bike, in the amateur peloton in France.
He raced there with Restauration-Louault 89, largely out of sight and out of mind to those on the domestic scene. But in recent months the rewards have come. He was selected for the Irish team for the Tour de l’Avenir and then secured a place with Irish Continental team EvoPro Racing – “different ball game man”.
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Then came the news he had been selected for the U23 road race at the Europeans in Trento. Now he has made the cut again for Ireland and is set to ride the U23 road race in Flanders next week; his first Worlds at any level in an Irish jersey.
“It’s great to get on the team, especially as I think the course should suit me. Plus, it’s Flanders. There probably won’t be a Worlds like this for a long time, it should be class. It will be a great race to watch, never mind riding in it.”
Corkery said he had “probably improved” racing in France
over the last two seasons but said changing his lifestyle was more important
than the step up in racing. He had also gotten “a boost in confidence” lining
out for EvoPro Racing in recent weeks.
He stepped up to the Irish Continental level team for this last phase of the season and recently rode in the breakaway at both Classic Grand Besançon Doubs (1.1) and Tour du Doubs (1.1). That experience riding for Morgan Fox’s outfit has suited him and left him hoping for more.
“I have to be happy with the level I am at and I think these races are not impossible to win,” he said of the events EvoPro is riding. “The amateur scene in France… Lad, they are hard races. You go out and you do 150-160k and you race for that full distance – you’re on it all day.
“But based on my bit of experience with EvoPro so far at the pro races, it’s been hard for the first hour and then it’ll settle down for two or three hours. And then they will absolutely fly for an hour. I much prefer that.”
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Something that has also suited him has been his lifestyle in France over the last two years compared to his work-filled days while living at home in Banteer.
“When I was at
home racing I was working full-time on (building) sites. My parents had a pub
as well and I’d go training before being on site in the morning. I’d come back
and go training again and then work a bit in the pub. So I wasn’t training like
a bike rider at all.
“And then I moved to France and suddenly all I needed to
do was eat, train, race. And that was a lot easier. So the racing then will
bring you on in leaps and bounds if you commit; once you’re eating properly and
doing everything else right.”
He said he had also really enjoyed racing against the biggest names in the sport in recent weeks when competing for EvoPro Racing. He was especially pleased to ride against the top pros in the world; a mark of the contribution EvoPro was making towards the development of young Irish riders.
“At GP Besançon I got up the road for about 150 or 160k
and I split the break coming in the road. And when I turned around and we were
getting caught with about 20k to go, Quintana and Pinot were coming across,” he
says of being hunted down by the riders he has watched for years on TV.
“Like, Groupama had a full train on the front and Arkea
had the same and Cofidis were sitting behind them. It’s a different ball game
man….”
Looking ahead to next year, Corkery said he was very
hopeful he would be in a position to stay with EvoPro Racing.
“I want to be at this level and, as Morgan says to me, try
to use it as a stepping stone and hopefully get onto a bigger team. But obviously
Morgan has to want to keep the team going and to keep me on it. If that didn’t
happen I would go back to France with Restauration-Louault, but I would
definitely love to stay with EvoPro.”
Corkery said he was not happy with how the finale of the
Europeans had gone for him last week as he was in the front group of about 35
riders cresting the final climb only to be hit by cramp before finishing 29th,
in a small group 1:31 down.
“But, look, I can take the positives from it; I’m at the
level anyway. I’m there competing with the best. If you positioned yourself
well, the race wasn’t that hard. If you were in the top 10 starting the climb,
you could slip back to the top 20 or 30 by the top.
“Some of the stages in the Tour de l’Avenir were a lot
harder, though we were on it all day the Europeans, it was constant but it
wasn’t crazy, crazy hard.”
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