Mark Dowling takes part in the Taiwan KOM Challenge this Friday with the winner set to receive a cheque for just short of €30,000. The Irish international was 10th last year and admitted to being disgusted with that result afterwards. There is a star-studded field for it again this year but Dowling is hoping the experience of last year can help him push for the win.
By Brian Canty
Mark Dowling has said he has unfinished business this Friday when he takes to the start line in the Taiwan KOM Challenge.
The race, one of the most lucrative one-day events in cycling, is relatively short at 105 kilometres but climbs to a lung-bursting 3,300 metres.
The altitude aside, it’s a race that has gained notoriety for the brutality of some of the gradients where pitches of 27 per cent are not uncommon.
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The reigning national criterium champion man was 10th last year and came away from that disgusted as he felt he had the legs on the day to win.
The winner, John Ebsen from Denmark, was awarded a cheque for €30,000 and Dowling will have his eyes firmly on that.
He arrived on the island off the coast of China on Monday. And unlike last year, when his preparation was hampered by sickness, he said he feels good.
And crucially, he knows what to expect this time around.
“If it is going to be rainy, it can be quite cold and the temperature can play a big part; it would require more energy [to climb],” he said.
“Some of the biggest things I learned last year were proper clothing, proper hydration and pacing properly throughout the race.
"You pay dearly with the efforts you make in the last 1o to 13 kilometres of the race,” he added.
Dowling said he had never suffered on a bike like he did 12 months ago and recalls that day in painful detail.
“I was up at the front and feeling Okay for the first 95 kilometres; following the attacks without any pressure.
“I was in a group of 20 but the cold set into my legs and I felt numb all over.
"There was a four kilometre descent into the bottom of the last 10k climb where we would climb another 1,300 metres.
“A Taiwanese rider from Lampre attacked and I knew I 'd have to try to follow to be with them at the bottom of the real climb.
"So I made the split on the descent and started the climb in a group of six.
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“We raced down what is one of the top 10 most dangerous roads in the world in blinding fog, lashing rain, falling rocks and 3 degree temperatures; it was suicidal stuff.
“The group started attacking and I stayed with them until seven kilometres to go until I literally couldn't turn the cranks. I only had a 28 sprocket; everything was planned last minute.
“So I didn't have the power to sit and drive the gear. I couldn't stand either; my back seized up after trying to push the big gear.
“I nearly had to get off a few times but once I was out of the prize-money it was just a case of trying to finish.
“I got passed by three more riders and all I could think about was quitting.
“I knew I was going to get a top 10 but that didn't matter. I was there for the €30,000 prize for winning but I was suffering like I never thought possible.
“I have no idea what made me push on to the top, I took it one lamppost at a time.”
He would finish, but there would be only regrets afterwards.
“I had the same thoughts as I did when I got dropped in my first Rás; I was out the back and already planning my training for the following year never to be humiliated like that again.
“I recovered despite the altitude of 3,500m. I was sitting in a van keeping warm looking out the window at the prize-giving.
"I was feeling disgusted with myself, embarrassed after travelling across the world to race and performing like I did.
“I got my tactics right and, followed any attacks from the pre-race favourites but just ran out of fuel.
"I know what I need to do this year to win what I regard as the toughest race I’ve ever done.”
This year the field for the race is a formidable one, with Olympic gold medallist Lasse Norman Hansen joining more than 500 cyclists from around the world on the start-line.
Spaniard Omar Fraile, who won the mountains classification at the Vuelta a Espana last month, is also competing in the race for the first time.
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