Star of BBC's "The Apprentice" TV show, Jim Eastwood bests the field to win the third stage of the Tour of Omagh in his home county last weekend (Photo with thanks to Omagh Wheelers)
By Brian Canty
The name of the winner of the third stage at the Tour of Omagh last weekend, Jim Eastwood, might not immediately register with followers of stickybottle.
But the Cookstown man has been a star of TV in the past, emerging as one of the memorable characters on the BBC hit show ‘The Apprentice’.
And according to the man doing the hiring and firing, Lord Alan Sugar, he was one of the best salesmen he’d come across and could “sell Ireland” if he wanted.
Eastwood became affectionately known as Jedi Jim; a title bestowed on him by Irish comedian Dara O’Briain after he made the final of the show.
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In one of the early episodes, Eastwood convinced a rival not to bring him back into the boardroom to face being fired because he felt it was the wrong thing to do.
“Jedis are famed for influencing decisions and it was one of the things that helped me advance to the final," Eastwood told stickybottle.
“The Apprentice was just a one-shot thing, it was a positive experience; tough, rewarding and I learnt a lot."
Eastwood being put through his paces by Lord Sugar's aid Margaret during the job interview episode of the 2011 series of The Apprentice.
Eastwood has done well for himself in the four years since appearing on our televisions.
He is currently the vice-president of sales and marketing for Groupon, one of the best-known global e-commerce marketplaces.
He’s also a popular public speaker and is heavily involved in a UK charity called Young Enterprise.
It works in schools, universities and communities to empower young people and helps them deliver on their potential.
Cycling is something Eastwood does when he gets time. But with so much travel and three kids under the age of three, you’d have to question where he finds the time.
“My mentality with everything is that if I’m going for it I’m going for it with all guns blazing,” he said of his philosophy.
“I wanted to make my business ideas a reality growing up and though I was a runner-up in 'The Apprentice' it’s no big deal. I wanted to pursue a lot of other things and I will."
Suited up for a publicity shot to promote The Apprentice.
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Eastwood has been a key player in the growth of Groupon and in the six years they’ve been operating they’ve traded in 47 countries and floated on the stock exchange.
“We went from a small group with a big idea to a massive corporation with a massive group (of staff)," he explained.
“There’s been rapid expansion and it’s a fun space to be a part of.”
When he’s not travelling back and forth to the US and the UK, he gets out on the bike and clearly still has the muscle fibres in his legs that made him an underage national champion.
Last Sunday he blitzed the field in the bunch sprint that decided stage three in Omagh and would place in the top 10 on the other two road stages.
His time-trial effort meant he’d never challenge for the general classification but his was a cracking effort nonetheless.
“I wanted to get a placing in one of the stages and get up to A3,” he said.
Doing some market research before launching a new food range on the BBC show four years ago.
“I also wanted to try to help two teammates, one for GC and one for the polka dot.
“The GC guy was 8th overall and we didn’t really challenge for the polka but we got a stage so that was good.”
He said he was thankful to his team mates for helping him take the stage win.
“Four guys went up the road for most of the day but our club (Harps CC) got organised in the last 15 miles and caught them with two miles to go.
“With about a mile or so to go I just recovered, there was fighting for position but I just went on the right with 400 metres to go and got a gap.
“I just got over the brow to the finish line when the sprint was starting to shape up and for the last 100 metres I knew I had it won so I could celebrate.”
Eastwood raced up until the age of 17 years and got back on the bike aged 33 years.
“I hadn’t cycled for 16 years but I really regret it because I enjoy it so much.”
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