A young man whose hard work has paid off and who is having a great week - first a national title and now a place at the UCI's centre of excellence in Switzerland, where he will travel next month; Banbridge CC's James Curry (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Following in the footsteps of young track sprinter Eoin Mullen, two emerging riders on the off road scene have been offered places at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland.
James Curry of Banbridge CC and Patrick Michel of Team WORC will travel to Switzerland next month to take up their places on the World Cycling Centre MTB Development Camp in Aigle from August 19th to 31st.
While Mullen has been a resident at the centre in recent years, visits by young riders to much shorter term camps is designed to introduce them to the set-up. And for those coaches looking to spot the next big things across all the cycling disciplines, it's a chance to assess the potential of the young hopefuls.
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For some, the camps can turn into longer visits and even a residency, where young guns live and work to develop as bike riders.
Paddy Michel won the overall XC NPS junior title this year and Curry won the XC National Junior Championships on Sunday. For both junior riders, the camp represents an excellent opportunity to get a taste of the possibilities that might lie ahead.
Their travelling to Aigle follows work by Cycling Ireland president Denis Toomey to get them included in the camp.
Veteran of Aigle, track man Mullen is now an U23 rider.
From the Aran Islands, he has benefitted enormously from working within the UCI’s centre of excellence. He has competed at the elite World Championships and World Cups, setting numerous national records.
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Paddy Michel has emerged on the Irish MTB and cyclocross scenes in recent times and now has a great opportunity to broaden his horizons (Photo: Sean Rowe)
In an interview with stickybottle about living in Aigle, he recently told us about his life there.
“We’re up bright and early at about 7am”, he said.
“Our morning sessions are usually a couple of hours on a road ride or a gym session which consists of core work, squats, power cleans, leg press, leg curls, bench press, back rowing, shoulder elevations and pull ups.
“We have gym two to three times a week as it plays a very big part in our training as sprinters.”
“We then have our lunch and rest for an hour or two before we have our training on the track in the afternoon. That could be standing starts, sprints and sometimes 30 minutes behind a motorbike at 50 to 60kmph.
“We then have dinner at 6pm and return back to our accommodation where our lights must be out at 10pm.”
We’ll have a chat soon with Curry and Michel about their selection for Aigle.
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