With two wins in a row, Damien Shaw of Aquablue has started the season in the best possible fashion (Photo: Pat Doherty)
By Gerard Cromwell
Having taken back to back wins in his first two races of the season - in Tralee and Navan - Damien Shaw is the man of the moment on the domestic scene. And with teammates Bryan McCrystal and Robin Kelly also taking victories in Newbridge and Dundalk, his Aquablue squad look to be as dominant as last year.
“I’m delighted with the great start to the year, both for me and the team," said Shaw after victory in yesterday's Cycleways Cup.
"Losing Timmy Barry this year on the bike was always going to be hard, but Timmy is nearly as good in the car as he was on the bike. We knew we’d be quite a strong unit, especially with Bryan McCrystal coming on board.”
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A latecomer to the sport of cycling, Shaw puts his good start down to the experience that comes from another season in the saddle and the backing he gets from the Cork-based squad.
“I went to Tralee to help Sean Lacey but I suppose yesterday was a target for me to win. I know I’m in good shape but, more importantly, I’ve another years racing under my belt. I’ve made good progress year on year.
"This year I’d hope to get my name on a few good trophies rather than a good few trophies. I don’t race an awful lot compared to some of the lads. That’s a conscious decision to come out and try and do well when I do come out.
"I think I could have had some of these wins before if I knew what I was doing and had the same teamwork behind me. Now I have the combination of both, and it’s going to be hard to stop any of us this year I think.”
While Shaw is certainly been on fire this year, he wasn’t the only thing that was smouldering the night before the race and was only in bed when the Mullingar fireman got a call out to a chimney fire.
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“Most of last week we were fairly quiet but Friday evening we had two calls and Saturday, at midnight before the race, we had a call. I was in bed about an hour and got woken by the alerter. It’s not exactly ideal preparation but if you’re on call you have to go but it’s no problem. It’s part of the job.
"Then on Sunday when I got home after the race, I had three calls in a row and didn’t get my dinner until 10pm. People have this impression that I’m full time but it’s far from it. I have two or three things on the go as well.”
When he’s not fighting fires, Shaw is studying to be a physical therapist and also plies his trade as a landscape gardener in the sunnier months, although he admits that winter time is his quiet period.
“Over the winter I tend to train really well because I don’t have much outdoor work,” he says.
“You’d be busy with the fire calls but if you’re not on a course or something you don’t have much to do. So I can do a lot of training.”
Having hired an altitude tent for six weeks and spent a lot of time on core work and on a WattBike, Shaw says it gave him a better start than most of his competition.
“The altitude tent was just something I said I’d try out for a few weeks. I bought some Wattbikes and hired the altitude tent for a while. It was a small part of my winter programme and I think a lot of guys got worked up about it and maybe it put the fear factor into them.
"I only had six weeks of it but between core training and the Wattbike I probably did a lot more than everyone else. I think that’s showing in the first few weeks of the season but when everyone gets up speed it mightn’t be so apparent.”
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