Dubliner Stephen Halpin has said while riding well in the UK for his new Metaltek-SCOTT team is his priority for 2012, he is targeting a strong ride in the national championships and the An Post Ras including a stage win.
“I’m pretty confident I’ll be able to compete, but I need to be realistic that I won’t be at my best from the start of the season due to my long lay off,” he told stickybottle.
“I’m really motivated to do the best Ras I’ve ever done and to do everything right; to be 110 per cent ready for it. I’ve had poor performances the last two times I did it both due to injury and illness. And I think that has made me more motivated to do a good ride this year.”
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“I’m hoping to win a stage and get a top ten on GC. I know it won’t be easy, but I think with some luck it’s something I can achieve.”
“The start of my season will be all about getting speed and racing miles back into my legs; it’s been nine months since my last race.”
The 23-year-old has been based in Belgium for much of his senior career, riding with the Rogelli team for 18 months until the middle of 2010. He them joined the An Post-Sean Kelly team for the second half of that season.
However, an ankle injury followed by a viral infection ruined the last months of the 2010 season and wrecked 2011 for him. He said he overdid his comeback after his injury, which brought on a viral infection that lasted for months.
“I’ve learnt a lot from some big mistakes I’ve made over the last two years. I’m working very smartly and carefully with my doctor Conor McGrane and coach Stephen Gallagher to make sure I don’t fall into any problems I’ve had in previous years.”
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Despite his recent set backs he has landed a contract with the new UK Metaltek-SCOTT team.
It is made up of the nucleus of the old CyclePremier.com–Metaltek Pro Cycling Team. Its best known rider is Tony Gibb, the sprint specialist and former silver medallist in the World Track Championships scratch race.
Halpin said it is vital he establishes himself quickly to be in a position to help the team in its biggest, mostly UK, races and also to get results to add to his own CV.
“Come the summer months it’s pretty busy in the U.K so it’s a great time for me to prove myself,” he said.
“I’d love to win a Premier Calendar and help the team get the best results possible for us. The biggest goal for me in the summer is the nationals though; it’s one of my favourite races of the year.”
He knows the Clonmel national championships course well, often training there when staying at his girlfriend’s home.
”I’ve been based in Carrick-On-Suir over Christmas in my girlfriend’s house, training hard with Sam Bennett and I’m going to Alicante with the team for training in the next few weeks.”
“My training has been pretty intense the last couple of months. I’m aiming to be in good shape in April and May because it’s quite a busy time for the team with some nice races like the Tour of Majorca, Tour Doon Hame in Scotland and then the Ras along with a lot of Premier Calendars and crits in the Tour Series. So all and all it should be a good couple months for me as most of the races suit me pretty well. So I hope to pick up some results there.”
Halpin with Minister for Sport Leo Varadkar at Dublin’s New Year’s Eve festival
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