Dan Clifford battles the hills of Donegal in Rás 2o12. He's been forced to sit out this season due to injury but few would doubt the Kerry man's ability to come back and use his turn of speed to win big races.
By Brian Canty
Dan Clifford has revealed his frustration after an injury-hit season that has seen him sidelined since February and forced him to watch the year slip away.
The talented 26-year-old from Killorglin, Co Kerry, had been set to race for the full year, initially with the Los Angeles-based Full Circle Cycling Team before he was due to team up with Polygon Sweet Nice. But a back injury late last year put paid to those plans.
Furthermore, he had been making steady progress and had targeted the Suir Valley Three Day in Ireland over the August Bank Holiday weekend as a comeback race, before he tore ligaments in his ankle two weeks before it.
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After that, he said he had had enough for 2013.
“I was racing with a team over in the US, I had been with them for a few months. It was the start of this year, from after Christmas onwards. I was based in East Los Angeles and we were riding a lot of stage races with the likes of Jelly Belly and Optum Pro Cycling and those teams,” he explains.
“But then I got injured out there, the back problem returned and started giving me problems. And it got to a stage where I had to come home because it had gotten so bad. I was a bit pissed off and the head went.”
“I just said I’d give it time and get back on it slowly; keep doing the rehab work, keep doing the gym work and just pedal away and stay away from racing.”
“It was very disappointing to have to stop because I knew America would suit me. It was a place I always had in the back of my mind. And when I got the chance and saw how possible it was to do something.... so for the back to play up; it was just very disappointing.”
Clifford was diagnosed with bulging discs in his back, and though he’s not 100 per cent sure how it happened, he thinks it could be either a new bike position, or possibly even the gluten in his diet that was causing his muscles to become inflamed.
He sought treatment from some of the country’s best known doctors and surgeons and right now is under the eye of British and Irish Lions team doctor Eanna Falvey.
Cycling has taken a back seat for the time being, as he continues his recuperation.
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“I think trying to get injury free now is the most important thing. The Polygon Sweet Nice Team are talking about keeping me on for next year. I’m not sure what’s going to happen but hopefully they do because it would be a good opportunity to race out in Asia. There are a lot of bunch sprints out there and I fancy my chances when I come to the line."
Indeed, he’s seen as one of few Irish riders who could win a Rás stage in a bunch sprint, having notched a fourth place as far back as 2009 on the opening day into Newbridge.
“I know in my heart and soul I can do it. It’s just a matter of getting it all together. That’s why I talk about Asia because I know there are chances to get results and you have the opportunity to win there in bunch sprints.”
“I believe in myself when it comes to a sprint. I was there in Listowel this year when the Rás came through, when (Sam) Bennett won, and I’d have loved to have been there racing. That was especially hard to see it come into Kerry.”
“The bunch sprints in the Rás are completely reckless. If you can win a bunch sprint there, it’s a massive achievement. I mean, without a lead-out, it is some job to try and get on a wheel.”
“For a start, you’re not allowed let up there near the front, no Continental team will let a rider with a county jersey up there and I saw that myself. You would not be let up there; you’re being passed out or pushed.”
“They won’t let you take a wheel. The recognised teams are left ahead because they know they’re the wheels to follow. But I’d love to give it another shot.”
“I’ll keep doing the rehab work over the winter and be building up the miles and hopefully get stuck in again next year.”
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