Simon Ryan of Visitnenagh.ie leads the breakaway on the final stage of the An Post Rás into Skerries on Sunday. He feels the U23 national title is a realistic goal if he recovers well after last week's efforts. (Photo: Adrian O'Connor - www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)
Brian Canty
Simon Ryan was just one of a clutch of county riders who managed to get up the road at the An Post Rás last week and the 21-year-old Visit Nenagh man enjoyed his escape on Sunday’s final stage, though it was doomed before he hit the finishing circuit in Skerries.
Ryan, riding his third successive Rás, has improved each time and said this year’s race was more controlled than previous editions because there were three men from different teams tied at the top of the general classification.
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Asked if it was his best ever Rás, Ryan said: “I dunno really. I had a bit of bad luck on the Monday going into Nenagh when I came down in a crash and with the way the commissaire was I didn’t get in behind the car to get back on. So I lost a bit of time there. The next day I just wasn’t warmed up enough for the climb out of Nenagh but I enjoyed it anyway.”
“I planned on getting up the road at some stage during the week but things didn’t work out.
I felt, after the week that I hadn’t achieved anything and I wanted to get up the road (on Sunday’s final stage) so I tried to get across to the first move with the Canadian and Scottish guy (Robert Hassan, Scotland and Stuart Wight, Canada).”
“I jumped and I had the gap but I didn’t have the power to close it and I thought that was my chance, gone. I started to die but just as I eased up, the bunch stalled and the gap went out to 1:30 to those two guys. I got back in the bunch and recovered and then there was a bit of a lull in the action, and 10 minutes later Sean Lacey kicked it off again.”
“The guy from Blue Water (Mark Sehested Pedersen) jumped and had a gap so I said I’d jump across to him and I sprinted the whole way across. I was in the 53 X 11 going up to him; maybe for 30 seconds or so. I was swinging! He was a big lad and could turn a massive gear. I recovered for a few minutes and rode with him across to the other two."
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“I was happy then. It was just a case of using the head then, not murder myself, not to be the one driving it but doing my bit to stay away.”
“The gap went to 1:30 and Rene, our team manager, got the call up and he was absolutely delighted to have someone up the road! But all of a sudden the gap came to 50 seconds and the lad from Baku (Christoph Schweizer) came across. He was very strong, it was hard then again.”
That, ultimately, proved the beginning of the end for Ryan as he began to suffer.
“I made sure every time I rode through I was on the Blue Water guy because I knew I’d get the most shelter off him because he was the biggest. I was feeling it in the legs on the few drags but I was comfortable enough. I was riding through taking all my turns.”
“But then one time I went to get my bottle after doing my turn and before I knew it, they had a few bike lengths on me after the Baku guy accelerated past me. It was on a drag and that four pulled out a gap and by the time I reacted, I was in trouble. If I dug deep I’d have gotten back on but I let them off. That was it. I said I’d go back to the bunch, recover and see how I go on the circuit.”
Ryan dropped back and out of the front group but was glad he had a go to prove what he could do.
His team rode exceptionally well, with Mícheal Fitzgerald taking three county rider prizes and Matt Slattery climbing with the best all week; one of just three county riders to make the yellow jersey group on Saturday’s hilly stage.
“Fitzy was delighted, he’s a savage rider,” lauded Ryan.
“He’ll go to the Nationals now. It’s great to have someone like him in your team, just listening to him after the stages. He’d be talking and telling us stories about his days in the Rás and other races he done around the world.”
“He wouldn’t get too stressed! He’s as cool as they come. He never panics. There was one stage there with two category 2 climbs in the first hour and on the second one it got lined out, I lost contact coming over the top. But Fitzy was there, he looked at the heart monitor, didn’t put himself into the red and knew he’d get back on. He just knows what to do and that helped me.”
Ryan believes he can go to the Nationals next month with confidence in the U23 race.
“The Nationals are a big goal for me. The U23 jersey is something I can get, if I recover well and hold the form.”
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