James King put in a great turn of speed to win the Traders Cup in Dundalk last weekend and the junior rider has big plans for the year ahead.
Having won his opening event of 2013 in Ireland last weekend in the shape of the Traders Cup in Dundalk, junior international James King has his sights set high for the season ahead.
The UK-based junior, who was born in Ireland and lived in Dublin until he was aged 8 years, is hoping to win a round of the Junior National Road Series in Britain this year. And he is also targeting selection for Ireland for both the track and road World Championships.
He has just returned from a training camp in Majorca with the national junior squad and put his training on the road and track there to good effect last Sunday when he took off out of the bunch at the Traders Cup to take a great win ahead of comeback rider Ken Tobin (Swords CC). King said he “felt ecstatic” to win the race.
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“I nearly didn't get to the start line because I stripped the threads in my seat post clamp when I was getting the bike out of the bike box after flying over. So I rang Karl Dolan whose club was promoting the race and he fixed it for me because all the bike shops were closed.”
King said he enjoyed the race on what was a mainly flat course in still and dry conditions, apart from a hale shower for around 15 minutes into the handicapped event open to A1/A2/A3/A4 riders.
“I bridged across to a group of seven about a quarter of the way into the race and we rode well together until we caught the A4 group up ahead. But shortly after that the A3s caught us again with about 15 miles to go. At the end I moved up to sixth wheel with around 500 metres to go and squeezed through a small gap and kicked when I saw the 200 metre to go sign. It was a long straight road so timing the effort was key. I put a few bike lengths into the other riders and felt ecstatic when I crossed the line first.”
The 18-year-old started cycling as an U16 rider and in 2011 he was second in the U16 road race championships and fifth in the criterium title race. Based in Yorkshire, he was north east England regional criterium junior champion last year and was sixth in the junior road race championships in Ireland.
In the Junior Tour last year he was 10th overall and 2nd Irish rider on the final classification. He also took four top ten placings on the five stages of the race and bagged some more top tens in races in Belgium and Holland last summer. He has also won races regularly on the track at the Manchester regional league; racing that sources in Ireland say has helped him develop a very good turn of speed and a professional style on the bike.
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King says he is enjoying being part of the Irish national set up at the moment.
“I was at the junior squad camp in Bray last Saturday and it was good to see how the programme is going forward after the trip to Majorca. We did a 2½ hour ride and a workshop with Tommy the Cycling Ireland mechanic which was really useful. It was good meeting up with the lads again and getting to know the new first year juniors.”
King said the training camp that he and some of the other squad riders were brought to in Majorca by Cycling Ireland was a great experience.
“I really enjoyed the long climbs on perfect roads and we were riding on the road in the morning and the track in the evening, focusing on team pursuit. We had lunch at Cycling Planet everyday just a two minute walk from where we were staying in Alaró.”
He said he got to watch Martyn Irvine and 2012 World Championship bronze medallist Caroline Ryan train on the velodrome as they made their final preparations for what would prove to be Irish cycling's finest hour for decades at the Worlds in Minsk last week.
“We got to train with Martyn on the last day, doing hill repeats. We asked him about the Worlds, it was his taper week for it. It was also great to get away from the snow and train on some nice roads with the lads and get some quality training. The likes of Brian Nugent, Frank O'Leary, and Martin O'Loughlin were great to organise for us and I know all the guys appreciated it.”
Having just signed for Team Sportscover in the UK, King is aiming high for the year ahead.
“My aims are to win a National Junior Series round in the UK. I’d like to be selected for a big international races for Ireland especially the World Championships on track and road. I ride the track every week in Manchester and I feel I suit the hilly Worlds road race course in Italy as well. I’d also like to become National Junior Champion on the road.”
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