Ireland’s Dermot Trulock has skipped lock-down Ireland,
and the suspension of racing across the island, in favour of the French scene
after joining a new team there for the 2021 road season.
The Dubliner, who is an U23 international on the road, has joined Team CC Nogent-sur-Oise; a squad that has been operating since the late 1940s.
It is based in Nogent-sur-Oise in the Oise department in
the Hauts-de-France region, to the north of the country and on border with
Belgium.
In excess of 40 of its former riders have progressed to
the professional ranks. Among those are Arnaud Démare, Christophe Riblon, Brice
Feillu,
Romain Feillu, Yoann Offredo and Anthony Turgis.
Trulock joins up with compatriot, and Irish men’s TT champion, Conn McDunphy at the team as he is now in his second season with CC Nogent-sur-Oise.
Advertisement
Trulock and McDunphy were formerly club mates at Lucan CRC, where they emerged as top riders, and also spent a period together at the UK Continental team Holdsworth Pro Racing back in 2018.
Related News
Trulock, who is still only 23-years-old and has ridden the U23 Gent-Wevelgem and Tour of Flanders, told stickybottle that since he began racing he had always wanted to go to compete in France for a period.
“Any time I’ve raced aboard I’ve gotten results; as I did
when I was in Belgium. It’s just hard racing and I love getting stuck into some
hard racing. There’s no messing around; it’s the strongest guys who win.
“I asked Conn about the team and he told me to send my CV
and see what happens. So I sent it on and got a reply from them and they were
happy to take me on with my past results.
“I’m settling in well with the team so far. I’ve a few
races coming up and I’m hoping to see what I have in the legs,” added Trulock,
though he said the lock-down in Ireland meant he wasn’t sure where his
condition was at.
“Last year I didn’t really get much racing done because
of Covid. But I trained well during the winter so I’m hoping that after a few
races I’ll get my legs back and do well here.
“I’d love to win some races in France and see what comes
from it; see where my cycling career can go. I’ll also want to do in the
nationals this year back home.”
Topics
