Darragh Long had a strong 2013 and is hopeful for more in his second year as a junior, including another crack at the Junior Tour of Wales (Photo: Jim McSweeney)
By Brian Canty
Heading into his second year in the junior ranks, 17-year-old Dubliner Darragh Long is optimistic that good season lies ahead of him with the Nicolas Roche Performance Team.
Though the Ballinteer teenager did not notch as many results as he wished for in 2013, he’s hopeful that will change in the coming season.
However, with exams to contend with in June, he will not have the luxury of a full race programme.
“Winter has been going pretty well for me I think,” said the Oatland’s College student.
“I've been getting some good miles in and doing a good bit of core work so I'm looking forward to starting racing and see how I'm going compared to other guys. We had a good year last year in the team and I learned a lot so I'm looking forward to seeing how I go in the upcoming season,” he added.
Advertisement
Related News
“With the Leaving Cert this year my season is going to be a bit split up but I'm hoping to be in form at the start of the season and hopefully get a good result in the Gorey Three Day.
“After my exams I'll be heading straight into the Junior Tour where I'd love to get some results and help out the GC contenders on the team. But that all depends on what shape I can get myself back into.”
Last year, the Nicolas Roche team took a large number of wins to the delight of their manager Phil Finnegan. But with Dylan Foley having left and Danny Bruton and David McCarthy bound for France for most of the approaching campaign, the onus will be on the likes of Long and Mark Downey as well as national junior champion Fintan Ryan to step up and build on last year’s wins.
Long said he was under no illusions as to the high standard of competition in the junior ranks and said it was not until the racing started that he would know how his form is.
“It’s hard to know at this time of the year when you've been away from everyone for a few months and don't know what they've been doing. But there's a lot of juniors who are all really good bike riders so it will make for some great racing.”
Arguably, the highlight of Long’s season was a tremendous performance, or series of, in the Junior Tour of Wales – a race famed for its gruelling climbs.
“Yeah the Junior Tour of Wales was probably the highlight for me. It's a really tough race and although I didn't get an outright result in it, I was able to make the main moves.
“So it was nice to see I could mix it up with some of the top guys in Britain so I was pretty happy with that. I’d love to give that another crack.
“I'll mainly be following the team's programme again but I'll have to take a month or so away from racing to get my exams out of the way and I'll take it from there. But one race I’d love to win is the Stephen Roche GP.
“It’s a really fast race and to win it as a junior would be an amazing feeling, especially because it’s on home soil, like five minutes from my house. I really enjoyed it last season despite ending up hitting a tree in a crash, so I’ll be hoping for better this year.”
Topics
