Matteo Cigala on tackling Irish climbs, his An Post Rás chances
MATTEO CIGALA leads the group up a climb during the Visit Nenagh Classic (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Jessica Lamb
MARK DOWLING may have won Sunday's Gas Networks Ireland Visit Nenagh Classic, but the man talked about most in the aftermath was Italian Matteo Cigala.
Two years after winning his first race in Ireland, the ex-pro tops this season's A1 rankings, with a sizeable lead over Omagh powerhouse Angus Fyffe.
A strong victory at the St Patrick's Day races in Carrick built the bulk of that buffer.
But it is his unwavering consistency and the raw speed he showed in Sunday's sprint that has his rivals marking him down as a key man for the An Post Rás.
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The Aqua Blue Academy rider landed the County Rider's prize on the final stage into Skerries in his first Rás last year.
And he is hotly-tipped to follow UCD-FitzCycle.ie's Eoin Morton for a crucial stage win for the Irish-based county riders.
The climbs also suit the sprinter; his first climbers’ classification victory coming in the Nenagh Classic on Sunday.
"I've never won a jersey in my career," he laughs, "because I'm always waiting in the stage races.
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“And I always get dropped on big climbs. But climbs in Ireland are not that long - it suits me, they are very explosive."
Of other Irish rider’s expectations he could win a Rás stage, Cigala was downplaying the possibility.
"Last year it went really well because this race really suits me,” he said of his first Rás.
“I was getting sprints and breakaways, I got county rider on the last day.
"I'd say to win a stage, that would be mad to say I could do that. The good thing is I'm fast, so you never know.
“But between working full-time and studying part-time in college, my time is limited for training.
"Eoin won a stage last year and is basically full-time working, so it is possible. And obviously I would like to maybe get a podium one of the stages.
"But stage win? I don't want to aim that high, but definitely if it's coming I would be really pleased."
His peers don't think a stage victory is beyond Cigala. Still only aged 23 years he has over 100 race wins to his name and can bring World Championship experience to the Irish peloton.
And it is that exposure to such high level racing in the past that he believes can stand him in good stead in the Rás.
"I was racing at a high level in Italy," he explained.
"So when the professionals come over it's kind of my type of racing - very fast, very controlled. You need to be very focussed all day."
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