Ronan McLaughlin, third left, was the Irish team's road captain at the An Post Rás this year and as well as holding his own in the bunch he was a source of valuable information and advice to the younger members of the team. In this article with stickybottle he talks about what it means to him to ride for Ireland and how he has no plans to ever leave the sport when he eventually stops racing.
Brian Canty
Ronan McLaughlin is still well able to mix it with the best and as he edges towards his 30th birthday his priorities have changed a little.
Training and racing were always number one but since he stepped away from the full-time game after riding with the An Post-ChainReaction team, ‘real life' has taken hold.
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He’s still hugely passionate about racing and getting himself right for battle.
But set to marry fiancée Rachel next Christmas and now working a demanding job in the motor trade in Derry, the hours just aren’t available to train the way he once did.
To his credit, the Foyle CC man still squeezes in enough miles to be a force.
And if that means rising at 6am to keep the motor running, so be it.
“I definitely still have the motivation; I don’t think things will change that much after turning 30, I don’t think it makes any difference,” he said.
“I’m back in the real world now and there’ll come a time when I don’t want to race any more but I still want to.
“This week I was up Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 6 in the morning to get on the bike for an hour. It’s what I love doing.
“But I’m just riding the bike, I’m not exactly smashing intervals or doing power sessions.”
McLaughlin in his pomp while racing for An Post in 2012, a year he rode for Ireland at the elite road world championships.
The cycling landscape has changed for him - and every other aspiring pro in Ireland - because where once there was only An Post-ChainReaction, now there is Aqua Blue Sport to aim for.
The latter is Ireland’s first pro cycling team and McLaughlin admitted it he would have “loved for them to have been around four years ago to have had the chance to earn a contract”.
As it was, McLaughlin remained racing Continental ranks; still a fantastic opportunity.
He took the decision to walk away before he ended up hating the sport.
“I’m getting married next year and turning 30… I’m not saying I’ll stop but I’ll give it a good year and see how things are fixed after that.”
This year, he had the distinction of racing for Ireland in the An Post Rás as well as in Japan for Spin11.com.
He proved an invaluable member of both teams, particularly in the Rás.
“It was an absolute honour and if you asked me this time last year would I be on another Irish team I’d have laughed at you,” he said.
“I never expected that but it was a testament to my belief that you don’t need to do 25-30 hours a week to be a good rider, I averaged 8-10 a week.
“I was never up for the win in the Rás but I was more than capable of holding my own.”
Nowadays, McLaughlin is far more lax about his diet and his lifestyle than he used to be.
McLaughlin does other disciplines like cyclocross and ultra-endurance events, like the 20-hour, 555-kilometre event he won in June this year, thanks largely to the support of Foyle club mates, brothers Chris and Nial McElhinney.
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Where once he wouldn’t look at a chocolate bar, now he scoffs one if it’s going.
He still took a few scalps this year and also managed a top-10 in the Suir Valley.
But he is still keen to land a big one like a Des Hanlon or a Shay Elliott.
“A national champs podium would be incredible but I haven’t been there much over the years," he said of an event when An Post-Chainreaction riders can be heavily marked.
“I’ve probably only done one or two where I wasn’t in an An Post jersey and had quite a few top 10s.
“I haven’t been avoiding the race but it’s a race I haven’t been to in a few years.
“A podium would be great but I wouldn’t go targeting it.
"The likes of the Des Hanlon or Shay Elliott, or one of the stage races would be a nice wee reward if I do them.”
Speaking of his knack for making key moves in races he says: “My experience and know-how get me in the break more than my legs.
Leading the charge in the breakaway that stayed away almost all day into Blackpool at the Tour of Britain four years ago.
"In the Suir Valley this year I had time off after the Rás, I was training for Japan but just using my head I managed to roll around and get a top 10.
“It’s nothing to write home about but knowing where to be is something I have.
“I think there was better guys finished behind me I’ll put it like that, without being disrespectful.”
Had he been a few years younger – or Aqua Blue come around a few years ago - it’s reasonable to assume he’d get a contract.
In 2012 he was at the peak of his powers and was close to landing a spot in a professional team.
So seeing Aqua Blue come along certainly isn’t easy, but he’s at peace with it.
“It’s fantastic, Timmy has done a great job there," he said of Timmy Barry who has run the domestic Aqua Blue team for years and now gets his big chance with the pro outfit.
"He’s had the Aqua Blue team for the last number of years and since they came about they’ve always done well; 1-2-3s in the biggest races to winning stage races and getting up there in the Rás.
McLaughlin battles up the Cauberg at the Elite World Road Race Championships in Valkenburg (Photo: Toby Watson)
“The great thing about it is it’s always run so well, even when the riders change the team does fantastically well, and that’s down to Timmy.
“He was always on a tight budget and always made it work.
"I don’t know how many men could dedicate every weekend to going to every race, having been as good a cyclist as he was.
"It’s not easy to give up a weekend to drive a car and his place in the team is a reward for all the hard work by him.
“I’ve never met Rick (Delaney) but fair play to them for stepping up and making this happen.
“It’s great for cycling and alongside An Post it should be giving a heck of a motivation to Irish guys to push themselves on.
“But there has to be a recognition from the Irish riders; just because the teams are here doesn’t mean they’ll be walked onto.”
The day will come when he no longer has the drive to race and though not exactly imminent, he knows he will never leave cycling.
“It’s all I know and it’s what I’m best at; 100 per cent without a shadow of a doubt I want to stay involved.
"Whether that be with Foyle CC or whoever, to have some sort of job or career within cycling and giving back to a younger generation is what I ultimately want to do.”
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