Cathal O'Donovan stormed to a brilliant victory at the Leahy Cup in Cobh, Co. Cork at the weekend. It was the biggest road racing win of the 28 year-old's career but given his pedigree, it won't be the last. (Photo: John Coleman - DC Images)
By Brian Canty
Sunday’s winner of the Leahy Cup in Cobh, Cathal O’Donovan from Dunmanway in west Cork, is a man you’re going to be hearing a lot more about.
The 28 year-old is a relative newcomer to road racing but has a phenomenal pedigree in the world of duathlon.
He’s a two-time national champion, the reigning champion of the London duathlon and finished fifth at the elite European Championships in Austria last year.
But things took a turn for the worst soon after Austria when he suffered a stress fracture in his leg while competing and was advised by doctors he’d have a long recovery time which involved no running at all.
Advertisement
But when his cycling coach, well-known former international Timmy Barry, asked him to join Aquablue he didn’t think twice, and things have been progressing nicely ever since.
“I was racing the Irish senior cross country championships in Dundalk last November when I injured my right leg,” he recalled.
“After numerous X-rays, MRIs and bone scans, it turned out that not only had I bruised my shin bone but had a stress fracture.
“I literally couldn’t run a mile without being in pain for days afterwards.
“My 2015 duathlon season didn’t really start so I decided to go back bike racing for the year and see how it went,” he added.
Related News
A man with a huge pedigree in duathlon, O'Donovan has ridden bike races before this year but only for training purposes. This season, a stress fracture means he can't run so he will give the bike more attention than he has before.
He progressed from A4 to A3 after a couple of road races with Blarney CC in 2013 and 2014, though they were merely training for duathlons.
Getting used to the demands and intricacies of cycling has taken some time but now that’s figured it out a bit more, he’s a man that needs watching.
“Coming from a duathlon background I was used to going hard from the very start of the race so once the flag was dropped I started hammering it.
“However, I usually got caught with 10km to go so I learned a few valuable lessons about bike racing after that; tactics and strategies play a huge role.
“I don’t favour one over the other; I love the fact that in duathlon if you put in a serious effort at the start you’ll be rewarded with a good result.
“However, cycling demands very strategic planning – waiting and watching; it’s unbelievably exhilarating, especially when you're in a small breakaway hurtling around country roads at 45km per hour.”
For now, the plan is to just keep on progressing and see where it takes him.
“Ultimately, what I want to do is move up to A2 and compete at some of the bigger races.
“I also really enjoy time trialling so would like to do more. I'd like to race at the National TT Championships this year and see how it goes.”
Topics
