Megan Armitage has made rapid progress over the past year or so, having gone from newcomer to the sport to silver medalist at the national road race championships. Having started cycling in March, 2020, on a second hand bike that was too big for her, she has tackled a rapid learning curve, including moving abroad and racing for part of the 2021 season in Belgium. Her rate of progress suggests big things are in store. She talks to stickybottle about the highs and lows of 2021 and what she hopes for from next season.
By Shane Stokes
When Megan Armitage sprinted home second at the end of the national road race championships, she experienced very mixed emotions. She was disappointed not to win, and yet simultaneously happy for the victor, Imogen Cotter. She wondered what might have been during the podium presentation, but looked genuinely pleased for the Clarewoman.
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Her reaction does not reflect a lack of ambition, but rather a generosity of spirit, and a recognition of what others have been through. That was the case even if she really needed a win.
“My confidence was a bit low towards the end of this season,” she explains, describing where her own mental space was around the time of the nationals.
“I was a bit disappointed with how it ended. But I have been really trying to concentrate on the mind aspect of racing, and just kind of trying to have a bit more confidence in myself. I think that was something that I had really neglected.
“I was confident going in at the start of the season, when I had gone over initially to Belgium. But then when I actually needed to have a bit more belief on myself, that was when I was kind of lacking it.
"I didn’t have those tools. But that’s actually something that I’ve really taken from Imogen. They way that she can believe in herself and keep pushing through…
“Her last season has just given me so much confidence. And it’s really inspirational as well. Because I remember talking to her when she was going through a rougher time, and she just kept pushing, and she just kept believing in herself. And then it just all came together at the end. So I was really happy for her. It’s really, really good to see.”
Observing Armitage at the national championships showed someone who seemed to have a heartfelt warmth for others in the sport. She enthusiastically greeted people at the sign-on carpark, embracing some with a hug, and even stopped to chat to someone while riding from that area to the start line, just minutes before the drop of the flag.
That’s not to say she wasn’t fully focused on the race. She was able to turn on the concentration once it got underway and, as the pace picked up, she was very much in the hunt for the national champion’s jersey.
Cotter may have prevailed in the final gallop to the line but Armitage’s ambition and ability were both very clear. Coming away from the race, it was hard not to imagine her ascending to the top step of the podium sooner rather than later.
"Naïve and really determined"
The former runner turned to cycling after she got injured, initially getting into the sport for fun but then finding her competitive streak coming to the surface. She made rapid progress: she started cycling in March 2020, using a second-hand BTwin bike which was too big for her, began racing in the Lucan GP in September 2020 and finished a very solid eighth in the national championships one month later.
Her initial plan was to head out to Belgium early on in 2021 to race but because Ireland was on a red list for that country, she wasn’t able to do so until the summer. Instead, she improvised here.
“I was doing like all of the races that I possibly could in Ireland,” she explains. “Every race that was on, I’d try and do it. But it’s funny, the racing in Ireland is completely different to Belgium. For me, I find that the racing in Ireland made me a much fitter athlete just because the races are kind of harder, they are a lot hiller. Belgium’s just so flat.
“I was also just trying to race with the guys. So like my first race that I did last season, I just hopped into the men’s A2 race in Derrygonnolly (the Lakeland GP). The numbers weren’t so big, so I never had to worry about positioning or anything. It was just purely a race of attrition. Like, how fit are you? And just trying to hang on..
“It was all going great until Daire Feely came whizzing by and I was like, ‘for God’s sake.’ Everyone just took off then.”
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Armitage is from Shinrone in Co Offaly and did a lot of training in the Slieve Bloom mountains. That terrain plus her immersion in Irish racing meant that she was in a strong position when she was able to head abroad.
“When I went out to Belgium my fitness was so high. So I found the start of my season went really, really well. I think I was just really naïve and I was really determined. I just wanted to do as well as I possibly could in every race.
“I just really wanted to go from the development team on to the UCI team. And so it was it was great. I was really, really fit.”
The-then 24 year old made her international debut at UCI level in the Kreiz Breizh Elites Dames in July and rode aggressively, finishing a solid 23rd overall. She secured a guest slot with the UCI-registered Team Rupelcleaning.
She enjoyed a strong showing for the team in August, beating five-time Belgian TT champion Ann-Sophie Duyck to win the Emptinne GP Roland Warnon in Wallonie. She was also second in the Kermis Erwetegem, also in Belgium.
Armitage competed in a number of other races and was a solid 23rd overall in the prestigious Kreiz Breizh Elites Dames in July. She went on to ride the world championships for the first time in September and while she crashed and was a non-finisher, needing stitches to her face, she gained valuable experience at the highest level.
She then showed a clear indication of the improvements she made over the course of 12 months, going from eighth in her first national championships in 2020 to placing second to Cotter in this year’s race. It’s been a staggering rate of progression since she started racing 13 months earlier, and this underlines the potential she has as a competitor.
"I copped on a bit"
It’s now just before the start of 2022. A new season beckons and Armitage is hoping to continue her momentum. She had a trial with RupelCleaning last year, beginning with them in September, and has secured a full slot with them for 2022.
She’s happy to be back with the squad. “I think it’s a really good team for me to develop as a rider and then, hopefully, progress next year. I think it’s a really good team to learn on. They have got a really, really good race program. And they have a really good team of girls.
"I know the girls now from racing with them this season, so that’s great. We all really get on well, so that’s good. There’ll be loads of new experiences. I’ll make loads of new mistakes, but I’ll learn from then. I just want to keep getting better.”
Obvious talent aside, what’s encouraging about Armitage is that she has a clear desire to improve as a bike rider, as well as a willingness to learn. She is able to look back and to pinpoint the things she did wrong and where she can improve.
“This time last year, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing,” she admits. “I just always was trying to dig myself a hole every single day, and I wouldn’t take my recovery seriously. I used to never take recovery days. And then I remember mid-December I ended up digging too big a hole and I felt just horrendous. I had absolutely nothing.
“So I ended up having to take a few days off, and then I kind of copped on a bit. My training started going better then because I was taking my recovery properly.”
She had another learning experience in recent months. “Towards the end of my season, I think I was just fatigued. It was kind of a bit annoying because the races that I were really, really important, like Europeans and worlds were towards the end of the season. I was a bit disappointed with how I performed there. And then there was the crash at worlds.
“But yeah, I think next season, instead of just trying to peak for every single race that I do, I want to properly focus on different races. To have times where I can do training camps and really dig a hole and then have proper recovery times as well. So I can just go into races being more prepared.”
Armitage has come a long way over the past year and a half. Starting on an oversized bike early in 2020, making her international debut this season, winning a race in Belgium and going close to her first national title in October. It’s very impressive, and few would bet against her going a lot further in the sport.
She’s rapidly gaining knowledge and is ready to put that to use.
“This season has taught me kind of all the foundations of what I need to learn,” she says, sounding enthusiastic about things. “I can build on that for next year.”
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