The World Championships may have been disappointing for himself and his fellow junior riders, but the 2014 season was good to Dylan O'Brien, who now looks forward to moving into the U23 ranks.
Junior Tour of Ireland stage winner Dylan O’Brien has said he will make the move from the junior bunches to the U23 ranks in the New Year with a mixture of sadness for what he leaves behind and a sense of excitement for what’s ahead.
The Cork youngster has joined Aquablue from the O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk team with whom he has spent most of his career to date.
He had a very solid 2014 on the road, making the national team for the World Championships, though he would be listed as a non-finisher there.
Still, he proved himself a superb teammate for Eddie Dunbar; Ireland’s top junior this year and a club mate of O’Brien’s.
Advertisement
He is now looking forward to perhaps riding for himself a bit more in the coming year as Dunbar has joined the UK-based NFTO team.
“It’s a bit disappointing to leave the junior ranks," said Tour of Connacht winner O’Brien.
Having ridden so well in the colours of O'Leary's Stone Kanturk CC, O'Brien now moves to Aquablue for 2015.
"Looking back on it, there are races I would have liked to have done better in but at the same time, it’s exciting to move up to U23.
“I’m happy enough with how the year went. I came into the season with good enough fitness and felt I was getting stronger all the time.
"But then I got my first chest infection and that messed a few things up for me,” he said in reference to missing the Trofeo Karlsberg Nations Cup race in Germany and the European Championships road race in Switzerland just after it because if his illness.
While O’Brien would recover in time, he was forced to remain on medication for longer that he hoped, which delayed his return to peak condition.
He still managed selection for the Worlds and in the months before that picked up some nice results.
The win that stands head and shoulders above any other was the glorious day in Ennis, Co Clare, on the final stage of the Junior Tour when he beat the best riders in the race after they had broken clear of the bunch.
Leading the Irish junior development team in TTT mode at the Visit Nenagh team test this year (Photo: Sean Rowe)
In there were Michael O'Loughlin, Dunbar, Matt Teggart and Jack Maddux of the American-based Hot Tubes team.
It was an escape comprised of all of the riders who had won the stages to that point, but O'Brien was best on the day in the charge to the line.
Not only did he take the victory but he would finish third overall, behind Team Ireland team mates Dunbar and O’Loughlin.
Related News
“It was the moment of the year for me,” O’Brien recalls of his win.
“It was really massive and I'm grateful to the Munster Sensa team I had around me, every one of them looked after me the whole week.
“I wouldn't have done anything without them. It was an honour being part of it. It’s one of the best feelings I've ever had.
Time trialing his way to overall victory at the Tour of Connacht in March (Photo: James Wright Photography)
“I knew once we were in the break I had a great chance; it was a massive confidence-booster to have Eddie there because I knew he'd help me and I felt I owed it to the lads to win.
"When I crossed the line first it was a bit surreal because it was the stage my dad had come down to watch so the emotions were high at the finish, it’s something I'll never forget.”
That win cemented his plane ticket to the World Championships in Spain where he’d ride in support of Dunbar. But that was a day he’d rather forget about.
“That was a bit of a bittersweet feeling,” he recalls.
“On the one hand it was an incredible achievement and I loved every minute of the whole experience; it was a joy to be a part of.
"But I wasn't happy the way the race went. I just didn't have it and I wasn't the luckiest either; being held up by crashes and going into one of them.
O'Brien, closest to camera, out training with other members of the Irish team at the World Championships in September. He felt he under performed but will hopefully get a crack at the U23 title race in the seasons ahead (Photo: Sean Rowe)
"I know I'm a lot better than that. None of us were happy after it really.
“We felt we had let ourselves and others down, even though the other three (Shanahan, Dunbar and O’Loughlin) had a great race. But that's sport really, shit happens.”
O’Brien, who will sit his Leaving Cert next June, knows he’s in for a tough year next year but said he’s motivated.
“I'm looking forward to the season already but I'm not going to put myself under as much pressure as I did for this year.
"I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can. Saying that, I want to get a few good results and maybe do something in the bigger races such as the Hanlon or Rás Mumhan.
"You can't just say you're going to go in and win because anything can happen but I'd like to do as well as I can.”
Topics
