Eoin Morton watched on, like millions of cycling fans all over the world, at Taco van der Hoorn's brilliant stage win at the Giro d'Italia yesterday.
Morton, one of the best riders in the country in his day but now having long hung up his racing wheels, met Van der Hoorn in battle in Rás Tailteann 2016 and got to know him quite well.
And while the Irishman could have been forgiven for even a tinge of envy as he watched his old rival win big yesterday, he instead share a photo of himself with Van der Hoorn on the Rás 2006 podium, with a uniquely Irish message: "One of these lads won a stage of the Giro today, the other had a curry for lunch."
Morton told stickybottle he was delighted to see Van der Hoorn take such a big win, adding he recalled a great competitor and a rider who was so thankful to have won the opening stage of the Rás back in 2016 as it was his first UCI win ever.
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"He was a really nice fella, just so friendly. And that stage was his first big win and he was so grateful to even get an invitation to the race. So to be able to win a stage of the race, he was over the moon with that," Morton said.
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When Van der Hoorn won the Rás 2016 opening stage, Morton claimed the climbers' jersey and so they were on the podium together that day. Morton then went on to retain the climbers' jersey and win the stage the following day, with Van der Hoorn retaining the race lead.
"It's really cool to see people you were racing with yourself a few years ago making that step into WorldTour, it's impressive," he said. "The Rás was a stepping stone race for those young guys. As a county rider, like I was, that's your pinnacle of your season, your amateur career.
"But those guys, like Taco, in the Rás; they're there to score UCI points to try and get a pro contract. So I think it's great when you see Taco winning a Giro stage. And we also had Jai Hindley riding the Rás that year too and Eddie (Dunbar)," he said.
Michael Storer, who was on the Australian national team with Hindley in the 2006 Rás, is currently riding for Team DSM with Hindley and Nicolas Roche in Italy. Morton said it was great to look back and see that Irish riders like Bryan McCrystal and Damien Shaw were taking on those riders when they were younger and were able to go toe-to-toe with them.
"Some of the us took it up a bit later in the life and you couldn't really achieve what those (current WorldTour riders) have achieved; you'd want to be winning Rás stages ate 20 or 21 to have that hope of moving up.
"I can guarantee you, if riders like Damien and Bryan got into cycling a bit younger, you'd be watching them now in (the Giro). If I could turn back time and take up cycling when I was 18, would I? Yes I would. But then I wouldn't have been able to travel around the world and drink loads of pints!"
Morton said after the 2016 Rás he considered trying to chase a pro contract. But, ultimately, aged 27 years at the time, he decided against going that that "risky" route.
"It's chasing a dream, for a lot of people. If I was 20, I'd have taken your hand off for a pro contract somewhere. But it was a hobby for me at the end of the day."
Morton, now aged 32 years, is still riding his bike, but he's now into Enduro. And having recently become a father for the first time and also currently working in the marketing industry, he said life was busy but he was still finding time for cycling and surfing.
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