Ryan Mullen on how he defines success
Ryan Mullen has been selected by Cannondale-Drapac for the Tour de Suisse and says he faces into it with some trepidation.
“I’ve never really raced in the proper mountains before,” he said of the race that starts today, Saturday.
“I’m a little bit scared, but I’m hoping it will be really good for my development as a young rider.
“This is the biggest race I’ve done to date, so it will be one of the highlights of my career so far.
“It really stands out from any other race I’ve done previously."
And while Mullen hopes to take some results over the next week, he says this is an important event for him longer-term.
“If I can perform well in the two time trial stages, I’m hopeful it will do a lot for my career.”
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Even though he was 5th in the World Road Championships elite TT, Mullen is staying grounded.
He says taking a string of consistent results, even if they are not on the podium, is now the key.
“Success for me will be confirming myself as a rider who can obtain top 10s consistently,” he explained.
“I took a top ten in the final TT in Tirreno, so I hope to continue on an upward trajectory.
“Suisse is nine days long, and I’ve never raced that sort of length before, so we’ll need to see how I’m recovering towards the end of the race.”
With Mullen on the team for Switzerland is Paddy Bevin, the Kiwi who rode brilliantly in the Rás a couple of years ago.
Hugh Carthy, a man who many tip as the next really big general classification rider to come out of Britain, is also in the team.
And the line-up also includes: Lawson Craddock, Joe Dombrowski, Taylor Phinney, Mike Woods and Sep Vanmarkce.
The race begins with a 6km prologue TT in Cham that both Mullen and Phinney will relish and are capable of doing great things in.
The Tour de Suisse concludes with another individual TT tomorrow week; at 28.6km test with a small climb in Schaffhausen.
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