Sean Downey, left, has opted to step away from full-time cycling and will no longer chase the dream of becoming a professional rider. The 25 year-old is the son of Seamus Downey, right, who competed in the 1984 Olympics as well as two Commonwealth Games.
By Brian Canty
Sean Downey has decided this year will be his last with An Post Chainreaction and he will no longer pursue his dream of becoming a professional cyclist.
The Dromore, Co Down, man has been a mainstay of the Belgium-based team for several years now but last raced at the National Road Race Championships in Omagh in June.
He felt his time with the Belgian-based team had reached a natural end and he will pursue other interests next season.
The 25 year-old has been a full-time athlete since he left the junior ranks and enjoyed a very good career as an espoir.
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The 2013 and 2014 seasons were both very good campaigns for Downey.
Last year he was 6th overall in the An Post Rás and was on course to place an excellent 13th in the Commonwealth Games road race when a harsh decision was made to stop him going out onto the last lap of the course in Glasgow.
He was second in the national road race championships behind teammate Ryan Mullen
He proved himself a very capable operator on many occasions on the international stage, such as the 2013 Tour of Britain where he was fifth in the mountains classification and rode really well all week.
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With brother Mark at the end of the national championships in June; both the product of the prolific Banbridge CC stable (Photo: Toby Watson)
He was overlooked for An Post-Chainreaction’s team in the Tour of Britain last year; a decision that raised more than a few eyebrows.
He has represented Northern Ireland at two Commonwealth Games, taking bronze in the team pursuit in 2010.
Downey has also been picked on a large number of Irish road teams, including for the An Post Rás, European Championships, World Championships and European Games.
This year just never really got going for Downey and he was listed as a non-finisher in several of the tough early season events.
He travelled to the Tour of Azerbaijan but was unable to start the second stage due to illness and was then unable to ride the An Post Rás, which was always a key season goal.
He returned in June to finish two stage races in France and the national championships were his last race, where he finished 58th.
We'll have an interview with Downey in due course.
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