Seán Nolan said while he was disappointed not to win the elite men's race at the National Cyclocross Championships in Armagh City on Sunday, he had to be happy with the progress he has made over the last couple of years.
"I feel racing abroad really brought me on," he said of having spent a recent stint in Belgium riding European cyclocross. "In 2020 at the National Championships I was ninth but I was the last rider to finish on the same lap (as the winner) so I was about seven or eight minutes down.
"So the progress I've made in the last two years is just testament to being away in Belgium this year and keeping my head on through Covid. I'd definitely encourage riders to go abroad but at the end of day, Chris is just a a classy rider and really strong and he did it on the day today."
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Nolan (EvoPro Racing) took the silver medal on Sunday after a great battle with new champion Chris McGlinchey (Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus). While McGlinchey made the early running and pulled clear, Nolan caught and passed him on the third lap of six, going on to pull out a gap.
However, McGlinchey came back at him and got ahead again before going out onto the final lap at Palace Demesne to take the title. In the end he was 1:08 up on Nolan. Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles) took bronze another 1:43 down.
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"I fell once or twice running over the roots, I couldn't see them. And then I cramped up," Nolan said. "That's really how he (McGlinchey) got the gap, I just completely cramped. At the end of the day he was the stronger one.
"The standard was was very high and it was a tough course; lots of running, really deep mud, it was half way up to your knees sometimes. So it was a tough one. It was just such a severe course with the running and my hamstrings just cramped up a bit and that was it."
Asked what was next for him, Nolan said he was waiting to see if he would be called up for national team selection for the World Cyclocross Championships in the US at the end of the month.
"I'm still Under 23, it's my second last year to have the chance to ride the Under 23 World Championships. If I got that chance I'd take it and I'd be really happy to represent my country. But if that doesn't happen, I'd probably just take a rest and then continue on to the road season with my team EvoPro Racing and see what happens.
"And then I'll build into cyclocross next year. But first I have to do my college exams starting tomorrow morning, I have two weeks of them, and then we'll see."
