Mark Downey is on his way to the Six Day circuit after his World Cup win catapulted him into the big time (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Shane Stokes
Having proved his talent with a superb victory last week in the Apeldoorn World Cup, Irish rider Mark Downey has pinpointed his track and road goals for the immediate future and beyond.
Downey showed his huge promise with his points race win, a result which built upon the silver medal he took in the European under 23 championships earlier this year.
He told stickybottle he now wants to build on that with more success in the coming months.
“I have a four day next in Geneva; me and Felix [English] would like to qualify a place for the madison in the Worlds,” he said.
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“At the minute the points race and scratch is pretty certain, but we are a bit off in the madison. So we are going to really start to knuckle down and try to get that together as it is now an Olympic sport.
“In the New Year, I got an invite to the Six Day of Bremen, one of the nice six days. Perhaps Cavendish and Wiggins will be at that one, I am not sure yet.
“Then the Cali World Cup will probably be the next big target, and then progress on to the track worlds from there.”
Downey is just 20 years of age but his success in Apeldoorn means that he has greater confidence in what he can do in the worlds.
He believes that a medal is possible and will work hard to achieve that goal.
“Obviously now I know I am going to be a marked guy in the likes of the World Cup,” he explained.
“I am not going to be as stressed about Cali now that I have this result sealed up. I still have three and a half months to play with after Christmas for the Worlds.
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“So maybe I won’t aim to be at my best in Cali. I will be hoping to be in decent shape, but maybe not showing all my cards.
“Definitely the Worlds is a big one for me. Coming off the back of an Olympic year and stuff, there will be one or two of the big guys who will be missing.
“So I will take that opportunity, grab the bull by the horns.”
The 2017 track world championships will take place next April in Hong Kong. After that, he wants to chase success on the road.
He competed with VC Toucy in 2016 and has now inked a deal with a bigger setup.
“I have signed with CC Etupes, the French under 23 team,” he said. “There is a nice pedigree that came from there, the likes of Adam Yates, Thibaut Pinot, Warren Barguil and real good guys like that.
“They have got a really nice calendar with all the great under 23 races like Paris-Roubaix and Liege.
“The goal in my head at the minute is, if it is the dream come true, to go the World Championships, pick up a medal and then chase the real dream of becoming a WorldTour bike rider.”
Downey believes his new team will help him achieve bigger things on the road.
He said that he had to expend vital energy inside the final hour of racing in events this year but, with a stronger squad behind him, believes he will be helped and will be fresher for the finale.
“Next year is going to be nice,” he said. “I think there will be a couple of 1.2 races on the calendar and stuff like that.
“So I will be racing the likes of FDJ, Fortuneo Concept and those sort of teams. It will be a nice wee indicator of how it is going to be to step up.
“I will get the best of the French amateur scene and the top pro scene. Hopefully 2017 will be a good year.”
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