Now half way through the second year of a two-year contract, Stephen Clancy (in blue and white) is hoping to stay in the paid ranks. He says he is much stronger compared to 12 months ago and feels that, aged just 21 years, there is a lot more to come. Seen here at the recent Tour of Korea.
By Brian Canty
Ireland’s Stephen Clancy believes he is a lot stronger this year than he was in his first season in the professional ranks, but is unsure if his US-based Novo Nordisk team will extend his contract when it expires at the end of this year.
The Limerick man has travelled all over the world racing, but his next event is the National Road Championships in Mullingar where he is targeting a strong result in the elite men’s road race on Sunday week.
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“I’m definitely a lot more competitive compared to my first year,” he told stickybottle of 2014 so far.
“Even the numbers from power and heart rate data show this trend and I’m keen to keep on moving in an upward direction. I’m still only 21 and I feel there’s still a lot more room to improve.”
While any new contract with the ProContinental team is up in the air, Clancy said it was “still early days” in terms of putting a new deal in place.
“I’ve done lots of travelling and plenty of races and I’m pleased with how it’s gone,” he said of his tenure with Novo Nordisk; a team featuring riders with diabetes.
The year has taken him to Spain for the Mallorca Challenge (UCI 1.1) races in February followed by the Tour of Taiwan (UCI 2.1) and then France for a series of one-day UCI 1.1 ranked events.
Riding for US-based Novo-Nordisk, Clancy (in white and blue) has raced all over the world against the best teams in the sport.
After that he rode the five-day Tour of Azerbaijan (UCI 2.1) in May despite missing three weeks training in April due to injury.
From there he moved to Boulder, Colorado, which he hopes will become his new base, a renewed contract permitting.
A couple of weeks racing in the US followed before a call up to America’s biggest one-day race, the Philly Cycling Classic; 10 laps of a circuit featuring the infamous Manayunk climb.
Most recently he has just completed the Tour of Korea, a UCI 2.1 ranked eight day race covering 1,350km.
“It was a great success, and I felt really strong there,” he said of Korea.
“It’s a very hilly race with over 2,000m of climbing almost every day. I was able to help our sprinter to 10th on two stages and I was active myself too. So it was nice to see my own improvement compared to riding it last year.”
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Though he hasn’t notched any significant results for himself, he said the team has really excelled this year, both on and off the bike.
In a promo shot for his team, whose main purpose is to raise awareness of how far people with diabetes can go.
Clancy is perhaps unique among that group of Irish riders competing at pro level abroad.
His team not only boasts a roster of riders with diabetes but was established to raise awareness about the condition and to demonstrate that those with diabetes can lead very active lives; it does not measure its success in race results alone.
When he speaks about the team he makes reference to the fact it has 750,000 followers on Facebook and has helped “inspire and empower” people like him who have diabetes.
“The standard of the racing we’re doing, competing against the world’s best and unrestricted by diabetes, is proof that things are going well,” he said.
“The way we look at it is; the bigger the race, the better the result, then the bigger the impact we have.”
Despite living the kind of life that many Irish riders can only dream of; involving worldwide travel and competing in quality events against some of the world’s best while also getting paid for it, he says there is still no place like home.
“When I was back last year for the National Championships I loved racing again on home roads against familiar faces,” he said.
“Even to catch up with friends in the cycling community was great. So I’m really looking forward to the event again this year. I always try to keep up to date with what’s going on back home whenever possible and stickybottle is great for that.”
- Stephen Clancy will be in Dublin this Sunday at a fundraising awareness event for Diabetes Ireland, the Changing Diabetes Cycle. More details by clicking here.
Clancy just before the U23 road race at the European Championships in the Czech Republic last year.
Having gotten to grips with life in the pro lane over the past 18 months, Clancy still has time in the U23 ranks to do something good in an Irish jersey.
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