Mark Dowling of the Polygon Sweet Nice, Continental level ranked, team on his way to his latest win of 2013 at the Banbridge Criterium last Wednesday. He is very hopeful of a good ride in the Suir Valley Three Day in Clonmel this weekend but says taking up his place with his new team this year has come with criticism from some quarters.
By Brian Canty
Mark Dowling believes he’s in good enough form to make a stab at a first Suir Valley Three Day yellow jersey in Clonmel this weekend, but he’s adamant this year’s event could be one of the hardest stage races on the Irish calendar in recent memory.
The Polygon Sweet Nice rider, along with teammates Ryan Sherlock, Stephen Halpin and Charlie Prendergast will be one of the strongest teams in the race and all, co-incidentally, are in superb form right now, which gives Dowling confidence.
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“I seem to have really good form and it’s the first time I’m going into this stage race with that kind of form so I’m looking forward to it,” said Dowling.
“It’s looking like the Suir Valley this year, with the riders that are there, is going to be one of the hardest stage races that I’ll ever have done,” he added.
“I don’t know much about the course but from what I’m hearing, it’s very difficult, which should suit me, provided the weather plays ball."
“But the team is also in very good form now. It seems like all of us are hitting really good form, probably the best form we’ve had this year but I’m well aware of the big teams that are going to be there. I’m well aware of how good the likes of Rapha (Condor –JLT), An Post Chain Reaction and Aquablue are, but I think I have the form at the moment to match them, provided I don’t make any mistakes during the race.”
Dowling is enjoying a very good debut season riding at Continental level and has taken some very good results at home and abroad.
The An Post Rás, however, was the obvious exception to that as he contracted a nasty virus while racing in Asia , meaning he couldn’t train for up to two weeks prior to that.
And because he didn’t perform in that event, it led some, who Dowling refused to name, to question his ability, as well as that of the teams. The Dubliner said it’s hard to stomach some of the stuff that gets directed at him, such as being scorned for supposedly calling himself a ‘pro’.
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“I absolutely despise that term pro,” says Dowling.
“I’ve seen there during the week again, people commenting on these ‘so called pros’ saying ‘when do they get to race against real pros and get their holes opened?’. Stuff like that really, really gets to me. It just got to me so much and it shouldn’t,” he confessed.
“The thing is, we don’t pick our races. We’re racing on an Asian team. We’re doing a certain amount of races and between those races, like July and August, there’s no aces in Asia so we have to race at home to keep fit. And people, first of all are giving us shit when we can’t win races at home because we’re not in good form."
"They say ‘you should be winning all around you’ and when we do start winning all around us, they say ‘you shouldn’t be racing here, you’re full time’. But I don’t get that. It’s our country too. That attitude is terrible for developing the standard here."
He continued: “There are people saying, ‘oh they call themselves pros’. It’s total bullshit. If someone offered me or anyone else a chance to take five or six stage races abroad, get a few trips around the world and get a better standard of racing, to be named on a continental team, anyone would take it. None of us are going around calling ourselves pros, I absolutely despise being called that."
"I’m well aware of what pros are because I come from a family of Olympic athletes," he said, referring to his father, a former boxer, and mother, a former international runner.
"I’m in no confusion as to where I stand. Of all the Continental Irish guys I know, I’ve only ever heard one of them call himself a pro. But out of all those guys, they hate when other people call them pros."
"And it’s the websites and papers who call us pros and everyone thinks ‘you’re the pro, you should be doing the riding’. It’s everyone else calling us pros, not us, and then they think we’re going around calling us pros. It’s bullshit."
“You asked me in January was there extra pressure now that I’m riding at this level. The extra pressure is not about being worried about my competition abroad, it’s from the Irish people. The way Irish people love to shoot someone down. To me, a win in the Suir Valley would be as important as any and I’ll be going all out to do that this weekend.”
