Ryan Mullen says he is finding his feet in the Tour Series pro criteriums in the UK and is very hopeful of leaving the National Championships in Carlingford with a couple of medals and a new jersey (or two).
By Brian Canty
Ryan Mullen has said he’s gradually finding his feet at the Tour Series pro criteriums in the UK and believes if his form continues to improve, a result isn’t far away.
Mullen, who won’t be aged 19 until August, has raced four of the marquee British races already and this week, will race three more as he fine-tunes his preparations for the National Championships the weekend after next, where he’ll be the hot favourite to land the U23 time-trial crown and will also be in the hunt for the road race title.
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Speaking on the Tour Series, he said they are nerve-shredders, ridden at breakneck speed.
“They’re f****** fast yeah!,” he laughs.
“It takes a few to get used to them. I’ve started to find my feet in them now though. They’re just really hard. The speed’s not the thing; it’s a very specialist event, you can either ride them or you can’t. There’s guys that have rode every round and gotten better every round whereas I’m doing track, road, Tour Series; a bit of everything but I’m starting to find my feet."
Last weekend Mullen, who won the national junior TT title just 12 months ago and has since turned pro for IG Sigma Sport, put in some stinging accelerations at Canary Wharf.
“I was able to get up there for the sprint and stay there,” he enthused.
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“I’m getting better so hopefully some kind of a result isn’t too far away. I’ve three this week so by the end of it I should be flying. The Tour Series is all about publicity for the team so getting on TV for five minutes means we’ve done a good job so if I can get to the front and stay up there, that’ll be good.”
He added: “I really want to get into the break at some stage because it’s a lot easier (to ride there). In the bunch it’s a constant shit fight to stay at the front, guys diving into corners, crashes happening left, right and centre. The safest place is the head of the race so I try and get up there.”
On his fourth place finish at the British National 25-mile TT at the weekend, he said the result augers well for next week in Dundalk.
“I’m really happy with that (my time). I was confident of getting in the top five or six but my position has improved and that helped me even more. Brian Nugent (Cycling Ireland head coach) helped me out with that so I should be going really well in the next week or two at the Nationals and the u23 Europeans."
“I’m hoping for a good performance next week. The road is very dead for the TT, but it should suit me pretty well. It’s a strongman’s course and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been looking at Hutch (reigning Elite champion Michael Hutchinson) and obviously it would be great to beat him but if he beats me it’s not the end of the world."
"He’s not U23 but he’s the target so if I can just get as near as I can to him...I reckon I can get within 30-40 seconds of him if I get my pacing right. It will be a good indication of how I’ll do in the Europeans so fingers crossed.”
And on doubling up with Sunday’s road race?
“There’s no reason why I can’t win. What I’ve got to do is get in the right move and if I don’t make the right move I can sprint fairly well so if it comes down to a sprint I’m pretty confident in my ability to still win it that way. I can play a few cards. From the Tour Series I can sprint, from the time-trials I can do a long solo one; I’m happy in the bunch now from the Tour Series as well. I’m looking forward to it."
