Robin Kelly looking as lean as we’ve ever seen him. The Waterford Racing Team man is hoping the weight he’s lost in the off-season will help him get over the bigger climbs put him in contention for far more wins than before (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Robin Kelly has revealed the secrets behind a dramatic weight loss programme he undertook in the off-season to ready himself for what he hopes will be his best year yet on the road.
The Waterford Racing Team man has already tasted victory this year; winning the season-opening Ned Flanagan Memorial in Kildare last Sunday.
He’ll go to the Lacey Cup in Tralee this weekend with hopes of back-to-back victories while he’s also considering riding the An Post Rás.
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The former Aquablue CC man tipped the scales at a hefty 100 kilos in the off-season and at times pondered where he was going in a sport that usually favours the lighter types.
Kelly has always been one of the bigger lads in the peloton but it has not stopped him winning some great races. It’ll be interesting to see what difference the loss of 14 kilos over the winter has made to his form (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“You just don’t realise the gains you can make if you change your diet,” explained Kelly.
“I stood on the scales at 100 kilos and I said I’d either not bother racing this year or I’d do something about it.
“I got some nutritional advice from Gerry Byrne in Barrow Wheelers. He told me it was now or never.
“So I changed my diet around; I started training with no food, no sugar, and low carbs.
“Things like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes were out the window and because of that my whole fuelling system is after changing.
Kelly is clearly much trimmer in this shot to promote Audi's sponsorship of Waterford Racing Team.
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“I know I’ve only done the first race of the season and it was short but I’m hoping I’ll be a different animal altogether this year.”
Coupled with the low-carb diet, Kelly endured many days with no food at all on the bike.
“At the minute I’m 86 kilos so I’ve lost 14 in the last few months.
“It’s the lightest I’ve ever been racing at and I’m hoping to shed more. Next year I want to be below 80 kilos.
“But it hasn’t been easy. I’m going out and doing 3 or 4 hour spins on very little food whereas before I’d be really reliant on sugar.
Kelly has ridden the Rás a number of times in the past - seen here in the 2012 edition. He's a rider he has not been afraid to leave the race out of his programme, but he is keeping his options open for his year.
“I’d get sugar knocks and then I’d be spiking after taking sugar; that’s how I was. I’m hoping there’ll be a big difference this year.
“I never get the knock now. I used to start on the turbo for 45 minutes with no breakfast and that progressed onto no food for the first hour of a spin at the weekend, and now 1½ to 2 hours.
“The first month was hard, I’d no energy. I rode on a heavier bike. I did a lot of things that should have me in really good condition.”
The strict programme is geared towards having Kelly in peak form in a month or so, but he’s planning on delaying that to be in top condition for the An Post Rás.
“I initially said I wasn’t doing the Rás but Gerry said not to rule anything out.
“The the Rás route came out and I said ‘typical, the year I wasn’t going to do it is when it suits me’. So it’s not ruled out. I’m going to see how the form is."
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