It's only a few short years ago that this kid was in the Junior Tour of Ireland and now he's one of the pro game's brightest prospects, battling it out yesterday on a huge summit finish with none other than Nairo Quintana.
When you look at the start list and indeed the final general classification of the Junior Tour of Ireland every year, you know some of the top pros are probably in there.
The difficulty is picking them out.
Sometimes those who excel in the race don’t progress as expected or even drift away from the sport. Others who make no impact during the week in July can quickly develop into great riders.
When young Briton Hugh Carthy made the trip to Ireland in 2012 he had a good week, taking stage 3, finishing 8th overall and also winning the climbers’ classification.
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But it was impossible to predict how quickly he would progress.
Yesterday – just four years after his Junior Tour participation – Carthy battled it out with Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on a major summit finish, as the video below shows.
They came to the finish line of stage 4 of the Route du Sud; just four seconds behind Quintana’s team mate Marc Soler at the top f the Val d’Azur Couraduque after 185km in the saddle.
Carthy takes a great victory on stage 3 of the Tour of Ireland into Ballycastle, Co Mayo, back in 2012 (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
Carthy is now aged 21 years and is riding for Caja Rural; the Spanish pro team with whom he is in his second season.
When he rode the Junior Tour the Irish team in the race consisted of Sean Hahessy, Ryan Mullen, Cormac Clarke and Dylan Foley; all of whom have gone on to ride from Ireland as U23s, with Mullen now riding at WorldTour level with Cannondale.
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Carthy progressed very quickly after the junior ranks, winning the Tour of Korea in 2014 with UK-based team Rapha-Condor.
In 2015 he took several top results, including 9th overall and in the US Pro Challenge.
And as well as riding so well in the Route du Sud a preens he had also won the overall and a stage at the Vuelta a Asturias and 9th overall at the Volta a Catalunya, where he also won the best young rider classification.
And by the looks of the video below, the Junior Tour is still attracting great riders who will progress to be world beaters.
Carthy takes it to Quintana on summit finish
"Fucking prick!" ? ?? #RouteduSud pic.twitter.com/TsDRVoxuOn
— CyclingHub.tv (@CyclingHubTV) June 18, 2016
Carthy in the Junior Tour climbers' classification leader's jersey in the Junior Tour back in 2012; not that long ago (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
Stage 4: Saint-Gaudens - Val d'Azun Couraduque (185km)
1 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 5:36:13
2 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:04
3 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
4 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:00:17
5 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie 0:00:21
6 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:33
7 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:55
8 Mikel Bizkarra (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias 0:00:57
9 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
10 David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:25
General Classification
1 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 12:52:55
2 Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:36
3 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:00:58
4 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:01:06
5 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Direct Energie 0:01:15
6 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:55
7 Ricardo Vilela (Por) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:01
8 Mikel Bizkarra (Spa) Euskadi Basque Country - Murias 0:02:12
9 Stéphane Rossetto (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:20
10 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 0:02:36
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