Rás-bound: Robert-Jon McCarthy and cousin Eoin McCarthy as kids riding for Fermoy CC (left) and before the start of the U23 Tour of Flanders last month in the colours of Australia and Ireland respectively. They both ride the An Post Rás starting on Sunday and will be joined by another cousin David McCarthy.
By Brian Canty
It’s going to be a family affair for the McCarthys of Fermoy this Sunday – and indeed all of next week – when three members of the clann take part in the An Post Rás.
Cousins Robert-Jon, Eoin and David are all based in different countries for most of the year. But they’ll all convene on Dunboyne this weekend for the start of the race where each will have different goals.
Advertisement
For Robert-Jon, in his first year with the An Post-ChainReaction team, the aim is to win a stage. And having bagged one such victory at the Herald Sun Tour in January, the former Australian mational junior champion believes he has what it takes to do it again.
“Any chance I get I want to take with both hands,” he said.
“To win a stage would be unbelievable and something I really want to do next week and if the opportunity arises, I’m the man for the sprint and I’ll try to take it.”
Out of Fermoy, teenager Robert-Jon McCarthy takes stage 3 of the Herald Sun Tour back in January in Australia. He's looking to strike the same pose in the Rás only this time he'll be wearing the colours of his new trade team An Post-Chainreaction.
Robert-Jon's family left Ireland for a life in Adelaide when he was 14 years. And though he has never raced a senior event in Ireland, he cannot wait to change that this Sunday.
“It’s going to be unreal, especially with Eoin being able to do the race and David too,” the 19-year-old told stickybottle.
“We all started cycling round the same time with the club in Fermoy, with my father running it. And it will be the first time we all raced together since I was under 14 so that’ll be amazing for our families.”
It has been a trying week for David, the man at the centre of the Marcel Kittel ‘selfie’ storm that garnered the attention of the international media. But he’ll look to put all that behind him when he lines up as part of the five-man Tipperary Visit Nenagh.ie team, alongside Eoin.
Cousins Eoin and David McCarthy in the colours of Fermoy a few seasons ago. They have moved on to Terra Footwear in Belgium and the Nicolas Roche Team in Ireland respectively since then.
It will be David's first time riding the race and anything more than survival will be a bonus for him, though a recent good showing in the Kanturk Three Day suggests he is going well.
Eoin was in that position last year, making his debut. But he was devastated when he had to withdraw with a stomach bug midway through the race. So he’ll look to make amends for that.
Related News
"If I do anything at all it will be better than last year," he laughed.
"I’m not just here to make up the numbers. I’m going to try my best to get involved and I hope to pick up a few results along the way and have a good week.
"I’ve come on a good bit since last year. I’ve a good winter put down. And I have maybe done less race days, only about 15, which isn’t as many as last year. But I feel a way stronger.
Eoin McCarthy (yellow helmet) in the colours of his Terra Footwear team riding in Belgium. He is looking forward to the Rás having been forced through illness to pack last year's edition.
“I built my form towards the Nations Cups with the Irish team,” he said of the international series the U23 national team competes in each April.
“A couple of weeks before that I decided to just train specifically for those races and it showed. I was a lot stronger and I got stuck in a lot more. That gave me a lot of confidence.”
Along with that stint of international duty, he said the Rás would be the highlight of his season so far.
“I just finished a five day stage race in France last Sunday so that should be good preparation for what's ahead next week."
To ride alongside David and Robert-Jon will be a "special" feeling, Eoin said.
"Since we were 12 we were riding together. We started together and even in the Nations Cup this year, it was quite amazing racing against Robert; the two of us from the same bloodline but racing for different countries. It was amazing."
Of the three, Robert-Jon is most likely to do some damage, and though he doesn't really know what to expect he's not going in wet behind the ears either.
"I think all the An Post lads are capable of winning a stage but also trying for the overall too if we get in the right moves,” he said.
“I think we have a strong team and any one of us could be up there overall. I’m just going to take it day by day. Depending on the team tactics and where everyone is lying after the first few stages, I'd like to think we could be looking at yellow, and maybe an U23 jersey.
"But I know it's a fairly unpredictable and hard race because with the five man teams it's difficult and you have to cover everything.
“There’s no set day that could decide it; no day where you can definitely say ‘it’ll be a sprint or a group of 20 will get away and decide the GC’. So you just have to be careful."
Topics
