Buggle (left) joins the Rapha Condor team of An Post Rás U23 winner Richard Handley next year
By Brian Canty
Irish U23 international and newly signed Rapha Condor Sharp rider, Aaron Buggle has said his finding a place with the UK squad for next year has given fresh meaning and perspective to the sometimes difficult periods in his career to date.
The Meath native may only be aged 22, with his best years stretched out ahead of him, but he has had to contend with a prolonged period of injury followed by a long rehab and return to form.
He enjoyed a full season of hard racing in his comeback year in 2012, gaining international selection a number of times and racing hard in France for most of the season.
He put in some very good rides during the An Post Rás, taking the county rider award on two stages, going on the attack in a number of long breakaways and competing hard for the U23 jersey. Indeed, it was during the eight-day race that he got to know Rapha Condor Sharp manager John Herety.
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“I was competing for the white jersey at the Rás this year and one of his guys was also going for it, Richard Handley. I broke my bike on the fifth stage and I lost a load of time and went out of the competition for the jersey. But I spoke to John in the days after for the first time and he told me I was quite unlucky.”
“From then on we sort of kept in touch. He said he was interested, depending on the sponsors’ needs, and that he would keep in touch, which he did. So it stemmed from there. But I kept at him and I think my persistence was rewarded.”
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Buggle often questioned where the sport was taking him and he admitted that had this move not happened for him, he would have faced some tough decisions.
“I look back on everything now and I think nothing was a waste of time anymore. I look back on the season and I was pretty disappointed after the massive winter I did and the massive rehab I put in after the injury. And I was expecting big things this year; I don’t know why after nearly a year out though.”
“I was sort of disappointed the way it went, but to get this contract makes everything worthwhile. I don’t know where I’d be or what I’d be thinking if this didn’t come out. I was starting to think of all the hard work I put in and I’d have nothing to show for it. But thankfully, now I do have something and it’s really, really good. A season, and now a winter to take me into next season is what I'm aiming for so I’ll be hoping to have big improvements.”
He added he owed a debt of gratitude to a number of people who had stuck with him.
“My parents and people at home deserve huge thanks because they’ve seen the downsides of my sport more than anyone,” he said.
“And Stephen Mullane in www.chaindrivencycles.com in Sligo as well. He’s helped me out with bikes and equipment over the years and has always been there for me. David McCann really helped me with my return from injury and all his training advice was great. And Jonathan Gibson in Sports Science and Engineering in Galway was fantastic for coaching as well.”
Buggle will be based next year both at home and in the UK, where he will share an apartment with fellow Irishman Felix English.
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