By Brian Canty
Former pro rider and FBD Rás winner, Stephen Gallagher has spoken about how grateful he was for the support shown by many in the Irish cycling community when his baby son Cody died in 2009.
The Armagh man now heads a booming international coaching business and is centrally involved in the visit of the Giro d’Italia to Ireland next May.
But he says he was “lost” when his boy died, adding the cycling family were not slow to reach out.
The bike was to prove his “savior” when his and his wife Judith’s lives were shattered after Cody was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy at just five months old and passed away eight months later.
“I stopped racing, as probably a lot of people know, because my son Cody wasn’t well in 2009 and that was a decision I needed to make,” he said.
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“It was the first time in my life I didn’t race. I was probably in the best shape that I’d ever been in at that point. So stopping at that, was a bit like a train hitting me. But I just threw myself 24/7 into looking after my son."
Gallagher continued: “I lived in the hospital, and lived there for months. So for me, that’s where my cycling career finished, if you like. Obviously when he passed away, I was kind of left… I didn’t have a contract, I didn’t know what to do because I lost my son and it was a very traumatic time.
“But cycling was a saviour for me and if it wasn’t for the likes of Sean (Kelly) and Kurt (Bogaerts) I don’t know where I’d have been. After my son passed away they flew myself and my wife to their team training camp in Benidorm.
“Now, I hadn’t ridden a bike in six months but the first day I did six hours on the bike. I got the shit kicked out of me and I didn’t think I’d ever race again; it was just to get away from everything.
“The wider cycling community were very good to me. Sean and Kurt tried to get me a contract to race, even though I wasn’t in a frame of mind for it.
"They already had their full quota of riders for that year with An Post but they tried to extend that to take another foreigner because obviously I’m Irish and being registered in Belgium they had to have a certain percentage of Belgian riders.
“After that I raced in England with Sigma Sport and I was very grateful because I was a little bit lost after my son’s death. I moved to France when I was 17 and then at 30 years old I realised I had nothing.
“England didn’t really work. And to make the sacrifices to race internationally, as anyone knows; it’s a long time away from family and at that time I felt I couldn’t do it anymore.”
But as he dealt with the grief of his son’s death and his racing career ended, Gallagher’s interest in coaching was to develop from working with a handful of riders to opening the Dig Deep Coaching company with former pro ride Dan Fleeman.
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“At that time after I stopped racing, I was coaching guys and Dan and I came together with a few ideas about coaching and we decided to start the business. That was 2011 and since then it has exploded. It’s been quite a turnaround.”
While their client base is largest in the UK and Ireland, they also coach athletes living in the US, Asia, South Africa and Australia; from sportive to ProTour level and also in duathlon and triathlon.
“It is hectic but in a good way,” laughs Gallagher. “It’s an honour to be involved in something you love, Dig Deep is 24/7 and we’ve a lot planned for this year coming, and 2015. It’s hectic but we’re certainly not complaining.”
However, despite the return of some retired riders for next year’s Rás, Gallagher says he has no plans to ride this year’s race. His reluctance is due in part to his role with Shadetree Sports in helping to run the Giro d’Italia when it comes to Ireland in early May.
The 33-year-old said he had been been “hounded” by requests from guys to have them in a team for the eight-day race. And having helped set up the Dig Deep Coaching-Inspired Cycling club in the north with the help of Ronan McLaughlin and Chris McCann, speculation intensified that he would return to a race he won in 2008.
“I’d ridden the bike up until last summer but I have been enjoying doing other stuff since. The Rás is an extremely hard race. I’ve done it a few times and am very privileged to have won it but to even finish it is a massive sacrifice.
“The appreciation I have for those guys who are working full time and do it is immense.
"The likes of Ciarán (Power) coming back to do it; you have to hand it to him. He knows how to train and what to do. And I look forward to seeing how he does. But for me, I’ve no plans to ride it, especially with the Giro on around the same time.”
Indeed, Gallagher’s role the Giro is a busy one one. He’ll work closely with Darach McQuaid of Shadetree Sports in being the “go-to-guys” between Giro organisers RCS Sport and the local authorities here; north and south of the border.
This week, Gallagher had a diary full of meetings with the various community groups, doing the “nitty gritty”, as he calls it.
“I’m involved in all of the nuts and bolts, working with RCS closely over the past year or so on all aspects of the event. I’m involved with the PSNI and making sure the race runs as smoothly as possible.
“We’ve very lucky to be involved with such a committed team though; the PSNI, the Gardai. It’s a logistical nightmare but the guys we’re working with make it an awful lot easier.
“The Giro will impact communities and we want to make it as good a spectator event as possible. And as safe as possible as well.
“It is a massive undertaking but if we can show and prove that Northern Ireland can host an event like this, it will show we can hold them maybe in the future, as well as cultural events and what not,” he explained.
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