After a testing day, Wilson said he will rally and set his stall out this winter towards a big year next year (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Jack Wilson may have been well down on the winner of today’s U23 road race at the World Championships in Spain but the Jordanstown man is refusing to get too downhearted by it.
The 21-year-old has had a torrid couple of weeks following his crash at the Tour of Britain where he broke a rib and damaged his collar bone.
He rode on to the finish of that race, against some of the biggest teams in the world, and said given the damage done by the crash in Britain he did all he could today.
“I’m a bit beat up now, I couldn’t have expected anything else,” the An Post Chain Reaction man said.
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“It was more my rib; I broke it and when the pressure went down I had to breath in deep. And it was like being stabbed in the back. I couldn’t push anymore and with a lap to go I got shelled out the back.
Wilson in the bunch, where he lasted despite his injuries until the pace ramped up in the closing stages of the race (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“If I had good legs, today might have been a course to suit me. But I didn’t have the legs or the body when I needed them. So it was game over and we rode around to the finish with around 15 guys or so.
“It was a battle for survival all day really. I was up around the front for a while keeping out of trouble but I kept drifting back because I said I didn’t want to risk wiping myself out again.
“On a good day I could have been in that front group; that’s what I think, maybe I couldn’t.”
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He said today’s race, had he been fully fit, could have been a great opportunity to put himself in the shop window for the world’s biggest teams.
They traditionally see this race as a very fertile breeding ground for the stars of the future.
In a section of the main peloton with team mate Ryan Mullen just behind in the green of Ireland (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“The worlds is always the one you want to be at and it’s good to compare yourself to them,” he said the quality on the field.
“Around 10 or 20 of those guys today have already signed World Tour contracts for next year so you’re racing against guys who’ll be racing Grand Tours next year.”
He said he was motivated to do a good winter and give next year, his final season at U23 level, his very best shot.
“I want to do a good winter and be more consistent,” he said.
“But at the minute, the morale wouldn’t be as high as what I would have expected. I’ll come around in a few days.
“I was a bit pissed off today but it was out of my control and I couldn’t have done anymore.
“This year I was playing catch-up because I didn’t do such a great winter; I didn’t do enough. But (next year) I’ll try to turn it around and see what happens after that.”
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