Dan Sheridan (above) wears the green of Ireland ripping down the trail in Pietermaritzburg (Photo with very special thanks to Victor Lucas). See Sheridan’s headcam video below the story, as well as a video of his run.
Irish international downhill rider Dan Sheridan has described as “amazing” his first ever qualification at the weekend for the final of a World Cup.
The 17-year-old Dubliner grabbed 80th place in the qualifiers last Friday, with the top 80 riders to qualify for the final on Sunday.
“It was amazing to get through,” he told stickybottle.
“I was shitting myself at the end watching the last twenty riders come down and trying to keep track of who went faster and who didn’t. Because I was 77th when I came across the line, I didn’t think I’d made the cut. It was only when the final results came up that I saw I’d just slipped in, in 80th! It felt good - I was so relieved and happy. I was probably a bit too confident that I would qualify because I obviously didn’t push as much as I should have. It definitely reminded me of the speed needed at a World Cup; luck of the Irish, eh?”
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He was eventually 78th in Sunday’s final and while he was hoping for better, he was very happy with how the trip had gone overall.
“I was hoping for a top 65 because I was 64th at the top split in qualifying. I was losing a lot of time on the pedal because I was struggling to clear the massive 70 foot jumps before it, so I knew I had to make up my time at the top.”
“I made some costly mistakes because I was pushing so hard and then just didn’t have the energy for the pedal. I wasn’t too happy with 78th but it’s definitely a great start to the year for me, and I feel I‘ve found a good pace at the World Cups. I’m really looking forward to the steeper tracks.”
Now in his second year as a junior, Sheridan raced six of the seven 2011 World Cups; a season-long international series that always sees the juniors mixed in with the elite riders. South Africa was the only one he missed in 2011.
However, while his splits last year were always within the time needed to qualify for finals, he was dogged with crashes and mechanical problems. It meant he never managed last year to turn his speed into qualification.
He said that factor, and the fact the South African track was not suited to him, only made last weekend’s result all the sweeter.
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Riding for Ireland in South Africa but normally a Team Nukeproof athlete, Sheridan said while he now had a two month gap before the next World Cup in Val Di Sole, he was looking forward to the national series’ downhill races in both the Republic and Britain.
“From May onwards I’ll be racing every weekend all over the world in places like Scotland, Italy, France, America, Canada, Austria, Norway; the list just goes on... It’s going to be pretty hectic with all the travelling but I enjoy it so much and it’s going to be amazing. I’m pretty lucky to be able to do it so a big thanks to my parents and my sponsors.
The other Irish riders in South Africa, Christopher McGlinchey and Cameron Cornforth had it a bit harder. McGlinchey crashed in practice and wasn’t able to start the qualifiers while Cornforth failed to qualify. The race was won by local rider Greg Minnaar (Santa Cruz Syndicate)
Dan Sheridan is sponsored by: Nukeproof, Schwalbe, Nema, Eight.ie, Five Ten, Mulebar, Contour and Crunch Fitness.
Here’s Sheridan’s helmetcam video of the Pietermaritzburg trail…..
Here’s Sheridan’s run filmed from the big screen at the venue – the picture quality is not great though…..
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