Archie Ryan enjoyed a breakthrough season this year - including winning on his Jumbo Visma World Tour debut - and now the young Irishman is eyeing a general classification win next season. He is also hoping for more call-ups to his team's World Tour line-up so he can race against the top riders in the world.
Having just turned 21 years this week, Ryan will ride again for the Jumbo Visma Development Team next year. While 2020 and 2021 were ruined by a knee injury, he said "everything fell into place" this year once he'd shaken off that injury and got a long block of racing under his belt.
"Despite the setbacks I faced in the past, I persisted in working hard, and now it finally turned out the way I had hoped," he said. "I have a team around me that always supports me. They have my sincere gratitude for that. This year, everything came together, and I'm delighted with it.
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"Undoubtedly, I enjoy climbing. It's one of my strongest qualities, and we keep working hard to improve it with the team during training sessions and in races," he said, adding being injury-free and getting a clear run at racing this year was crucial.
"I am racing more frequently, which has aided in my development. My body can handle the training intensity better, and I haven't had injuries for a while. The team deserves my gratitude for helping me."
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Looking ahead to next year, he said he wanted to repeat the kind of results he had secured in 2022, along with stepping up even more. "I want to take advantage of the opportunities I get. I'm hoping for a victory in the overall classification. In addition, I'm hoping to gain experience in different races with the World Tour team."
Ryan bagged a number of results early in the season which suggested his star was on the rise, including 6th overall in Istrian Spring Trophy (2.2) in Croatia, 7th in G.P. Palio del Recioto-Trofeo C (1.2U) in Italy and 6th in Sazka Tour (2.1). All of those results were built on his climbing prowess and it often looked like the climbing was not hard enough for him to secure even better results.
However, the climbing was definitely hard enough at Tour de l'Avenir (2.Ncup) in August and he duly placed 4th overall and was the second best climber in the race on the hardest final phase, behind only overall winner Cian Uijtdebroeks, the Bora-hansgrohe rider competing with Belgium.
He was then called up to the Jumbo Visma World Tour squad for Tour de Slovaquie (2.1) and won the queen stage, on his way to 6th overall and winning the young rider classification. And in Ronde de l'Isard (2.2U) at season end he won the stage 2 TTT with his team before winning stage 5 on his way to 8th overall.
"It was an honour to ride for the World Tour team," he said of racing in Slovakia. "To be able to show up at the start was already amazing. I'll never forget crossing the finish line first in a sprint. That was quite an experience."
He added he was then "delighted with his ride in Tour de l'Avenir. "I knew I could do it, but it's always wonderful to have your confidence validated."
