Having taken his third win of the season last weekend, and thrown himself into the junior Tour of Flanders the week before, James Armstrong has shown strong form this year and hopes for an international debut on road or track in the months ahead.
He has been part of a junior group working under Cycling Ireland's high performance pathway coach, Martyn Irvine, of late. That comes at a time of positivity for the junior track set-up, with the return of a Team Ireland pursuit group over the last 12 months.
Now working with well-known coach Barry Monaghan, Armstrong - a 17-year-old from Dromara, Co Down - enjoyed two short training stints in Spain during the winter. But he insisted he had not done any crazy training during the off season, rather working hard and steady.
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A first-year junior, who started the season as a C3, he claimed two early wins. He went solo with long-range attacks, and in one race caught and passed the C2 bunch as he rode solo to victory.
Last Sunday he lined out in the C1-C2 race at the Emyvale GP in Co Monaghan. He won with a late attack, on the final climb, after the C2 group held off the C1s. He made it to the finish about 10 seconds clear of the chasers to win.
Having taken that victory, his third of the season, Armstrong said it increased his confidence as he looked ahead to next month's Junior Tour of Ireland. "I'd like to think I'd maybe be in contention for the Irish team," he said.
In recent months he has been part of a junior group, including riders already established in the Irish junior track team, training under the eye of former world champion, Irvine, on the Sundrive Road track in Dublin.
"It's been every few weeks, some team pursuit, a few bunch races," said Armstrong of those sessions. "And I've started going to the Sundrive track league on Wednesday nights just to get a bit more track in."
He was very hopeful of pulling on the green jersey on the track by the time the calendar year is over.
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Having initially been a member of Dromara CC, and VC Glendale in recent seasons, Armstrong is now riding with Belgian team VZW WP de Molenspurters Meulebeke, alongside fellow Irish junior Luca Holmes. Later in the summer he will travel to Belgium for a block of racing; staying with team mates in a house linked to the team and riding both national and UCI-ranked races.
"It'll be about gaining that bit of experience," he said. "It's also just good getting to ride in bunches of that size because at home you're riding in a bunch of maybe 60 most of the time. In Belgium it's maybe 150 riders on very narrow roads that you'd barely fit a car on."
Two weeks ago he competed in the junior Tour of Flanders and though a broken back wheel, about 20km into the race, brought his day to an end - despite chasing and catching the bunch - he said it was a good experience.
"That was the biggest race I've ever done. I felt comfortable enough in the bunch and I was up there, maybe top 30 to 40," Armstrong said. "It was annoying because I didn't get to see how I could have done. I would have loved to finish the race."
Just before the season started, Armstrong went to Calpe, Spain, for a training camp organised by well-known coaches Monaghan and Matt Teggart.
He felt that brought him on and when he started his season at the Boyne GP he won the C3 race, getting away solo and catching and passing the A2s, despite sliding out on a corner while leading the race solo. He did the same the next day in the Newry Wheelers-promoted John Haldane Memorial; going long solo to take a second win in his two first outings of the year.
"I wasn't doing silly hours during the winter," he said of building the foundation for the season. "On a Saturday and Sunday I was going out and doing three, maybe four, hours; zone 2, steady. And then I was doing a bit on the turbo during the week, just to keep the intensity up. And I think that was enough.
"Then I had a training camp (in February in Spain) and I think that put me in good shape," he said, adding securing a scholarship for a winter training camp in Cycle Sierra Nevada also really helped.
He began the year with a place on the national team for the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Dublin before placing 4th in the junior race at the National Cyclocross Championships in Ballinasloe, Co Galway.
"To be honest, I was doing a lot of 'cross racing but I was training through those races; using them for a bit of fitness. I wasn't focused on results. I'll do the same this and move a bit more towards the track during the winter."
