The 2022 season was a big one for Irish cyclists at home and abroad, with many riders gaining breakthrough results. Some of them were young riders who excelled at a higher level for the first time ever while others were seasoned riders who finally secured the results they had promised for years.
Stickybottle has picked out these 17 performances as the most significant breakthrough rides by Irish cyclists that were big results in themselves but also bode well for the future of these riders.
1 Archie Ryan - Tour de l'Avenir (2.NCup)
If Archie Ryan (21) goes on to amass a glittering palmares - and stickybottle believes he will - his ride in Tour de l'Avenir 2022 will always be pointed to as the place where it all began. He slipped up a little on stage 6, needlessly losing 31 seconds to his rivals, after sitting too far back in the group on a late climb. He could have also done without a two-minute time loss the previous day in the TTT. However, once the race hit the high mountains in the last three days of competition, he showed what he was made of. He jumped from 21st to 9th overall on stage 7, to the summit of Saint-François-Longchamp. The following day he was up to 5th on GC after the summit finish to La Toussuire. And but for the finale of the final day being too easy for him, Ryan would surely have ended the race at least 3rd overall rather than his eventual final position of 4th. When all was said and done, he was the second best climber in the race, behind only overall winner, double stage victor and climbers' classification winner Cian Uijtdebroeks. It is no exaggeration to stay Ryan emerged from the eight-stage race in France having confirmed himself one of the very best U23 riders in the world on the big mountains. It was not just one of the breakthrough performances of the year by an Irish rider, but of the last decade.
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2 Archie Ryan - Tour de Slovaquie (2.1)
Ryan has been riding for Jumbo Visma Development since the start of 2020 and while he had been due to step up to the World Tour line-up for a number of races in recent years, illness and injury denied him those chances. However, he finally got his opportunity at Tour de Slovaquie (2.1) in September and won the queen stage. It was a huge win for the 20-year-old and confirmed his potential at a much high level than he had been riding with the development team. While winning a race like this is, on paper, bigger than his 4th overall at Tour de l'Avenir, an U23 race, this win in Slovakia is bumped into 2nd place purely because I'Avenir is by far the biggest stage race in the world for U23s. It also unfolded one month after l'Avenir, meaning it came as perhaps less of a surprise.
3 Eddie Dunbar - Coppi e Bartali (2.1)
Dunbar (26) had gotten a number of chances from his team, Ineos Grenadiers and Team Sky before it, to win week-long stage races, especially in the first two years of his four-year tenure with the squad. But he just came up short. In March in Italy he finally came good at Coppi e Bartali (2.1) and showed real grunt throughout. He got away in a two-man move on the opening stage, gaining time on his rivals. After taking the overall lead on stage 2, Dunbar almost lost it the following day when his team mate Ben Tulett got away solo from the select group. However, while Tulett went on to win that day, Dunbar showed his determination by attacking those he was with and going off in pursuit of Tulett. He closed in on the young British rider just enough to hold the race lead and win the event overall the following day; his first pro victory. Keeping his team mate under control, and being sure enough of himself to attack after Tulett, was satisfying to see, especially as the team seemed to treat Dunbar as a fill-in rider - someone to be called up to fill a roster when required - for much of the last two seasons.
4 Darren Rafferty - Strade Bianche di Romagna (1.2U)
Darren Rafferty (19) confirmed his world class talent with a blistering run as a junior in France in 2021 before going to the junior Europeans and taking 4th in the TT, then claiming 11th against the watch at the junior Worlds. However, moving from junior racing into the top flight U23 international scene can be a big step, though it was one Rafferty appeared to take in his stride this year. He went into Strade Bianche di Romagna (1.2U) in Italy in May - the U23 version of Strade Bianche - having ridden well in the first months of the season for his Hagens Berman Axeon team. In the 156km race into Gradara, he repeatedly made the selection as the race split at the front on undulating terrain, including sectors of gravel. And on the uphill finish he outmuscled the others in the small group of contenders at the front of the race, landing a huge win and announcing himself on the European scene.
5 Eddie Dunbar - Tour de Hongrie (2.1)
That man again, Eddie Dunbar. Having won Coppi e Bartali in March, winning a similar-level stage race in Hungary two months later may not be a "breakthrough" ride in the eyes of some. However, while taking a first pro win is almost always very difficult, following it up with another victory in quick succession can be even harder. That Dunbar took the second stage race win of his career only two months after the first underlined what he is capable of. Ineos Grenadiers had also snubbed him for Giro selection since his Coppi e Bartali win. And rather than sulking or losing his head over missing the Giro, Dunbar went to Hungary as the Italian Grand Tour was underway. He kept his powder dry for the first four stages and on the final climb of the last stage he let rip with an attack that carried him to overall victory. It was the first time he had bossed a race in that manner. And though he was pipped to stage victory by Antonio Tiberi (Trek-Segafredo), scoring a second stage race win was huge for Dunbar.
6 Healion and Kelly - Paracycling Worlds
Josephine Healion and Linda Kelly could hardly have better role models in multiple world and Paralympic champions Katie George-Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal to emulate and learn from. But they still have to put in their own work in training and on race day. And at the road Worlds in Baie-Comeau, Canada, in August they took a brilliant bronze in the road race. For a relatively new tandem pairing, taking a result of that magnitude was an incredible achievement. The scale of what they had achieved - in a race won by the aforementioned Dunlevy and McCrystal - was clear in their celebrations at the finish; all four Irish riders thrilled with their Worlds 1-3 for Ireland.
7 Ronan Grimes - European Championships
Orwell Wheelers rider Grimes went very close to a Paralympic medal in Tokyo last year when he placed 4th in the individual pursuit, having twice broken the national record to get into the bronze medal ride-off. But in Austria in May of this year he finally achieved his big breakthrough, winning the European title in the TT. In his test, Grimes took victory by 16 seconds from Louis Clinke of Belgium, with Michael Carlier of France taking 3rd place.
8 Ronan Grimes - World Championships
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Having scored Europeans gold in the TT in Austria in May, Grimes went to the road Worlds in Canada in August and won the MC4 road race - coming home to Ireland with the iconic rainbow bands to add to his European title in the TT three months earlier. He made the five-rider breakaway in the Worlds road race and in the final scrap to the line he came out best for gold - adding to the bronze medal he had taken in the TT just days earlier.
9 Archie Ryan - Ronde de l'Isard (2.2U)
Ryan is the only rider with three entries in our list for 2022. That his stage win at Ronde de l'Isard (2.2U) comes some way after his first two entries is a reflection of the incredible year he has had. Ronde de l'Isard is one of the hardest U23 stage races in the world and when Ryan lost time on the opening day, after a breakaway gained 10 minutes, he switched to successfully helping his team mate Johannes Staune-Mittet to overall victory. However, he still won the queen stage on the penultimate day of racing.
10 Erin Creighton - Track World Champs
Creighton (18) was part of a small Irish team that went to the junior World Track Championships in Israel in August. She had already won five Irish junior titles before departing for Israel; four on the track and the junior road race crown in Kanturk in June. At the Worlds she played a blinder in the elimination race, going very close to a medal but having to settle for 4th; a performance that really underlined her potential.
11 Ben Healy - European TT Championships
Healy has always been a classy rider - taking repeated big wins at U23 level - but when he stepped up to World Tour level this year with EF Education-EasyPost he excelled many times. He rode especially well, with breakaway performances, at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (1.UWT) in February, Tour of Norway (2.Pro) in May and Ethias-Tour de Wallonie (2.Pro) in July. However, his 6th place in the TT at the Europeans in Germany in August was a big result for the then 21-year-old Irish elite TT champion.
12 Dean Harvey - National Road Championships
Harvey (19) has had a storming 2022, both on the road and in cyclocross. However, the one performance that sticks out from the others is his ride in the combined U23-elite road race at the National Road Championships in Kanturk. He got up the road early and drove it on against very experienced elite riders. While he fell back a little in the finale, he still had the legs to beat Darren Rafferty in the sprint for 4th place, and U23 gold; a great result, especially considering the way he rode.
13 Aaron Wade - GP Christian Fenioux-Souvenir Gilles-Malard
Wade (21) was a third-year U23 rider this year and is among that group of riders denied vital opportunities in recent seasons due to the pandemic, especially as so many U23 races were cancelled in 2020 and 2021. However, once he shook off some crash injuries this year he found great form and claimed victory in GP Christian Fenioux-Souvenir Gilles-Malard, a first division race at elite level in France. It was, hopefully, a sign of things to come from Wade, who looks like an especially stronger sprinter.
14 Niall McLoughlin - Kerry Group Rás Mumhan
Junior rider McLoughlin (Westport Covey Wheelers) was selected onto the Irish junior team for Kerry Group Rás Mumhan this year; a race that U18 riders do not usually ride. He took his chance with both hands; winning stage 3 in a bunch sprint and also placing 2nd on stages 2 and 4. It was a great ride by the teenager and, like U23 rider Wade, it will be interesting to see what he can do when he gets another run at the finish line in a sprint for victory in bigger events.
15 Aine Doherty - Cyclocross National Series
Doherty (VC Glendale) was a stand-out U16 rider on the road this year, winning the road race, TT and criterium at the National Youth Road Championships in August. While that was impressive, the impact she has had on the elite cyclocross scene in recent months has been at a new level. She moved up into the first-year junior ranks for the 2022-23 cyclocross season and has been a regular winner at elite level already. Her wins in the opening two rounds of the Cyclocross National Series proved she is already establishing herself at the top of the elite scene despite her age.
16 Sam Bennett - Vuelta stage wins
OK, so we're cheating a little with this entry, but it's easy to forget how long Sam Bennett's difficult period continued this year and last. In 2021 the second part of his season was wiped out by a knee injury. And it took him a long time to get his legs back this year. And though he won Eschborn-Frankfurt (1.UWT) in May, the other very best sprinters in the world were not in that sprint, while Bennett also couldn't repeat the success in the weeks that followed. However, he came roaring back into form - looking like "the old Sam Bennett" - in La Vuelta, win two stage wins before illness forced him out. In fairness, they were not exactly breakthrough wins. But Bennett's lack of form was starting to looking worrying and so these "comeback", rather than strictly "breakthrough", wins make it into our list.
17 Ryan Mullen - Lead-out/bodyguard
Again, we're cheating a little with this entry, but Mullen excelled this year and the quality and consistency of his performances were too good to leave out. He acted as Sam Bennett's Bora-hansgrohe lead-out man and bodyguard and did a fantastic job. He now looks like one of the bosses on the front of the peloton when the pushing and shoving for position is at its craziest; in those few kilometres just before the final sprint. In fairness to Mullen, he was doing a similar job for Mads Pedersen at Trek-Segafredo in recent seasons but because he wasn't working for an Irish sprinter, or going for results himself, his performances flew below the radar. Next season, once Bennett is winning, should be the year when Mullen's ability as a rider is fully appreciated.
