Dean Harvey has made progress every season since his junior days and began his 2024 road season with a very strong ride - winning the queen stage at Dornan Rás Mumhan. However, now in his second year with the Trinity Racing Continental team, last weekend's hit out at home was only a curtain-raiser for things to come.
Harvey (21) will this Sunday line out in U23 Paris Roubaix, saying he was in his best shape ever after an ideal winter. Having previously said he got the season he needed last year, perhaps not the one he wanted, he goes into his international programme of racing a year stronger, and much more experienced.
Ahead of Sunday's big showdown - "it's always been a race that stood out to me" - Harvey said a new opportunity with Cycling Ireland during the winter, coupled with a change in the way his cyclocross season combined with his road commitments, means he now feels in his best shape ever.
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"It was the first time I had a December camp in winter with Cycling Ireland," Harvey said of training in Calpe in southern Spain for two weeks. "I always respond well after big volume.
"Then the road season starting a bit later suited my schedule better with cyclocross. So it gave me more time to prepare for the start of the road season after cross, instead going straight from one to the other."
While Harvey won the Irish cyclocross title again this year - proving best in Limerick in mid January - and also competed in the Worlds in the Czech Republic in early February, last weekend's Rás Mumhan was his first major road race of the season.
And he believes that gap, of almost two months, between serious 'cross and road competition has created a better opportunity to ready himself for the long road campaign ahead. He will start at the deep end, against a very competitive field on the pavé of northern France this weekend.
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However, while he will face rivals for the riders who form some of the best World Tour-linked development teams in the sport, he believes the five stages of action in Kerry over Easter were ideal preparation.
While they were physically challenging - especially as Harvey took on a lot of work to defend his team mate Luke Tuckwell's yellow jersey - he says the mood in the Trinity Racing camp is on a high.
The team won two of the five stages - with Harvey and Joe Pidcock - and claimed the overall, points and young rider classifications with Tuckwell.
"I'm really happy with how Rás Mumhan went," Harvey confirmed. "It was a really fun and successful weekend for me and the team. It helps a lot with the motivation going forward into the season, and it shows that my winter preparation has put me in my best shape ever for this year."
He also said he was really looking forward to U23 Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, where he hopes his condition and his skills will stand him in good stead.
"Coming from an off-road background, it's always been a race that stood out to me, especially if the weather isn't ideal," he said. "I'll go in with an open mind and see what happens.
"It will be an important race for the team, and for me to hopefully start my European racing season in a strong way."
