Dean Harvey has said he expects to see, and hear, "passionate" Irish fans at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup race in Dublin this Sunday, when he will be part of a three-man Irish team taking on the top pro riders.
The 19-year-old has also spoken to stickybottle about his ride in Tour de l'Avenir this year and his move to the Trinity Racing Continental team for next season. His more immediate focus, however, is racing the World Cup in the green of Ireland - with Chris McGlinchey and Darnell Moore as team mates - at the Sport Ireland Campus in Blanchardstown this Sunday.
Harvey (Spellman Dublin Port) has been the dominant force on the domestic cyclocross scene this year, winning eight races so far including the first two rounds in the new Cyclocross National Series. But this weekend when he lines up against the likes for Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and the other stars of the pro scene, the challenge will be unlike any he has faced to date.
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"I wouldn't say I'm nervous, it's more about excitement really," he said. "I've been to the World Champs, so I sort of know what kind of race to expect. So it's about preparing the best I can and just making the most of it on the day.
"If it's deep, heavy, sloggy mud, that's not really the best for me. But if it's firm and still a bit slippy, that's perfect for me. I saw a few photos of the course and it looks heavy enough (very muddy - Ed) so it will be tough.
"The main goal I have in my head is to try and finish on the same lap as the leader," Harvey explained. "From going to a few British races this year I've got good reference points for where I should be. A big thing will be not going too deep on the first lap, start too fast. The front of the race will be just ahead of you and you think that's your only chance (to be at the front). So I'll just have to get a clean start and then settle into a good rhythm."
Harvey, from Belfast, said when the Worlds are held in Europe Irish fans always travelled in numbers and made their presence felt on the course. As a result, he expected a heightened version of that atmosphere this Sunday, created by Irish fans who were "passionate" about cyclocross and Irish cycling.
Harvey said while he spent at the end of the road season - during which he raced for Spellman Dublin Port at home, CC Étupes in France and the Irish team at different times. Some of his main results included winning the Irish U23 road race title in Kanturk, taking the climbers' classification at Rás Tailteann while riding for the Irish team and also winning the Shay Elliott Memorial.
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"I found after the road season I was definitely tired, but I think that was mental fatigue rather than anything physical, especially in France towards the end of the season when I was doing big, hard races," he said. "But when I went home I was out on the 'cross bike and I wanted to do 'cross, I was keen to get into the 'cross season. So I just took two weeks and did nothing on the bike and then I'd one week of training and it was straight into the 'cross racing."
Looking back on the road season, he said had learned a lot from riding Tour de l'Avenir, also on the national team. Having made his debut in that race in what was his first year as an U23 rider, he will have three more seasons in that age group and hopefully three more appearances in the French race.
"I felt really good at l'Avenir, it was a really good race for everyone and we rode very well together," he said of the Irish team led by Archie Ryan, who was 4th overall, and which also featured Adam Ward, Liam Curley, Kevin McCambridge and Darren Rafferty.
"I took a lot from it and I got one day in the breakaway, which was really hard," he added of going up the road on stage 7. "It was good to see a race like that, to see what it's like. I knew it was going to be really hard going into it, so I was expecting that.
"The first half was pretty flat and the racing was fairly controlled; there was nothing crazy. But over the course of the whole race it was definitely very hard," he added of the final stages in the mountains really shaking things up.
He now moves to Trinity Racing next year; a squad created three years ago around a then 20-year-old Tom Pidcock, who has since gone on to Ineos Grenadiers and is the reigning elite world champion in cyclocross and MTB Olympic champion. The team is owned by Irish cycling agent Andrew McQuaid and Harvey is clearly very pleased to have signed for McQuaid's team.
With his strong cyclocross record, and now emerging at a rate of knots on the road and in 'cross, the team is a perfect match for Harvey as McQuaid offers cyclocross and MTB racing as part of his set-up.
"The move has been in the background for a while and it's a team I've always wanted to be on," said Harvey. "For next year it's the perfect team for me and it's coming at the perfect time."
