Ryan Henderson has already made history for Irish BMX this year when he became the first athlete to represent the country in BMX Freestyle Park at the Europeans and now he is set for a "dream" World Championships appearance.
The Irish international will compete in the UCI Urban Cycling World Championship in Abu Dhabi tomorrow, with a 10th place at the Europeans this season already in the bag. Since his Europeans ride in Munich in August he has spent some time training with the French team; one of the really big nations of the sport.
“This year has been a big step for Irish BMX just with the Euros happening as well. We're super excited, it's been a dream so I'm glad it's finally here," said the east Belfast rider ahead of his first Worlds appearance tomorrow.
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"I was happy with the way the Euros went, with the scale of things and that being Ireland's first time in a major contest like that - to get to wear the jersey. It was a big step for us and I'm glad we got the result we were looking for.”
He spent just over a week training with the French team in Montpellier last month. That experience came about after he met some of the French at the Europeans and hit it off with them.
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“With the way things are back at home, we don't actually have ramps to the scale that we need. I ride in Thunder Park in Bangor, it's got me this far and it's amazing that I get to ride there, but we needed ramps that are going to be similar to what we're riding in Abu Dhabi," he said.
"I did two trips leading up to Abu Dhabi, last week I was in England doing a contest to keep me active. The French have a really good training camp going on (right now), we developed a good relationship with them from the Euros and they invited me out.
“It's been amazing so far, learning off the guys, not only how they work things. I always ride by myself, and it can be a bit hard at times because you need people to feed off so to be able to ride with these guys out here is quite good.
"Right now, France is leading the way. Just seeing how they work things is quite interesting and hopefully I can pick up on some things and bring them with me - just to build the confidence and polish off on the tricks.”
And having already broadened his horizons so much in just a few months, Henderson wants more and has his eyes set on the Paris Olympics.
“That's the goal right now, that's what we're working towards. We're quite new in the way things are and how structured and strict it is. We're obviously not used to this so we're just trying to learn along the way - seeing how the other countries work things and seeing what suits us best.”
