With her university degree, in food science, secured last year, a new base in Girona, and now a new World Tour contract with EF Education-Oatly, Caoimhe O’Brien has the world at her feet.
But how did she do it? How did a season destined to be split between riding for a British Continental team and the Irish track team suddenly get upended in favour of a coveted berth in the big time?
O’Brien, from Co Westmeath, tells stickybottle a story many Irish riders have relayed down the years. The stories are often only ever told in private as the last minute decision goes against them; the big glamorous team they were in talks with opting for someone else instead.
"I got a last minute call from EF to say there was an opening and that they wanted to talk to me," she says as she outlines how her life changed rapidly just before Christmas. "You hear about these stories of last minute openings. And not that I never expected it to happen for me, but…"
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As the team consulted with agents to fill its last slot for 2026, O'Brien said her name "was thrown into the ring".
"And then they wanted to do a call with me and also see more about who I was as a rider," O'Brian explains. "They looked at my power and they wanted to do a deep dive into my Training Peaks. But I think, mainly, it was about getting to know me as a person. I had a good few calls with them. And, obviously, whatever they were looking for, they felt they'd found it."
Having ridden for US team Cynisca Cycling last year, O'Brien - a former U23 Irish road race champion - was selected for the road Europeans for Ireland and the track Worlds towards the back end of 2026. She also went to the US to ride Maryland Cycling Classic (1.1), taking a fine 9th, even though she missed the winning breakaway.
Serving her time in Europe
Before the contract with EF was secured, O'Brien had planned to race in 2026 for British Continental team DAS-Hutchinson, which she rode for two years ago.
Over the past three years, she has cut her teeth in a combination of national level and UCI-ranked racing in Europe - much of that in Belgium. Now aged 23, her busy few years in Europe means she has a cycling apprenticeship served as she gets set to step up to the World Tour. But what about getting that final call from EF Education-Oatly confirming she was in?
"I think it was pure shock… On the first phone call I was thinking to myself 'okay, maybe this will happen, hopefully, but I don't want to get to carried away with myself'. I was thinking as well that they were probably talking to other people, which they were."
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O'Brien continues: "I just thought I'd be myself and then probably the numbers would do most of the talking. But then when I got the call… Yeah, I think I was in shock, pretty much,” she laughs.
"And then you get to share the news with your family and my boyfriend and everything. And I think we were all just… it was a bit surreal, really, because it really changes the trajectory of where I thought my cycling career would go next.
"I think it shows that it can happen. Like, me getting this, it gives Aoife a lot of confidence that it can happen," she said of her younger sister, who is a couple of years behind her but is already a track and road international.
"And my parents… like all riders, they're the ones who brought me to all the races every Sunday and they've helped to bring me abroad to do all the races. They're always at the end of the phone when stuff doesn't go right.
"And my boyfriend Matthew (Devins, a former international) really has been a big support. He started coaching me two or three years ago, when I really started going abroad and taking things seriously.
“Just having that support network has been so important. Really, if it wasn't for them, it probably wouldn't have happened, I wouldn't be in EF. It really is a credit to everyone else around me that this has happened."
"It's the start of something"
The contract was agreed so late that O'Brien - Ireland's newest World Tour rider - did not go to the team's pre-Christmas training camp, but she was at the January camp. She's experienced a huge switch up in the sheer level of resources open to her, including coming home from the camp with "boxes and boxes" of kit, not to mention new bikes.
"There's a lot of 'pinch me' moments,” she confirms. “Every morning when I'm pulling on the jersey, it just feels really special. You're working towards something for so many years and… obviously this isn't the end of anything, this is just the start of it. But just to get to this point I think is quite a big deal."
She gets underway this week at Setmana Valenciana (2.Pro), after which a block of racing in Belgium is on the cards. It will, of course, take some time to find her feet. But how would she define success in 2026, what has to happen in the year ahead to make her happy?
"I'll be teammates now with some pretty crazy athletes and I'll be trying to learn from them," she replies. "If I can find my feet in the team, this is a year where I can hopefully prove myself and progress this into a longer thing. That would be great.
"So this year is about continuing the progression I've be on, learning as much as I can. And if an opportunity pops up, and I could take that… And then we go from there."
