Several minutes after Dillon Corkery pulled off a dramatic last-day victory in the Rás Tailteann, Team Ireland manager Martyn Irvine made his way through the huddle of well-wishers, clasped the young rider around the waist and hoisted him into the air.
His jubilation was clear in that moment, with what was an unexpected last-day shakeup leading to an Irish turnaround in the race. In the opening three days it was all about the overseas riders, leading many to ask how things were so different to a dominant home performance in 2022.
But, over the course of two days, things swung the other way. First Corkery took a fine uphill stage win at Monaghan cathedral on Saturday, and then he upended the race with a superb last-stage onslaught on Sunday.
Little wonder Irvine was so emotional. Indeed he was completely lost for words when giving his reaction to what had happened.
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“I’m in tears here, like, I don’t cry.. I don’t cry much…” he told stickybottle, struggling to compose himself and articulate what he was feeling. “It’s, it’s hard. It’s real. It’s just… Jeez, I don’t know. It is the plan. They’re good kids, they did the plan…”
Irvine put his shades on to hide his eyes; one tear rolled down his cheek. As he’d later say, he didn’t cry when he won his superb world track championship title in 2013. Eleven years on, guiding one of Ireland’s top young amateur riders to a dramatic victory, the emotions were different.
The key to the win was to believe, and convince others to believe. Final day turnarounds are rare in the modern Rás era, but it was crucial to try.
“It was 90 percent a sprint, but I was like, ‘lads, we are rarely in this position, we will go for it,’” he said. “And it was literally Aaron and Dillon, we had the two of them high in GC. And they got in the move. And they pulled it off. As simple as that.”
Early on the Irish campaign seemed a little subdued. Cycling Ireland’s current budget constraints saw the squad without a team car, with Irvine instead driving a spare Cycling Leinster vehicle. The first three stages went to British or Australian riders, with the UK teams dominating. Patrick O’Loughlin (Team Ireland) did take second on stage two with a superb sprint, and Corkery did match that the following day, but around the race there was a feeling that the visiting teams had the upper hand.
It was a jarring contrast to last year, when Irish riders took four out of the five stages, the overall win and various other classifications. Of those, Irvine’s Ireland squad brought home two stage wins, the points classification, the mountains competition and the best team award.
Things ebb and flow in cycling. Some years overseas teams are stronger and after those first three stages, there was a growing sense that race leader Conor McGoldrick (UK: Richardsons Trek DAS) or one of the other British riders would win overall.
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But Irvine and his riders turned things around.
“I really did believe it was possible this morning,” he told Stickybottle. “We said it in the briefing. Everyone was like, ‘[it’ll be a] sprint, sprint.’ And I said, ‘there’s always a chance.’ And we were aware of it, and we did it. They’re just like robots, the guys. They just work for each other. And they just executed the plan, you know?
“We were unluck at first…during the week we missed things. It’s hard, it was tough. But this just caps it off. It’s brilliant.”
Asked what the emotions were like in the team car when it became increasingly clear that Corkery was heading for victory, Irvine said that he had to remain focussed.
“I was cool as…” he said. “I was trying to calm myself down. Until I cross zero (kilometres to go), I never believe anything. So I was just trying to breathe and relax. We had a scare with a couple of laps to go, Dillon’s electric gears stopped working. And he needed a bike. But he just kept rolling with one gear, I think he was on one gear for 20, 30 k there.
“He was committed. I think that is why he kept going, he had just the one gear, might as well keep rolling. It was brilliant.”
Irvine has been a superb team manager and mentor, guiding Irish riders to success in last year’s Rás, in this year’s race, and also in other events such as the Tour de l’Avenir and the European championships.
Of those, Darren Rafferty was sixth in the time trial in the Euros, while the team helped Archie Ryan take second on a stage and fourth overall in the Tour de l’Avenir, the best Irish performance ever.
When Cycling Ireland gets over its current funding difficulties, there is a strong argument for Irvine to be given a solid ongoing role. He was an asset to the country as a competitor, and he has worked wonders from the team car too.
As is his way, he is quick to pass credit on to others. When the success of the 2022 and 2023 Rás campaigns are mentioned, he deflects the praise.
“It is the same sort of kids,” he said. “Rory [Townsend] was a great road captain. Dillon is an absolute gentlemen. Really smart, did the exact same, a great road captain for the young guys. And he’s young himself.
“It’s just great to see him getting this….he’s committed a lot of work to it. He’s a career cyclist and it’s great to see him getting a bit of a breakthrough like this at home.”
