A bronze medal winner at the National Championships during his junior years, Jamie Meehan (Brocar Ale) moved up two steps on the podium in Co Tyrone yesterday when he claimed the U23 gold medal. The young Donegal man will get to wear the champion's livery for the remainder of the season in Spain. He may also have reserved himself a place on a national team in the months ahead.
But while his title win could lead to more steps in his career, it was a major achievement in itself, especially considering the men he beat yesterday. Baby Giro runner-up, Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon), took silver while Odhran Doogan (Caldwell Cycles) claimed bronze, not to mention the 30 other riders in the U23 event that Meehan beat.
He told stickybottle after the race he had really only begun to take his cycling seriously in the lead-in to this season. Now working with a new coach and looking after himself - training and recovering properly - for the first time in his life, he hasn't had to wait too long for his first big reward. However, he very nearly lost his chance early in the race when the Bora-hansgrohe machine went over the top of him after he'd buried himself, only to be left gasping.
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"I was pretty worried," he said of missing the early 15-man breakaway. "I attacked on an early climb and I went pretty deep. And then either (Sam) Bennett or (Ryan) Mullen came over to me and I went deep again to get on their wheel, and I just couldn't. I slipped back through the bunch, and then that's where that (15-man) group got away, just after that."
As he was stranded back in the main field, he thought the U23 medals were already gone up the road as Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing), Ewan Warren (Borcar Ale), Aaron Wade (Cortizo Aluminium Team) and Odhran Doogan (Team Caldwell Cycles) were all in the large breakaway.
However, up front eventual race winner Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) continued to attack repeatedly, soon splitting the group. Nine riders slipped backwards - including all the U23s - and were re-absorbed by the peloton. And that meant the U23 title was still wide open.
Just after those breakaway riders were caught, and with about 75km to go, Meehan got clear in a very strong chasing group. Rafferty was with him, as was Mark Dowling (All human-VeloRevolution), Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles), Conn McDunphy (Lucan CRC), Conal Scully (Team Dan Morrissey-Primor by Pissei) and Jesse Ewart (Terengganu Polygon Cycling Team).
While they were racing at least two minutes behind the leaders - and that gap would only grow - there were no U23s ahead of them. And as they pulled clear of the peloton, it meant the race for the U23 medals was between Rafferty, Meehan and Scully; though the latter was among of number of riders to lose their places in that chasing group.
Meehan said though the U23 title was at stake, everyone who remained in the group continued to work in a bid to stay clear of the bunch. It wasn't until the climbs on the final lap that both Meehan and Rafferty began attacking, though they cancelled each other out.
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The group went to the line, sprinting for 6th, with Dowling taking that placing. However, when Meehan placed 7th and Rafferty 8th, the Donegal rider was U23 champion, though he initially didn't believe he'd held off Rafferty.
"I don't have a good sprint, so I thought I might be going for 2nd place," he said. "But on the line, I looked over (at Rafferty) but I wasn't sure (who had won)... I couldn't really believe it to be honest. I didn't really want to think about it until I saw the official result. I didn't want to get ahead of myself."
Meehan started his cycling with local club, Glenties-based Tir Chonaill GAP CC, before moving to VC Glendale and then onto Spellman Dublin Port for last season. This year he has raced for Brocar Ale and, save for a couple of races at home, has spent the first half of the campaign in Spain, where he is due to return in about two weeks.
Perhaps because he is not riding for a Continental team this season - and is plying his trade a little out of sight on the Spanish elite scene - Meehan is not a rider who has generated lots of headlines this year. However, his 3rd place finish in the junior road race two years ago put him on the map.
And when he came back to Ireland at Easter for Rás Mumhan, he proved one of the strongest on the uphill finish to Kerryman's Table; another result suggesting his natural place was around the top of the class on the domestic scene.
That his potential is now starting to be realised is no coincidence. "This is my first year stepping up my training properly and looking after myself a bit better," he said. "In Spain I have that good routine where I can easily look after myself and get in the right training. And the racing out there is at a really high standard, it's really good. We do longer races as well, the average races are 140-160k, so that definitely helped me prepare for nationals.
"With my cycling, every year I've always sort of done what I thought was enough. But then every year I've found out it's not enough, that I need to do something else," he laughed. "And each year that's just brought me on.
"I've also changed coaches, to Barry Monaghan, and he's showing me now what I need to do and what it takes. Before, I wasn't really doing enough; maybe only doing seven hours a week. Now, it's just really a lot more hours on the bike compared to other years, that's the main difference."
He added the relentlessly attritional nature of the National Road Championships also suited him. "It's always a wearing down game; it's hard the whole time. And I think that kind of racing is good for me; I like that style of racing."
