The winner of Coombes Connor Memorial last Sunday in Co Meath, Liam Crowley's confidence is now riding high. The UCD Cycling Club rider is still eligible for U23 national team selection this year and, on the basis of his form in recent weeks, he is surely making a case for himself.
On Sunday in the Jons Drogheda Wheelers promotion, Crowley led in a top six that included Daire Feeley (All human-VeloRevolution), Odhran Doogan (Team Caldwell Cycles), Gareth O'Neill (PB Performance). rapidly emerging top junior Conor Prendergast (Van Mossel Heist Cycling Team) and Conn McDunphy (Team Skyline-Cadence).
Any rider finishing solo ahead of those rivals - especially having been on the attack through the race - would rightly feel confident they were making a breakthrough. However, Crowley has also won the Bobby Power Memorial this year and over Easter made the breakaway on stage 1 at Dornan Rás Mumhan before finishing 9th in the final general classification.
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Asked if he was surprised to be at the level he has now reached, Crowley gave an honest, though not arrogant, answer: "No, to be honest, I'm not surprised. I put in a huge winter, I put in the hours every week; 20 hours a week, even during college. I just focused on balancing the studies and training and it just worked.
"This winter I've put in the work and I've had some results and, to be honest, I'm not done yet. People say 'oh, you're going well at the start of the season'. But I plan to be going well at the end of the season too, I'm not just peaking now. I'm not at my peak yet, I don't think, I'm still building forward."
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Increased confidence after tough times
The 22-year-old University College Dublin scholarship rider missed much of the 2022 season due to injury. A broken wrist from a crash in Mayo in March at the start of the campaign was at the root of his problems, which persisted until November of that year.
And after going to Girona to train with his UCD Cycling Club team mates before last season, he fell ill. That meant much of the condition he had built during the winter, and on the approach to the new season, was put at risk. He finally came good with a win in Bohermeen last April.
With a better run of luck for Crowley through the 2023-2024 winter period, we are now perhaps seeing for the first time what he is capable of. And having tasted victory twice already this season, he wants more, saying his performance in Rás Mumhan was a big boost.
"Rás Mumhan gave me a good bit of confidence, to be up there in an international field. So I went into (last Sunday) with my head high, I'm part of that group of top riders now. I'm not underestimating myself. I'm here to win, I'm not here to just potter around.
"I was expecting a good result (on Sunday) and it feels good but it doesn't come as a surprise because I've put in the work. I am delighted to see I'm able to perform at the top of Irish cycling and not just being there or thereabouts. I'm getting up there and beating the top people now and it's a great feeling."
