Having been a regular presence in the results last summer, but ending the campaign without a win, Patrick O'Sullivan (Orwell Wheelers) announced himself today at Dublin Wheelers' 'Mick Lally' promotion in Summerhill, Co Meath, with a very impressive win.
The 18-year-old second-year junior went early in the A3-Junior race and didn't look back. Though it is very early days yet in the 2024 season, the manner of his win today suggests he can set his sights on national team selection in the months ahead.
From Straffan in Co Kildare, O'Sullivan told stickybottle exam commitments last year curtailed his racing. But now that he is freer to race and train he upped his training load significantly during the winter; an approach that looks like it has really paid off.
Over three laps of the 'Dorey's Forge' course today, with a climb through the finish line, he attacked just after the line on the first passage. And from there he put his head down; riding the second and third laps solo to stretch out advantage of minutes over the chasing bunch.
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"I sprinted into the corner after the climb, broke away and then stayed away from the rest of the race, I was feeling pretty good. The plan was to break away and go solo," he said.
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While snow gathered on parts of the course after Friday's bad weather, the roads were clear by the time the racing rolled out this morning. And though conditions were cold, and some parts of the course were exposed to a stiff breeze, it was a fine day for racing.
O'Sullivan certainly made the most of it, taking a very impressive solo win, with the bunch kick for 2nd taken by Luca Holmes (Spellman Dublin Port) from Ryan Cahill (Athy Wheelers).
"I was doing the Leaving Cert last year so I didn't really race up until the end of June," said O'Sullivan. "So I only really got two months of racing. It went OK," he said of 2023, which passed without a win.
However, with the Leaving Cert completed, O'Sullivan decided to take a gap year, meaning he could have a bigger winter and, hopefully, a more prolific 2024 season, which he has certainly started on the right note.
"I was training pretty hard over the winter, had a good winter. I just upped the hours. Last year I was maybe doing six hours a week but lately I've been doing maybe 16 or so."
While he was "surprised" at the size of his gap at the finish today, he added he would love to race abroad later in the year and gaining Ireland selection was also "a target".
