Freddie Winkley has put a big emphasis on being aero on the bike, just one of the things he has in common with Ben Healy (Photo: Toby Watson)
At the end of the men's junior National Road Race Championships in Mayo, Freddie Winkley had the gold medal around his neck and the green and white champion's jersey on his shoulders. And Irish cycling had a new name in the mix - one who seems to be going places.
Winkley (Harrogate Nova Race Team), who has declared from Ireland through his family roots, impressed on the road and track scenes in Britain as a youth rider. His inclusion on the Irish national team is already a matter of 'when' and not 'if'.
What catches the eye most are the 16-year-old's international results in recent months; going away and almost always taking something away from those races.
From Chorley near Manchester, Winkley told stickybottle he had declared for Ireland through his Irish grandfather of his mother's side of the family. Saturday's road race was the first time he had been introduced to the Irish cycling community and he was clearly delighted to have made his mark.
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He got clear with about 12km to go in the 111.6km race in Cong and then won the three-up sprint for victory, with James Armstrong (U19 Academy Région Sud powered by Giant) 2nd and Hugh Og Mulhearne (AS Villemur Cyclisme) 3rd.
Freddie Winkley leads another first-year junior, Rian McCrystal, on his way to road race gold (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
"The first half of the race was very stop-start, a group of four got up the road and everyone sat about and let that get a big gap," Winkley said of a race where he was always very aero and was clever with his efforts.
He added that, being new to the Irish scene, he had to quickly learn who the strong riders were.
It was no surprise to him, when he finally got clear late in the race in a three-man move, it was Mulhearne and Armstrong with him, two riders who had impressed him through the race.
"The three of us, for most of the second half of the race, were trying to get across (to four long-term leaders)," Winkley said of himself, Armstrong and Mulhearne.
"But we kept getting brought back. And then, finally, just after we caught them, we got going and we were away."
And though he obviously knew their small group had the medals wrapped up, Winkley said he was not confident at all for the final sprint.
"I was thinking I was screwed, to be honest, I've not been sprinting too good," he laughed.
He also found himself on the front of the three-man group on the run-in to the finish, precisely where he did not want to be.
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"I was looking to see if either of them (Armstrong or Mulhearne) would go, but they didn't go. And then I launched and I just managed to hang on."
Pattern of UCI race results emerging
Aged just 16, Winkley is based in Chorley, near Manchester. He modestly described the first half of his season as a period where he "scraped some top 20s at UCI races" in Europe and "top five or top 10s" in National Series events in Britain.
But the reality is a little different.
In his results, a pattern of performing in UCI races is now starting to emerge. Indeed, his list of results - on paper - is not dissimilar to how Ben Healy's results looked when he declared for Ireland; no stand-out wins but clear signs of emerging talent.
He took very solid finishes in national-level road races in British earlier this year, including 5th at the ANEXO/CAMS Junior CiCLE Classic.
Winkley then took 8th on a stage at the Tour du Bocage et de l'Ernée 53 (2.1) in France in March, also winning the climbers' classification there.
He then went to the Internationale Cottbuser Junioren-Etappenfahrt (2.1) four-stage race in Germany in April, placing 9th in the TT, 10th overall and winning the youth classification.
Just a week later, Winkley was 6th overall at the Witham Hall Junior Open, a three-stage national-level race, taking 3rd and 6th on stages.
And at the start of last month, he was 9th in the 135km Tour du Carmausin Segala U19 (1.1) in France, before TT bronze and road race gold at the Nationals in Ireland on Thursday and Saturday.
It has all made for a very strong few months on the bike. And, now that he is national champion, Winkley's profile will be higher and he will squarely be in contention for national team selection, road and track.
He began with the sport of cycling when he was about 6-years-old, first taking to a BMX. When he was about 10-years-old, he moved on to cyclocross, and quickly added road racing, which has been his main discipline for the past couple of seasons.
Asked if he was surprised to come to Ireland and win the junior title race, especially as a first-year junior, Winkley said he was unsure. He felt before the race he "could do quite well".
"I just wasn't sure where I'd be placed out of everybody and, in the race, I was kind of getting to grips with that, trying to work that out," he said of his crash course introduction to Irish junior road racing on the move and in at the deep end.
"About halfway through I did think I had a chance if I could get away.”
