Max Fitzgerald is known for his sprinting abilities and now the Irish track and road international has put in an incredible medal-winning ride at the European Track Championships in Anadia, Portugal.
The teenager, who rides with Dutch road team JEGG-SKIL-DJR, has taken his silver medal in the junior men's scratch race on the opening day of competition for the Irish team at the junior and U23 Europeans.
His medal - which will hopefully be followed by more silverware by this Irish team in coming days - extends the Irish junior-U23 medal-winning run to three years at the Europeans.
Lara Gillespie won gold in both the U23 points race and the omnium at the 2023 Europeans while Lucy Bénézet Minns claimed gold in the junior points race last year.
Today in the men's junior scratch race, Fitzgerald was 2nd to new junior European champion, Jacopo Vendramin of Italy, with Russian Matvei Yakovlev claiming the bronze medal.
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The race proved very aggresive from the gun, with a strong attack from the off by Ilya Slesarenko, the Russian junior road race and TT champion. He went quite close to gaining a lap but after spending about a third of the 30-lap race out front solo, he was forced to sit up.
He waited for eventual bronze medalist, and compatriot, Yakovlev, who had been chasing him solo for most of the attack. However, when they joined forces, they appeared to be spent and were unable to make progress, with the bunch soon catching them, as Fitzgerald was safely in that pack biding his time.
Once the catch was made, close to the halfway point, Ireland's Fitzgerald began to assert himself, moving to the front and keeping a watchful eye for any other dangerous moves from the other 21 riders in the European title race.
Next to have a dig was the Israeli rider Yanai Eidelman Buczko, who didn't get far before he was pursued and quickly caught by Great Britain's James Daniel Thompson, though the others were straight onto them.
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Almost immediately, Germany's Richard Thoma put in a much firmer effort, gaining a small gap and sustaining his effort, though the reaction was once again immediate; the group lining out after him as the race just passed the halfway point.
Denmark's Alexander Louis Svenningsen and Norweigan Vetle Grønås Gyland led the charge after Thoma. And that flurry of activity saw a promising five-man group get a gap, as the bunch stood off for a lap or two.
However, Fitzgerald hit the front of the chasing bunch at the point, adding some much-needed impetus and being aided by Belgium's Lowie Baeck; neither of them burying themselves, but doing just enough to ensure the five riders ahead were not given too much rope.
And while the five swapped turns, they appeared to be going through the motions, with none willing to commit to injecting the pace that might have carried them clear. That hesitation up front saw the bunch roll back up to them and a real chance of riding away quickly vanished.
When the catch was made, Fitzgerald was once again among the riders circulating around the front; keeping himself in contention, closely watching for attacks but making sure to keep his powder dry.
Israel's Eidelman Buczko and Britain's Thompons then squeezed the pedals, closely marked by Italy's eventual winner, Vendramin. However, those efforts only served to string out the bunch, rather than create any daylight, as the finish began to loom large; seven minutes of racing completed in the nine-minute race.
And that's the way it stayed until the finish. Fitzgerald stayed high, on the outside of the group, ensuring he had room to move, on the penultimate lap. And when the bell went for the last lap, the final sprint had already effectively just begun.
Fitzgerald was seventh wheel at that point, with most of those ahead of him on his inside. He made rapid progress down the back straight, taking the final bend wide and only just failing to overhaul Vendramin on the line.
Still, silver represented a fantastic return for his efforts in a race where he rode cleverly to take the biggest accolade of his career to date. His Europeans medal comes 12 months after winning a stage at the Junior Tour of Ireland riding for the national team.
