Damien Shaw arrives at the finish yesterday; at the back of the breakaway but back in the pointy end of hard racing again. He looks back on the last few seasons and ahead to the rest of this week (Photo: Caroline Kerley)
Having ridden for the An Post-Chainreaction team for the past few seasons and been under intense pressure to perform in the Rás, Damien Shaw is looking forward to the week ahead without that to worry about.
While the Holdsworth Pro Cycling team he is part of is looking for results, it is not the same pressure cooker as riding for a team sponsored by the same entity that previously backed the Rás; An Post.
“I’m just going to try and enjoy this week,” he told stickybottle after his stage 1 breakaway ride yesterday.
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“The last couple of years when I was with An Post there was pressure to perform.
“You had to be in the break, you had to be represented, you had to ride on the front.”
This year he says he may slot into team duties, though making the breakaway yesterday suggests very good form. And while he is just coming back from injuries, he was clearly relieved to be in the thick of it again yesterday.
He was 10th on the stage, some five seconds behind winner Cyrille Thiery (Switzerland), gaining 18 seconds on the peloton.
Shaw also wore the climbers’ jersey into today’s stage 2 as he is second in that competition behind yellow jersey Thiery.
The way it is set up this year; the Rás is unknown,” Shaw said. “There are unknown teams and unknown riders and it’s not clear if anyone will take control or if it will be mad racing.”
He said the opening stage yesterday was nervy at tmes, with riders vying to pick up the early classification jerseys.
Damien Shaw waiting for the podium presentations yesterday. He says team duties will call this week, but don't bet against him (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“I didn’t poke my end out the front until 20k gone. Even at that I was cursing myself saying ‘you shouldn’t be doing this’,” he laughs.
“You can’t help yourself at times. But it is a long week and what you do now, you pay for later. I just want to be active this week really, and do a job for the team.
“I’m in the climbers’ jersey by default, as the race leader leads the competition. So I won’t be racing for that jersey or anything.
“In the team we are geared towards stage wins, there’s a bit of firepower there. I’ll be there to help out in that scenario.
“It’s a similar role I played in the last year or two, with helping other guys rather than looking afrer myself. And I’m pretty comfortable doing either role really.”
Shaw said the 10-man breakaway rode clear through Trim after several small attacks had failed.
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“This move went with two or three and then gradually swelled, so I joined it,” he said.
“The area is not too far from where I live. I knew the roads and I there would be twisty, bad surface and sheltered roads.
“And I knew if you were out of sight you’d stand a chance, before getting to the big main roads.
“But the gap was coming back, it came down to less than 20 seconds at one point. But then whatever happened; the chase probably ran out of legs.
“Most of the teams were represented so it was hard to understand when it was coming back. But in ballooned back out anyway.”
In the final, Shaw said with two sets of team mates in the breakaway – from Switzerland and Delta X - it was a case of picking out a rider or two and taking a chance in following their attacks.
“You just have to pick one lad or another; it was just attacks and countering coming in the road,” he said.
“I made a few moves myself out the road with one or the other of the team mates. But that just didn’t work.
“When it came to the finish I probably had by matches spent out the road. But it was good to be back and involved at the pointy of races again.”
Shaw had been suffering from a hip injury, which forced him to relinquish his place on the Irish team at the World Championships last year.
And while it is still an issue for him, he feels he is fit enough now resuming racing probably.
“It’s frustrating, when the hammer goes down you know you are only operating at 90 per cent or so,” he said.
“But I’m in the break I can survive so we will see what happens for the rest of the week.”
Shaw took three top three places on the final three stages of the Rás in 2015, having been knocked off his bike by a motorbike two weeks before the race.
He said he was not going to start as he felt under prepared. But he rode himself in and was going really well by the finish.
This year his preparation has not been dissimilar. And while be planned a low profile start to the race yesterday, he ended up in the breakaway.
Shaw said while he took the hotspots and was now wearing the climbers’ jersey, those rewards would be secondary; a stage win the only thing he was thinking of yesterday.
“If I’m in the break and the break is at a minute of 1:50, like we were; you are thinking about a stage, not hot spots or whatever,” he said.
However, while his showing yesterday suggests good form; Shaw suggested team duties may call.
“I signed up with this team to be in more of a domestique role,” he said of joining Holdsworth Pro Cycling in the off season.
“I have no problem with that and I geared my training towards doing that sort of job. But that also means you can ride the breakaway well; it’s the same sort of stress on your body.”
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