Killian O'Brien, first rider in green in centre, climbs in the bunch during the Region of Dodecanese GP in Greece (Photo: Nassos Triantafyllou)
Killian O'Brien is getting his season underway, with his new UCI Continental squad Team Skyline, in against the pros over in Greece. He told stickybottle he has been very happy with his form so far, especially his climbing, after rubbing shoulders - literally - with Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) at the weekend.
Having gone up against the likes of Cofidis, Equipo Kern Pharma, Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, among others, the 19-year-old from south Dublin already has a measure of his early season form. O'Brien - 3rd in the National Championships road race as a junior, 3rd in the Junior Tour of Wales and the senior national hill climb champion while he was a junior - has revealed some of his performance data from the Greek races.
His results - 74th at Visit South Aegean GP (1.1) and 56th in Region on Dodecanese GP (1.1) - may not jump off the page. But for O'Brien, a second-year U23, these early weeks are about gauging, and honing, his climb form.
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Crucially, he is also keen to better handle himself in the rough and tumble of the bunch, especially as a flyweight climber, and is happy on all fronts so far.
He said Saturday’s Visit South Aegean GP – some 156.4km with almost 3,000m of climbing over four passages of a circuit – was the hardest of the two races he has completed so far.
He put out 282W adjusted power for 3hrs 50mins of racing, which was followed by a 33km ride back to the team hotel after the race end in Salakos.
After a furious period of attacking early in the contest, a breakaway went free, and then Cofidis set about the front.
They kept the breakaway’s advantage under control before ramping up the pace, with its French sprinter Coquard winning the day despite the terrain.
"For the first three hours of the race I felt super good. My heart rate was at Zone 2 the whole time, bar a couple of sprints,” O'Brien said.
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However, as the pace was ramped up, and the battle for position became more physical, he was “bumped around a bit” and “wasted a good bit of energy, just closing gaps after crashes and sprinting out of corners".
The 160-rider bunch was eventually halved, as riders were continually spat out the back. O’Brien remained in the peloton until he lost some time when the field turned for the last climb, of just over 2km, to the finish. He placed 74th, some 1:19 down on Coquard.
During Sunday’s Region on Dodecanese GP (1.1) – 151km, with 1,700m of elevation gain – O’Brien said his legs felt great until a mishap on the second last climb.
He and Coquard got bumped into a ditch, being forced into a chase down the climb and straight onto the last ascent. Though he managed to get back on, he was well out of position for the final charge to the line up the final 2.4km climb.
However, there was nothing for it but to make the most of a bad lot. The race finished on the same climb he had blown on the previous day, but this time around was able to “whack it” up the ascent.
However, his positioning going onto the last climb meant he finished 56th, though only 22 seconds down on winner Iván Cobon (Equipo Kern Pharma).
The opening three hours - of a 3½-hour event - saw O'Brien put out an average 170W, meaning almost two hours of that race effort was spent in recovery.
He spent 50 minutes in Zone 2, 26 minutes tempo, 12 minutes threshold, 18 minutes at VO2 max and 10 minutes at anaerobic. His adjusted power was 429W and he climbed at 7.27w/kg. O'Brien followed his race effort with another 33km ride back to the team hotel.
“I think there are positive signs, I'm building confidence and I'm able to hold my place in the bunch,” he said. “It's a good confidence boost to climb well, even though that kind of a finish doesn't completely suit me,” he said, adding his preference would have been for a harder climb.
Next week he will ride the one-day Rhodes GP (1.2) and the Tour of Rhodes Powered by Rodos Palace (2.2) four-stage race.
