David Montgomery in the green of Ireland on the start line of the U23 race at the European Cyclocross Championships in Holland on Saturday (Photo: Martine Verfaillie)
Having said he was going into the European Cyclocross Championships with no fear but braced for an intense battle, David Montgomery flew the flag strongly for Ireland in Holland on Saturday.
His 34th place finish is a result he will hope to build on in the future rather than celebrate right now.
But the combined U23 and elite national champion lasted the pace when many riders from much strong cyclocross nations were either behind him or abandoned.
It was a very respectable ride for a man who has been based in Belgium for only a matter of weeks; a very short time to adjust to the much more competitive international 'cross scene.
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And his having just one competitive outing in Ireland before he departed for Europe has made more difficult the transition to the mud of Belgium and Holland; a journey very few Irish riders have tried.
Montgomery dismounts and prepares to run with his bike on what was a technical and undulating 2.8km circuit in Holland (Photo: Martine Verfaillie)
Of the 58 starters on Saturday, 44 riders finished and the sole Irishman in the race was among seven athletes listed as finishing one lap down on winner Quinten Hermans (Belgium).
The champion completed the undulating and technical course in a time of 49mins 59secs and had a significant 24 seconds to spare over compatriot Daan Hoeyberghs in the silver medal position.
It was a clean sweep of the medals for the Belgians, with Eli Iserbyt another 15 seconds back in third.
The team really showed its strength in dept by also taking 4th place via Thijs Aerts, who was just eight seconds off Iserbyt.
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The Irish rider pushed hard all the way and it was fantastic to see the Irish jersey in a major cyclocross championship (Photo: Martine Verfaillie)
Montgomery would perhaps have liked to have ducked into the top half of the field, but his performance was a very solid one considering this is his first outing in a championship race against the best U23 field Europe has to offer.
And having only turned 20 years old in June he still has another couple of seasons to race at this level and perhaps start challenging for top 20 and even top 10 riders in major races.
That rate of progress will obviously depend on his continued exposure to this kind of racing; a factor that could see the hugely strong off road man become much more competitive very quickly.
We'll have more from Montgomery shortly.
European Cyclocross Championships
Huijbergen, Holland
Sat, Nov 7th: U23 Men's Race
1 Quinten Hermans (Belgium) 0:49:59
2 Daan Hoeyberghs (Belgium) 0:00:24
3 Eli Iserbyt (Belgium) 0:00:39
4 Thijs Aerts (Belgium) 0:00:47
5 Martijn Budding (Netherlands) 0:00:53
6 Adam Toupalik (Czech Republic) 0:01:03
7 Clement Russo (France) 0:01:18
8 Jonas Degroote (Belgium) 0:01:36
9 Gioele Bertolini (Italy)
10 Lucas Dubau (France) 0:01:46
11 Joshua Dubau (France) 0:02:08
12 Johan Jacobs (Switzerland) 0:02:10
13 Elias Van Hecke (Belgium) 0:02:15
14 Gosse Van Der Meer (Netherlands) 0:02:22
15 Sieben Wouters (Netherlands) 0:02:29
16 Nicolas Cleppe (Belgium)
17 Jelle Schuermans (Belgium) 0:02:35
18 Lukas Meiler (Germany) 0:02:37
19 Felix Drumm (Germany) 0:02:50
20 Maik Van Der Heijden (Netherlands) 0:03:03
21 Braam Merlier (Belgium) 0:03:12
22 Kevin Suarez Fernadez (Spain) 0:03:28
23 Yannick Peeters (Belgium) 0:03:36
24 Yannick Gruner (Germany) 0:03:38
25 Richard Jansen (Netherlands) 0:03:44
26 Berne Vankeirsbilck (Belgium) 0:03:54
27 Timon Ruegg (Switzerland) 0:04:05
28 Simon Vozar (Slovakia) 0:05:14
29 Adrian Sirek (Czech Republic) 0:05:59
30 Matej Ulik (Slovakia) 0:06:07
33 David Montgomery (Ireland) @1 lap
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