Poetry in Motion: Colm Cassidy at Rochfortbridge, Co Westmeath, last night powering his way to a magnificent silver medal in the National Time Trial Championships, beaten only by testing legend Michael Hutchinson (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
A silver medallist in last night’s National Time Trial Championships, Dubliner Colm Cassidy said he would have jumped at the result had it been on offer before the event.
But having missed out on becoming national champion by just four seconds, his morning back in work today has been spent wondering where that time had gone.
“I’m happy enough; I think the field was pretty stacked this year but I hoped I would be there or thereabouts but it is always hard to say,” the UCD CC man told stickybottle.
Asked if he was surprised to get so close to winning – just four seconds off champion Michael Hutchinson - he said: “I suppose I was, yeah; four seconds. You start analysing; you wonder where those four seconds went. But, yes, I was surprised to get so close to Hutch. I was 1:28 off him last year when it was slightly longer.
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“Martyn Irvine always does a good ride, obviously. Then with guys like Matt Brammeier; you wouldn’t know how much focus he would put on the time trial at a championships.”
Having run out bronze medallist last year behind Hutchinson and David McCann (Synergy Baku) after returning front a stint in Canada, Cassidy said in recent weeks he specifically prepared for last night’s title race.
Cassidy finishing a very strong 8th in last year's road race at National Championships (Photo: www.blackumbrella.ie)
“I focussed a bit more on it this year. I really knuckled down in the last six weeks or so; a combination of intervals and getting out on the TT bike. I took time to adjust to the position on the bike.
“And after a while once you start noticing the numbers coming around, I tend to focus a bit more on intervals then. But for me, it’s about getting used to the position.”
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One of the bigger riders in the field, Cassidy said the climb at the end of last night’s 37km contest in Westmeath was tough.
“That definitely stung me a bit,” was his honest appraisal.
“You’re really slowing down on it but probably everyone is slowing down there as well. I think I saw something on Twitter saying I went through the first kilometre the slowest of the top five.
“My best stretch of the race was probably the tailwind section between Kinnegad and Tyrrellspass; that’s where I felt best. And the end of it was a case of grit the teeth and hold on for dear life.”
At 28-years-old now, Cassidy is from Clontarf, north Dublin, and combines his racing with working as a mechanic in Base2Race and also working in the Westwood Gym close to his home.
He was 8th in the road race last year after his bronze in the time trial and with UCD having some very strong riders; they are more than capable of surprising some of the professionals home for Sunday’s show down.
Cassidy said he feels in good form and generally goes well at this time of year. But he insisted the road race would be impossible to read in advance.
“It’s a different kettle of fish really, isn’t it? You’d like to say you’ll go well. But anything can happen. I haven’t seen the course; I hear the hill is tough enough.”
With riders like Eoin Morton, Sean McKenna, Cassidy himself and others having risen to the top of the domestic scene in recent seasons, Cassidy says UCD’s coming away from the road race with something is not impossible.
He suggested his may be a team role in that regard.
“McKenna is obviously going well. If we can do something for him, if he got an U23 jersey out of it, that would be a win for all of us.
“Then we have Morton as well; he’s in great shape too. And Ian (Richardson, 5th in last night’s test) is very strong. It will be hard and you can’t predict it but let’s see what happens.”
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