In the trenches: Jack Wilson racing through the rain on stage 1 of Etoile de Besseges in France back in February. He feels his form is coming along well now and is hopeful of targeting some goals in the weeks ahead (Photo: Sirotti)
By Shane Stokes
Having ridden well in the international U23 series of Nations Cup races last week, particularly the Tour of Flanders, Jack Wilson has said his confidence is on the up and he hopes to perform well in his upcoming events.
The 20-year-old is in his second year with the An Post-Chainreaction team and wants to continue his progress, with a WorldTour contract a long-term aim.
Finishing 22nd in the recent Under 23 Tour of Flanders was an encouraging result, particularly as he believes he would have been closer to the winner if he had had better luck.
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“Flanders was pretty good, it was the first time this year that I actually felt like was able to get up and do something,” he told stickybottle.
“I was just a bit unfortunate on the last lap because there was a crash on the second last climb and I got caught behind it. I had to make a big effort to get back to the front.
“Once I got back to the front group I was caught at the back of it going over the last climb. The front guys just rode away and I was in the second group.
“We were chopping off pretty fast, going pretty well. We went pretty close at the finish, but just not quite,” he said in reference to almost catching the leaders.
He finished just outside the top twenty, eighteen seconds behind winner Dylan Groenewegen (Netherlands) and the others in the seventeen-man lead group.
“I was happy enough with it,” he said.
Next up was La Côte Picarde in France last Wednesday and while he was best placed of the Irish riders there, he was three minutes 37 seconds back in 69th place.
He believes a better result was definitely on the cards, but for a combination of over enthusiasm and poor refuelling.
“I got a bit excited,” he laughs.
“I got involved too much, got a bit carried away. I didn’t fuel myself properly and just hit the wall with twelve kilometres to go. I had nothing left, no energy.
“I think I ended up losing four minutes in something like twelve kilometres. It was quite embarrassing. It was just one of those things.”
Riding against the clock in Ales, France, on stage 5 of Etoile de Besseges in February (Photo: Sirotti)
However the team as a whole had a better result in the third of the Nations Cup races, with Ryan Mullen netting a superb sixth place in the ZLM Tour in Holland last Sunday.
“ZLM went good for the team,” said Wilson.
“When it split for the first time, we were a bit too far back. Me and Conor (Dunne) and Ryan all ended up in the second bunch, and the British team all missed it too.
“We were riding to get back to the front. We got back and got onto the finishing circuits and the group with Mullen got away. It rolled off the front in the tailwind section and they got fifty seconds in the space of four kilometres.
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“That group stayed away. It was good for us because Mullen was in it and he was there to get points. He got us a spot in the worlds, I think. Because of that, ZLM was a success. It was a good week for everyone.”
Wilson’s form is building, and so too his morale. That gives him encouragement for the races in May and beyond.
“I think I’m starting to come around a bit now. At the start of the season, I didn’t really hit the ground running as I wanted to.
“It wasn’t great up until now, but now it is starting to turn around and hopefully I can pick it up from here on in,” he said.
The racing programme seems to be pretty busy for the next couple of weeks. I am riding the Rutland Classic at the weekend, then there is a race in Holland. After that, I am not sure, but we have a couple of stage races coming Azerbaijan, the Olympias Tour and the Rás.
t know what I am riding yet, I will find out closer to the time. But I would love to make my Rás debut this year. ”
Wilson knows the best way to make sure of his place is to clock up strong performances in the upcoming races.
Team manager Kurt Bogaerts will make the final selection closer to the May 18th start of the event, and if Wilson can place highly in one or more races, he’ll almost certainly be there.
If that happens, he has two clear targets on his mind, although he plays down his chances slightly. “I’d love to get the young rider’s jersey,” he said.
“I’d also love to try to pull a stage out of the bag or something, but that is dreaming a bit."
Further ahead, the nationals will be important.
"Last year it went well for me [with his under 23 championship victory – ed]. I got lucky a bit, got the jersey. Hopefully I can pull something out of the bag this year.
“It will be a strange race with all of us guys here [on the team] being under 23. I don’t know what the tactics will be, but I’d say it will be every man for himself.”
Wilson also spoke at length to stickybottle in recent weeks; talking about his 2013 season, his nationals performance plus his strong fourteenth place in the 1.1 Druivenkoers – Overijse race. Those answers plus his thoughts on 2014 can be seen in the video interview below.
Commenting again this week, he said that the overall aim is to continue making progress.
“My target is just to keep learning, try to get up and get results,” he explained.
“At the minute I am taking it day by day as my form hasn’t been too good up until now. But now that my condition is better I will start trying to target something.
“I would love to get a few results and then get to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. They are in August and are a big goal for me. The Games are a pretty big deal…”
Jack Wilson speaks to Shane Stokes
