A young Stephen Roche on the cover of Cycling Weekly as a fresh-faced pro. He won Ireland's biggest races while working full time as an amateur. In 1981 when he turned pro he was able to increase his training and recovery time. And aged just 20 years win Paris-Nice, the Tour of Corsica and l'Etoile des Espoirs French stage race.
The inescapable reality is that young Irish riders hoping to turn pro need results at home before they try to make their way in Europe, writes Paddy Doran of Peak Endurance Coaching.
But for those who don't make it all the way; a period racing abroad can still be a major learning experience that can broaden the horizons of young hopefuls.
Young cyclists are often caught up in the dream of becoming a professional rider; an aspiration their parents often buy into and even push.
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The dream part is easy but what’s the reality? How do cyclists make the transition from amateur to professional?
Before we look at making the transition, lets define what’s meant by professionalism.
From the Oxford dictionary: “Engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as an amateur.”
So being a pro means you get paid to race your bike.
What’s the key to becoming a pro?
To help answer the question about transitioning from the amateur to pro ranks, we should look at a great story about legendary cycling manager Jean De Gribaldi.
He took a private plane here in the 1970s and travelled the highways and byways of Ireland to find Sean Kelly and sign him as a professional rider.
So why did De Gribaldi make that big effort to seek out Kelly? The answer is simple enough; Kelly won lots of races the previous season in Europe including the amateur Tour of Lombardy.
Stephen Roche was the same; enjoying success in the major Paris amateur classics and winning the amateur Paris Roubaix the year he was offered a pro contract.
Most recently, Sam Bennett made the pro ranks after a very successful Tour of Britain two years ago, when he got results beating some of the top pro sprinters.
The rest of the current top pro Irish riders also got results in big races as amateurs.
A very good starting point towards a pro career is international selection at youth, junior and U23 level (Photo: Gary McIlroy)
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The harsh reality
So the reality is that if a rider is going to be employed as a professional cyclist, he or she will have to stand out from the rest by consistently getting results in the best races.
If getting good results in Ireland while still following studies or work, young riders can aim for inclusion in Cycling Ireland’s youth, junior and U23 squads.
There will be opportunities to race against world class competition in big international events.
This will be where team managers and coaches identify and recruit emerging riders for their teams.
If you don’t make the Irish squads you can still make a breakthrough to the pro ranks.
By racing in Belgium or France for periods of time you will get opportunities to show yourself to team managers and to make the incremental steps through European racing and towards big professional squads.
If you are getting the results, teams will want you. It’s that simple.
So if you’re good enough and smart enough; you could progress through European racing to gain selection onto teams that feed the larger ProContinental and WorldTour squads with young new riders.
Results; how busy is your CV?
The bottom line at this level is results. Imagine meeting a team manager and he asks you for your results. What will you have to show him?
If you are not getting results when racing abroad don’t expect people from another country to care about you because generally speaking they won’t.
And if you can’t get consistent results in good Irish races there’s not much chance of making those steps towards becoming a professional.
There’s not much point in travelling abroad with a view to becoming a professional unless you’ve collected results on the domestic scene first.
However, apart from trying to become a pro rider; some periods of racing in other countries can still be a worthwhile experience for any rider in broadening their horizons and building life experience and exposure to other cultures.
