Irish starlet Ryan Mullen eyes gold standard at cycling world championship

One of the country’s brightest young talents, Ryan Mullen, has set himself some lofty goals this year with a gold medal in the World Championships in September top of his priority list.

The National road and time trial champion came within half a second of winning gold at the U23 Worlds last year but with a couple of more years in the category, he feels he can improve enough to go one better than the silver he picked up last September.

He also plans to target the U23 Nations Cup series of international road races which start in two weeks while retaining his national title are also big ambitions.

The An Post Chain Reaction rider is now starting his second year with the Belgium-based Continental team and at the team launch yesterday he said: “The U23 Nations Cup are just around the corner and they are a big goal because the better we do as a team, the more points we score, which go towards qualification for the bigger events down the line.

“I got a top 10 in a Nations Cup race last year (6th) but there’s a time trial this year which should play to my strengths, so I want to win that.

“After that I’ll try to retain the road race title and win the elite time trial; that would be special for me and after that, then will be the worlds in September in the US,” he concluded.

The An Post Chain Reaction team operate in the third tier of professional cycling and have done so since they began 10 years ago.

Its a situation they had hoped to change before now but with the sport still dogged by controversy — such as the ongoing doping case with Astana — attracting sponsors isn’t easy, says team manager Sean Kelly.

“Not alone is running the team hard, but getting the sponsors is difficult,” he added. “The team is 10 years in operation and still offers a valuable outlet to up and coming Irish riders. But it’s a constant battle to make ends meet.”

His sidekick in the team, Kurt Bogaerts, however, is adamant the situation will chase in the future.

“I think within five years, I should make that happen,” he said.

“We’re going to need to attract probably an international sponsor; a multinational company with some roots and some interest in Ireland. Knowing the economy is picking up again, that’s definitely good and gives me confidence.”