After my blog ran inactive beginning of 2013, I continued my good run of form. Allthough I didn't win anything in the spring classics I got a few Top 10's from time to time. In my big season goal, the An Post Ras, I took two stage wins, leading Sam Bennett out to another two. Sean Downey won the hilly stage, whilst county riders took the two others. After that, my season progressed well enough, I got another win in September in the Omloop van het Houtland Lichtervelde, whilst I also podiumed Binche - Tournai - Binche.
The season after, with Sam Bennett moved on to the newly founded RTÉ Cycling Project (more on that later), I was the absolute leader for the sprints, and to be honest, for anything else aswell. The season started well, with a stage win in Besseges and two Top 10s at the opening weekend, followed by a stage win at the Driedagse West-Vlaanderen. I kept my good run of form going, eventually culminating in five (!) stage wins in the An Post Ras, and of course all jerseys too. I also went on to win the Irish U23 champs. From then on, everything was focused on my big goal race, the U23 worlds. Since I'd developed from a sprinter in to more of a classics rider, I had high hopes. I showed my form well, taking back to back wins in the Pantani memorial and the Prato GP in Italy. Ryan Mullen, also of RTÉ, had got us off to a good start with 2nd in the ITT, and he'd be there to support me for the RR. It looked like an attack from Bystrom would succeed, but Ryan pulled him back just on time for me to win the sprint ahead of Caleb Ewan, also of RTÉ. That was my last race for that season.
As my two year contract ran out, it became clear I had outgrown the division. Of course An Post offered me a contract extension, though they knew themselves I simply couldn't accept. I had offers from several WT teams, including a Deja-Vu experience with Sky, but in the end I simply had to accept the offer to join Irish PCT Outfit RTÉ Cycling Project. Here I will link up with Sam Bennett, who will be team leader for another year, and Phil Deignan, who wants to get one good last year out of his career.
My role within the team is twofold. On one hand, I'll lead out Sam whenever the profile suits this, on the other hand, I get to go for myself whenever the race is real hard, or Sam isn't there. The role of second sprinter is undecided as of yet, with Andy Fenn, Caleb Ewan (in his last year with the team) and myself all looking fairly similar from that PoV. Other than that, the NC should be interesting, with me doing the real thing for the first time. I'll also try to qualify for the worlds, which is a mayor goal for us, given that it's a flat race around the polar circle in Kirkenes. With a bit of luck, I can lead out Sam Bennett to rainbow glory.
2013:
o Tour of Oman, Stage 2
o An Post Ras, Stage 3
o An Post Ras, Stage 7
o Omloop van het Houtland Lichtervelde
2014:
o Etoile de Besseges, Stage 2
o Driedagse West-Vlaanderen, Stage 2
o An Post Ras, Stage 1
o An Post Ras, Stage 2
o An Post Ras, Stage 4
o An Post Ras, Stage 6
o An Post Ras, Stage 7
o An Post Ras, Yellow Jersey
o Irish U23 Championships
o Memorial Pantani
o GP Prato
o World U23 Championships
You've covered the passage of time fairly well. Although i got kind of confused with the teams. RTE was CT but is now PCT? Because you make the first team and second team sound like two different entities rather than a promotion
@Croatia Thanks mate, and I do hope so. Hopefully it can live up to the original
@TMM A) This isn't a 2015 DB. I used a 2014 DB and simmed through until 1/1/15, so Sam Bennett developed to a 78/79 sprinter, with 2 stars left in each. I'm not saying he's a top favourite, but with the right preparation, he'll be in with a shout.
B) Yes, RTÉ is and was always, since being founded in 2014, a PCT team. An Post is still around, but is now called smth like An Post - RTÉ Youth. More on the team tomorrow.
@Hoyle Jack is Back was actually a title I considered, but then this one seemed a more fitting continuation (Orginal: Filling Big Footsteps, now he's walking his own ways). And thanks
@Sutty Hopefully he can stay alive for longer this time
Sam is our absolute leader, gunning for the sprints. Last year, the team didn't get any WT wildcards at all. This year, Sam has an eye on Milano - San Remo, with a realistic chance of winning it. His other big, big goal will be the world championships at Kirkenes in Norway, where I will hope to assist him.
Phil Deignan
He knows himself he doesn't have many more years left at the top, so he's trying to make the most of it while he can. He will be our main man when the roads ride, besides youngster Kelly (not related to Sean ). Should we get invited to races like Tirreno - Adriatico, he will lead our (modest) GC ambitions. He also has an eye on .HC races like the Tour of Utah.
Jack O'Connor
Yes, it's me! I'm one of the team leaders! Admittedly, I only lead our weak cobbles squad, but still, I'm happy. I'll be right up there when cobbles are at hand, and I'll also be in the mix for sprints when Sam isn't around. I will do my best to help Sam win the worlds, as ambitious as it might seem with a three man squad.
The Whole Squad
This is the rest of the team. We have a strong second sprinter in Caleb Ewan, three great TTing prospects in Flakemore, Mullen and Gibson, the next Irish TdF winner (well, hopefully) in Kelly as well as last years Junior World Champion Evan Muir.
Spoiler
Note that the pic is from mid-february, so some stats evolved.
@Knockout Well, Dan Martin is up for the grabs. If the team can mobilise enough money, I could well see RTÉ in World Tour for 2016. In that case Ewan may or may not stay. Should Martin not be signed however, I'd say we're looking at another year of PCT.
@sgdanny I sure hope so, though he'll often just be leading Sam Bennett out.
@sutty I'm sure it is. In fact, I know it is. As I simmed through 2014, I actually had the issue at some point that we were in danger of promoting.
Possibly the biggest change occurs at WT level, where the Tour of Qatar takes a big step up, filling that empty February slot at WT. On the other hand, the Tour of Beijing takes the step down to .HC level Cookson announced last october.
After that, we have more changes at .HC level. After the doping controversy perpetually surrounding it, the Tour of Turkey is degraded to .1 status by the UCI. Meanwhile, the Danish Post has cut down on its cycling sponsorship, so for a long time, it looked like the Tour of Denmark would cease to exist. Luckily Saxo Bank stepped up, so we will have the Saxo Bank Danmark Rundt in 2015, though only at .1 level.
That opens up the slot for two new .HC races. One of those is a completely new race, the Tour of the Benelux, which takes place in late February, coinciding with the Tour of Oman. The Tour of Utah also gets an upgrade, getting rewarded for the fine action it's delivered over the years.
The last change is the creation of a three race Irish Crits Series, sponsored by RTE and An Post in equal parts. They will consist of a cobbled classic, taking place in Claremorris, Co. Mayo, a hilly classic, featuring on Corks prominent St. Patricks Hill, as well as a flat classic in Dublins Phoenix Park, and take place in the week before the An Post Ras, which is a .1 race since last season. Both National Championships will also be a part of the Series. More details on the points system are to be revealed at a later point.
@Sutty Given the amount of doping going on, it simply had to be done. It also never seems to give me good gameplay, which was another reason. Tour of Utah should give more than enough action to compensate.
My form wasn't great, so I knew my best hope was waiting for a sprint. Given that Paul has been hinting at the possibility of stepping up to WT at the end of the season, everyone was very eager to please the sponsors and get in the break. Eventually it was Ryan Mullen who formed a small two man breakaway with Katushas Yuri Trofimov. Maxim Iglinsky spiced things up with a mid stage attack with 80km to go, and was followed by Germanys attaqueur extraordinaire, Björn Thurau. They managed to link up with the breakaway, but with 40km to go, all four were caught by a group containing most favourites but none of us. All three of our designated cobblers (Me, Sam and Shane Gibson) had a dreadful day, and were two groups behind that. Alas, our day was done, and Ian Bibby was our only rider in group two. Everything went it's way, Degenkolb won, Bibby sprinted to a 34th place, and I finished in 70th, right beside Micky Andrade. Hopefully things will get better.
I needed a good laugh 
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
