History was made on Thursday when, in an event she was primarily riding to loosen up for Sunday’s individual pursuit, Caroline Ryan became the first Irish person to land an Elite track worlds medal in more than 100 years. The last was Harry Reynolds, the 1896 one mile amateur champion who took bronze the following season.
Thursday’s bronze medal result was a surprise to many, and probably Ryan included; she knew she was going well, but in only taking up competitive cycling in 2009, she has far less experience than many of her opponents.
Just over halfway through the 100 lap, 25 kilometre points race, she, Jasmin Glaesser of Canada and Hong Kong’s Wong Wan Yiu, bridged up to lone leader Anastasia Chulkova (Russia).
The quartet gained a lap over the other fourteen riders in the race, thus immediately putting themselves into the medal positions. Ryan was also third in two intermediate sprints, and this secured the bronze for her.
“I'm actually more pleased for my coach Brian Nugent, who has lead me every step of the way since I first turned a pedal,” the 32 year old garda [Irish police officer] told VeloNation. “We had a carefully laid-out plan tonight to play to my strengths, and in every lap of the race Brian's instructions to me from the side of the track, were what earned us the medal.
“I actually wasn't sure exactly where I had placed until a few laps after the finish. The tactics were perfect for the race and I'm just so happy to have been able to go out and execute it.”
Four years ago, Ryan was a successful rower who had secured numerous Irish titles, competed in several world championships, but who fell short of securing qualification for Beijing 2008. Her father Willy had been to two Olympics in the same sport but, rather than keep plugging away until London 2012, she decided to try something new instead.
She knuckled down to cycling, decided to act as a tandem pilot for the visually challenged rider Caroline Walsh, and together they took silver in the 2009 paracycling worlds. Encouraged by that, she then switched to the Elite UCI circuit and last year finished ninth in the individual pursuit at the track world championships.
A member of the amateur Garda/Richies/Ethos club, she ha self-financed a lot of her travel, although she does now get some assistance from the Irish Sports Council and sponsors Bus Eireann and Cunga. Coming from a country without an indoor velodrome, the costs are high as she must spend a lot of time abroad to train.
Ryan has worked closely with Nugent since taking up the sport. She’s also received some guidance from Andy Sparks, a former US Olympic coach and husband of Sarah Hammer, and spent time under his supervision in Majorca as part of her buildup to the worlds.
The day before the championships began, he talked about her improvement. “Caroline’s training in Mallorca over the last month has been really faultless. She has worked super hard with our Performance United women’s training group which currently includes Sarah Hammer (USA), Jennie Reed (USA) and Sofia Arreola (Mexico),” he told VeloNation. “The ladies have been working hard for two to three workouts a day and I think the results will illustrate this commitment to hard work they all made. Caroline will be making some massive gains over the 3K pursuit time she rode in London four weeks ago. She is on great form.”
So it proved on Thursday, when she took that points race medal. Ryan is now eager to try for another strong ride at the weekend.
“I'm looking forward to the individual pursuit on Sunday as I'm in the form of my life,” she said. But, further ahead, she’s got other big targets.
“I'm also looking forward to getting back on the road where I'm fully confident that I have a realistic chance of scoring enough UCI Points through a number of UCI time trials and road races that I have been invited to around the world, to place top 100 in the UCI rankings and secure myself a slot for London.”
As things stand, Ireland has three slots secured for the men’s road race. Riders such as Daniel Martin (Garmin Barracuda), Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale), Matt Brammeier (Omega Pharma Quick Step) and Philip Deignan (UnitedHealthcare) will be vying for those places.
Track rider Martyn Irvine is trying to finalise his own qualification, and should seal his place if he finishes up well in the omnium. He’s currently tenth overall after three of the six events, and tends to ride better on day two. Friday will be important in achieving that goal.
Ryan has a day off, and will use the day to loosen up, and also to let the medal experience sink in.
She clearly enjoyed the experience. So too Sparks, who said the reaction of several other riders gave him goosebumps.
“Caroline works hard and it could not happen to a nicer person. She had people from about ten different countries cheering her on, and it was really cool to see how happy it made these other teams to see her do well,” he said. “A pretty unique experience to add to my memories really. It made my day!”
He wasn’t the only one. Plenty of Irish cycling fans also got a big kick out of the result, not least because of the hundred year-plus gap it closed.