Towards the end of last season, Owain Doull was on the verge of a significant step in the course of his fledgling career. The Welshman, then a 21-year-old on the British Cycling Olympic Academy Programme and riding for An Post-ChainReaction, had a deal all but sewn up with Europcar – a WorldTour team at the time.
However, he backed out at the last minute and has instead spent 2015 with Team Wiggins, the Continental-level squad set up to help Great Britain team pursuiters on the track to the Rio Olympics next year.
For someone who has shown talent both on the tarmac and the boards, it must have been a tough decision to make, but at the halfway stage in the year Doull isn’t looking back, and will soon be going full gas for Rio.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I think I did [make the right decision]. I’m quite glad I did what I did, going to Team Wiggins, it’s a really good team, supported me really well and I’ve had a really good year so far from the off,” he told Cyclingnews during the British Road Championships weekend in Lincolnshire, where he finished second in the under-23 time trial.
“For the rest of this year, in the summer I’ll do predominately more road, and towards the end of the year the Tour of Britain and the U23 Worlds, if I’m selected. After that it switches full time to the track and anything I do up to Rio then will be fully geared towards the team pursuit. The road will be just a training tool, I guess.”
The 22-year-old is still getting to grips with the best way to make the most of his considerable potential. Rio might be the most immediate goal but longer term he sees his future on the road and describes the step up that the Europcar deal represented as “still a big ambition”. He even hopes the opportunity might present itself as early as next year.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1JcxlOa
No comments:
Post a Comment