Here’s the next instalment of Inside the Ride, featuring a Q&A with one of our riders. They share their journey from a local club to racing at UCI level, offering an inspiring look at their growth, challenges, and successes, and how coaching has helped them take their cycling to the next level.
1. What inspired you to take up your current cycling discipline?
I first started cycling back in my U14 days, I joined my local club Wolverhampton Wheelers. This was merely to get myself out of the house and off the PlayStation! My love for the sport took off from there, and I saw myself getting more and more engrossed in the racing. As I stepped up to the U23 ranks, I made the jump and moved to Belgium. For the next 7 years, I spent my time living and racing out there, working my way up the road racing pyramid until I reached UCI continental level. That's where I find myself now, still loving the racing.
2. What were your main goals when you started working with Holohan Coaching?
Put simply, I wanted to win bike races! I started working with Holohan Coaching in mid-2022 once I had moved back to the UK. I wanted to step up a level again and find myself at the sharp end of big UCI races. I love riding my bike, but the competitive nature of racing and seeing myself improve as a rider is what I really love. Holohan Coaching fully understood this, and with their help, I have not only improved my power outputs but achieved my best-ever results at UCI level in 2024!
3. How has the coaching approach improved your training?
Holohan Coaching is highly meticulous and analytical in everything they do. They explain everything about the coaching plan they lay down for me and why I am doing a specific training phase. It's this approach that has allowed me to have full confidence in Holohan Coaching as a team. I no longer worry about whether I’m doing enough or too much. I know if I follow the plan, I’ll be in my best possible shape come race day.
4. Can you share an example of a specific training technique or workout which has helped you?
I think Holohan Coaching’s overall approach to my training and their detailed planning of my season has helped me the most. Creating the annual training plan and tailoring my season to my specific race goals has been key to my success.
5. What are your non-negotiables with your coach?
Holohan Coaching understands that cycling isn’t all about the numbers and data. The athlete they are coaching is a person first and foremost. If you aren’t happy off the bike, you’re not going to perform on the bike. Holohan Coaching helps me a lot mentally by communicating and offering their thoughts on particular matters. Their previous racing experience and knowledge have helped me relax in certain situations.
6. What has been your biggest challenge, and how did the coaching help?
Confidence is perhaps the thing I struggle with the most. Having that self-belief that I can win races is something that has been hard to come by in the past. However, through both the training plan and Holohan Coaching’s advice, I’ve been able to grow in confidence and now head into races, knowing I’ve done everything in my control to be the best I can be on race day.
7. Was there a breakthrough moment when you realised the coaching was making a real difference?
Since working with Holohan Coaching, I’ve seen race-specific power data increase, and through their training reviews and analytics, I’ve seen this first-hand. However, after following the process for a couple of seasons, 2024 was my breakthrough year in terms of results. A combination of being at my best physically and mentally has led to my best year in terms of results. This is down to having the confidence to follow the training plan set by Holohan Coaching day in and day out, year-round!
8. Results and Achievements
As I said, 2024 was my best season yet on a bike. In the UK, I won the East Midlands RR Championships, came 2nd in the Lincoln GP, and was really pleased with my efforts in the UK National RR Championships, where I placed 15th amongst a lot of the WT riders. I raced worldwide in 2024, coming 6th overall in the 5-day Tour de Beauce in Canada, 8th at the Cupa Max Ausnit (a one-day UCI race in Romania), and 11th in Clasica Terres de L'Ebre (a one-day UCI race in Spain which finished up an hour-long mountain!).
9. How has cycling affected other areas of your life?
Jumping on the bike and heading out for a ride feels like a great sense of freedom for me. I love cycling and exploring new areas to ride. Feeling fit and healthy is a key part of my life and helps with my mental well-being.
10. What is your favourite part of the training programme?
The programme itself is exactly what I like the most. Having that plan in place and following it, ticking off sessions one by one, leaves me with a great sense of achieving something each day.
11. What keeps you motivated?
The desire to race against the world’s best and compete in some of the biggest races across the world. Having battled in the continental ranks for a number of seasons, the chance to race in a professional team and environment would be massive.
12. What’s next?
2025 will see me racing for Team Skyline again. A mixture of old and new races is on the schedule. Some of the biggest goals in 2025 will lie in the US and Canada at races such as the Tour of the Gila and Tour de Beauce.
13. What advice would you give to someone who is considering coaching?
I would strongly recommend it. Having a good coach can help you in a number of ways, through physical training and having someone there to talk to when needed. For me, it’s also the accountability factor. A good coach will put a lot of time and effort into planning your training. That alone is enough for me to get myself out the door, as I don’t want to feel like I’m wasting their time!
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