FOR MOST RIDERS approaching Sunday’s Rás Tailteann, it will be the highlight of their year but for Marc Potts, it’s the just the beginning of a long journey.
The 26-year-old cyclist made history in the Commonwealth Games this year when he became the first-ever rider to compete in all three disciplines of track, mountain biking and road cycling; it’s an impressive feat.
He placed 13th for Ireland in the Tracking Cycling World Championships just a month earlier.
But he has his sights on something a lot bigger, with Sunday the beginning of a journey of over two years of cycling with one destination: Tokyo 2020.
“It’s all about Tokyo really,” he says this week at the Rás launch on Wednesday. “The likes of the Rás, it sort of builds me up to the European (Championships) which is the first qualification event for the Olympics.
“That’s at the start of August so we’re just under three months out from there, this is just sort of building me up for then.”
After a long training camp in preparation for the Commonwealth Games, the Tyrone native took a two-week break to replenish and rejuvenate and feels that although he can compete for honours in the Rás, he can only get better.
“I’m not in peak condition now but the idea is that I’ll be in my peak condition by August. It’s kind of annoying in races when you know you’re not in top shape, it is frustrating but you have to look at the bigger picture sometimes.
“It’s not to say that you can’t do well in the likes of the Rás but it’s frustrating, it’s like going somewhere not really prepared for what you could be. Last year I would’ve came into the Rás a bit more prepared whereas this year I’m not as prepared but I feel like I could do something in it,” he explained.
Potts’ intentions for the race are clear, training, given he’s only been back on the saddle less than a month. The race may well prove to be excellent preparation, with 12 international teams and 19 domestic teams forming a strong and competitive field.
“The Rás is more of a block for me to try and take it up another level, I’ve just come off a break after the Commonwealth Games, two weeks off and I’ve only been back on the bike two weeks so I’m not going to be in top shape at the start of the Rás but I’m hoping to ride into it after a few days.
“It just happens that at the start of the three-month block, after three weeks I’d be starting the Rás.”
He will wear number one in the race as he represents Team Ireland and has expressed his pride at representing his country and his plans to bring success to his team in a discipline of cycling that isn’t even his primary focus.
He pinpointed team-mate Robert Jon McCarthy as an excellent prospect for Team Ireland.
“We’ve got a previous Rás stage winner, he’s a fast finisher, Robert McCarthy,” he says. “I think if it’s a bunch sprint I’ll probably be sitting on front of him leading him out so I think we’ve got stage wins in us for sure.
“There’s a lot of talent there. There’s a few young guys on the team as well so it will probably be more of an experience for them but we’ve got the pull to win stages for sure. Rob will do it in bunch sprints and he’s won it before.
“As long as he has a good lead-out train, there’s absolutely no reason why he can’t do it. He also got fifth in the Tour of Yorkshire there in one of the sprint stages so he’s obviously quick enough,” he stressed.
Fellow cyclist and friend Mark Dowling, representing Team Leinster in the race, has a family history in Irish sport. Potts noted the presence of a strong support network, like Dowling’s and a desire to learn and improve as a crucial aspect if he is to fulfil his Tokyo ambitions.
“I spent a lot of time with Mark Dowling, I lived with him in Majorca during the winter so he’s always in contact with his family and they pass on a lot of advice to stop us from falling in any of the pitfalls that they might have fallen into along the way.
“It’s all just learning really, it helps to have a nice support network around you. You’re constantly learning stuff,” Potts said.
The Commonwealth games surprised him. In his first major championship, travelling to Australia to compete was a real experience for a man from Beragh, a small village eight miles outside of Omagh. Marc, however claimed to have been in the best shape of his career.
He placed 12th in the track competition before a 17th place finish before concluding the games with a 28th placing in the road race, no other athlete has ever done it in the games and not at all bad for a man who’s almost sole focus is track racing.
“The build up to the Commonwealth Games, it’s not as big as the Olympics, it’s not considered as big as the Olympics they say.
“All the emotions. You go there, travelling out there, there’s a lot of pressure, dealing with the pressure. Just being in the environment, the athletes village and all these different sports.
“I was in the best shape I’ve ever been in for the Commonwealth Games which is a good sign. It’s a good sign that my coach knows me well and I can work with a good relationship with him to get me there in good shape. Fresh and fit because sometimes people can kind of overdo it and they go there and they’re going worse because they tried too hard.
“I think (that) knowing what to do in the weeks leading up to a major championship like that, to make sure that when I go into for example, the World Championships for hopefully Tokyo, we follow the same protocol leading up to it and I get there not burnt out and in the best shape I can be.”
With his first major championship under his belt, Potts has an opportunity to take a lot of positives from the games and help himself mature as a rider in his bid to qualify for the Olympics and although there are lessons to learn, he’s certainly on the right track.
“I wouldn’t say happy (with my performance), no. I went there with the intention of trying to get a medal in the track but it was incredibly hard. The level was crazy, a different dynamic.
“The depth of it, the way they rode as well. They were sort of riding for each-other.
“I had a great time and it’s only just developing me further. Going to the Commonwealth Games, I didn’t realise how big it was until I got there to be honest. Everyone who went actually said the same thing like ‘I had no idea how big this was going to be’ and I’m glad it had that feeling going into it and coming away from it.
“So when I go to the Olympics, I’m gonna go ‘I know what it’s gonna be like, how it runs, I know how things go and it’s just going through the emotions of it all and especially doing all of the events too, I had three chances to go into massive major events,” he said.
He hopes to compete in the madison, a relay race and omnium, a multiple race event in Tokyo, something he is keenly positioned to focus on with the 26-year-old supported by Irish Sports Council in his bid to get a place on that flight to Japan.
“It’ll be the track that I’ll be focusing on, it’s the madison and the omnium, the two events in Tokyo so there’s currently three of us in the high performance thing and two of us will be going so I’ll be competing.
“We’re all friends. You say now, at the minute I’ll say as long as the best two guys go (to the Olympics) but I’m sure if I’m not picked then I’ll be saying ‘No I’m better!’. It’s just one of those things really, it’s good to have guys pushing each other on, if it was just two guys they’d be lying back,” he stressed.
The European Championships is the Irishman’s first chance to stake a claim at achieving his dream and after an already successful 2018, Marc begins a final assault at something he’s been building to his entire career.
When the 155 riders line up to start the opening stage in Drogheda on Sunday morning, Marc Potts will start a journey of his own and it ends in Tokyo.
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