SPECIALS r&m
#01
By Diego Martin
RYAN
MULLEN PONFERRADA 2014 - IG-SIGMA SPORT - AN POST CHAIN REACTION - CANNONDALE-DRAPAC - DOHA 2016 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
It is so simple, that’s why I love it. I get no excuses. There is no bullshit whatsoever.
It is just you and a timer. And I’ve always loved that.
#Mullenator Time trialing is just if you are good enough on that day then you are gonna win.
#DeadlyClass
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onferrada, under-23 men’s individual time trial UCI WRC podium. The picture of Ryan in the podium’s second spot smiling and congratulating Australian Campbell Flakemore contrasted with how the competition unfolded only a few minutes before. Ryan Mullen had set the best time in the 36.15-kilometre slippery time trial course and was waiting in the hotseat. Nobody seem able to beat him as he remained with the fastest time at the two intermediate checkpoints until Campbell Flakemore reached the finish line pipping Mullen’s time after a surprising recovery. Immediately after Flakemore had crossed the line, Mullen’s father and his friend, who were following the competition on-site at the fan area, kneeled and started to shed tears. The bitter and rueful look on their faces quickly turned into a pride and excitement feeling as they started to realise the milestone Ryan Mullen had just reached.
That’s the only thing that pisses me off. Because I know if that Russian rider wasn’t there he wouldn’t have beat me. He had like 100 meters of slipstream before he passed him. Only 0.48 seconds, one of the narrowest margins in this specific cycling event, prevented Mullen from becoming under 23 ITT World champion but not from claiming the first UCI WRC cycling medal of the century for Ireland. “The only thing in my mind that sticks from that day is when I was in the hot seat. I saw Campbell Flakemore coming towards the line in the draft of the Russian rider, he caught him in the last hundred meters. That’s the only thing that
pisses me off. Because I know if that Russian rider wasn’t there he wouldn’t have beat me. He had like 100 meters of slipstream before he passed him.” said the Cannondale-Drapac rider. A few weeks before Ponferrada Worlds Ryan Mullen had broke the news after scoring a superb seventh place in the Tour of Britain time trial. It was a major performance for a second year under-23 rider, who on that day finished only 20 seconds behind Bradley Wiggins, who later claimed the elite rainbow jersey in Ponferrada. An outstanding performance that had set high expectations, enthusiasm and hope in the 27-people team (riders and staff) that Cycling Ireland had moved to Ponferrada. On the days before the event Neil Martin, in charge of the Irish team as Cycling Ireland DS, would have signed upfront that silver medal, despite the acknowledging that Ireland’s medal expectations lied in the 20-year old rider. By the end of the Worlds Martin admitted he never had imagined that a silver medal could taste so bitter despite the great achievement for Ireland it was. But for Ryan that previous performance at Tour of Britain didn’t mean an extra pressure nor justify his performance in Ponferrada. “Honestly I never looked it that way. My dad told me once: ‘You are only as good as your last race’. People quickly forget. If you have a really bad race one day, they forget the really good race you did two days before. I never used another race to justify myself getting another performance. On a day you have it or you don’t” After his medal-winning performance in Ponferrada everyone wondered where will Mullen head for 2015, which team will manage to sign such a promising talent. Some of them asked him if he was going to make the move to the World Tour. Mullen remained quiet admitting he was continuing in 2015 with An Post 3
Chain Reaction. Ponferrada was the cover letter of one of the most promising talents of the 1994 generation and potential time trial World Champion in the next years. But does the time trialist label fall short to describe Mullen’s capabilities? “I consider myself more of a time trialist than anything else. The way I’ve grown up doing it, it’s where all my best are sort of. But in the future I’d like to see myself as a
“It is so simple, that’s why I love it. I get no excuses. There is no bullshit whatsoever. As if someone wasn’t having a good day or if someone had a mechanical, had the wrong tire pressure or whatever… It is just you and a timer. And I’ve always loved that.” The young Cannondale-Drapac cyclist used to balance both racing on the road and track, with successful results at both cycling disciplines. However he had to prioritise road cycling. “I used to be a
I consider myself more of a time trialist than anything else. But in the future I’d like to see myself as a good classics rider and someone who can challenge for the GC in the week long races. good classics rider and someone who can challenge for the GC in the week long races that aren’t too hilly and generally that have a time trial.” stated Mullen. And it’s been in this cycling event where Mullen has reached his greatest sport achievement to date. “The World Championships last year, when I was fifth. I had a really shit season before with illness and stuff. Then I just came healthy at the right time and of course in a good way and managed to delivered a really good
track rider too. But it is not possible to balance road and track at the same time.” His background on the track and his outstanding hour-long time trial capabilities set him as a potential UCI Hour Record contender. Despite not having plan it yet, Mullen embraces the idea: “It’s something I’d like definitely. I haven’t discussed it with anybody. And there is no plans or anything yet but it is an idea that I would love to do at some time in my career, at 100%.”
It is so simple, that’s why I love it. I get no excuses. There is no bullshit whatsoever. As if someone wasn’t having a good day or... ride on the day. “ An event that really suits the way Ryan Mullen conceives cycling and a competition he feels passionate about, like at any other competition. “A time trial is a time trial. It’s not like you got some guy that is going to fall it off and he’s going to ruin your race. Time trialing is just if you are good enough on that day then you are gonna win.”
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But how did his cycling career started? For Ryan Mullen it all started as an 11-yearsold kid. “I just wanted to be a professional cyclist, that was it. So I was going to do everything I could to be one. So when I realised I was going to be a professional, is when I wanted to be a professional. And I was like 11 years old.” the 23-year old Irish rider said.
IG Sigma Sport
ITT U23 Nationals
An Post Chain Reaction
ITT Nationals
7 th ITT U23
Nationals Road Race
Chronos des Nations U23 Team Switch
Career Start
2013
ITT U23
2014
7 th ITT Tour of Britain
8th
Cannondale Garmin
ITT Nationals
2015
ITT Nationals
Team Switch
2016
Cannondale Drapac
TTT Czech Cycling Tour
4th
11th ITT U23
3rd
Stagiaire
5 th ITT
European Games ITT
Chronos des Nations
An Post Ràs
2017 ITT Nationals Road Race ITT Nationals
Career start: IG - Sigma Sport In 2013 Ryan Mullen he made his dream come true turning professional with British registered Team IG - Sigma Sport. “When I signed I said ‘I’m a professional cyclist, I made it.’ Honestly at the time I believed that was as far as my career was gonna go. If someone would have told me then what I was going to achieve I would have been astonished about the guys I am now riding with.” “I was riding in the UK at a good level but at that point in time I was really naive. I
Honestly at the time I believed that was as far as my career was gonna go. 5
didn’t understand cycling much of the time. When I joined them I though that was it. Those guys I looked up to in the team and I said: ‘I want to be as good as these guys one day’. And then by the end of that season I was beating them. Suddenly I turned into one of the strongest riders of the team and then I got a contract on with An Post.” In his first professional season Mullen had already scored some strong results against the clock as under-23, finishing seventh at the Worlds, and winning Irish Nationals and Chrono des Nations. That performances didn’t go unnoticed for Flanders-based Irish-registered continental team An Post - Chain Reaction, who offered Mullen an opportunity to continue extending his capabilities with a broader European programme. “That was bigger than I had imagined. At the time it was my dream team. I just wanted to go to an Irish team in Belgium and race in Belgium in the cool races.” said Mullen.
An Post - Chain Reaction 2014: Career breakthrough 2014 was the turning point in his already promising career. Besides participating at some of the best development races such as Ronde van Vlaanderen, Mullen kept his progression against the clock and delivered an outstanding performance at the National championships, where he was able to claim overall titles at both the time trial and the road race events. By the end of the season and mainly due to his great results at Tour of Britain and his silver medal at the Worlds, Mullen had started to attract some media and team attention as one of the names of the future. “I just talked to Cannondale. At the time they were Garmin-Sharp and they were my dream team. They were the team I wanted to go to. So when they said ‘how about 2016 and 2017 and stagiaire at the end of 2015’. I was like… yeah, cool. Sounds good. So at the end of 2014 I had 6
I was really naive. I didn’t understand cycling much of the time. already pretty much agreed on my contract for 2016.”
2015: Worst year After such a strong season 2015 ought to be his reinforcement season. But for Ryan Mullen it wasn’t an easy season despite he didn’t make any major change and remained part of the same setup as in the previous year. “I didn’t change anything. In fact that year was my worst year I’ve ever had on a bike. I had so many illnesses, so many injuries. I had no routine and no momentum. I was just going from race to race, resting, making sure I didn’t get injured or sick again. I couldn’t train, I couldn’t have a training programme because I couldn’t do it. I had so many problems…” But even in his worst year, Mullen was able to turn the tables on his season and scored some solid results showing once again his promising potential. At An Post Ràs (the UCI-sanctioned Irish stage race held in May) he managed to finished on the podium. A result it came partly as a surprise for Mullen. “I just did the race. I guess I had a good race programme befo-
re that race, I was pretty fit. But I had no base in my legs whatsoever. I was just racing on fitness rather on strength.” “Even at the same time I had a chest infection in the An Post Ras. I had a really bad caught in my chest. Whenever I went very hard I couldn’t breathe and I couldn’t talk, I had sore through all the entire week.” And just after finishing third in Ireland, Mullen managed to deliver some strong performances during June, reediting his National time trial tittle. “The best result I had that year was in Baku, in the European Games. I was eight at the time trial. It was the first time I was doing a long time trial of more than one hour. So being on the top-10 was a great result for me.”
I just did the race. But I had no base in my legs whatsoever. I was just racing on fitness rather on strength. After a tough season and in spite of getting some good results, Mullen was again selected to represent Ireland in Richmond at the under-23 time trial of the Road World Championships. Despite he followed the same programme as in the previous successful year (racing previously the Tour of Britain) Mullen wasn’t able to reedit her 2014 medal performance. “In Richmond, it just started to rain when I started. I don’t believe I would have won that day but I think I should have been third. And I think Lennard Kämna should have won. Because there were seven or ten guys that all went off in the final way of the riders and for us the whole course was completely wet.” “On the first corner both my tires slid. I lost all my confidence. After one lap I was 20 seconds down, but there was also about 12 corners in one lap. So I lost a few seconds in every corner because I couldn’t take it that fast. Lets say in total there were 22 corners, if I lost 2 seconds
on every corner that’s 44 seconds and I lost the race by 49 seconds.”
Cannondale-Drapac
Things happen or change quickly in cycling as in 2016 and after being stagiaire for Cannondale-Garmin at the end 2015, Mullen made his jump to the World Tour. The then 21-year-old Irish rider joined Cannondale (later in the season sponsored as Cannondale-Drapac) but the setup looked somehow different to his ideal and beloved team he had talked to at the end of 2014. “At the time I signed it was Garmin-Sharp. I just though that team, at that point in time, was the coolest team out there. They were like a rockstar team. Then I went to Cannondale. During the off-season that year it changed slightly. It didn’t make it any better or worse, but it wasn’t Garmin-Sharp. It wasn’t the team that I wanted to sign for. It is incorrect to say it, but I felt in love with the Garmin-Sharp team and then it changed to Cannondale. I wasn’t disappointed but it wasn’t the same feeling anymore.” In his jump to the World Tour level Mullen had to do sacrifices. He had quit track cycling to focus exclusively on the road. However, things didn’t start well for the Irish rider as he struggled with health problems during the first months at the 7
highest level. “I had a problem with my blood. I had an iron deficiency and I was anaemic. I had a conversation with one of my directors last year when I wasn’t feeling good. His response was: ‘It is normal to have a tough season in your first year.’ And I though who says I have to have a tough year in my first year as a World Tour professional. It is not a rule, it’s not a written rule. I refused to accept the fact that my first year as a professional in the sport that I loved had to be shit. So I said this is not gonna happen, I am gonna do something about this.” But the yet unknown health problems persisted and for the first time in a while he wasn’t able to claim any tittle at the National championships. “With the Nationals, nobody knows this. I did Ster ZLM Toer, that finished four days before the TT. I crashed the Friday before and the TT was on Thursday. I tore open my hip. I had 11 stitches in my hip, and it got infected. I was pretty fucked up. I shouldn’t have ridden the Nationals, but I really wanted to do them.” In the meantime and despite all these issues Mullen in his first World Tour season had raced Paris-Roubaix, one of the most prestigious races and definitely one of top items in many riders bucket list. “It was at the time I started to have some problems with my blood stuff and my iron levels. I struggled throughout a little bit and didn’t even really help my teammates, I just finished it. I wish I could say that I help the team a little bit but I didn’t do much. It was cool to ride it but I just felt it was just finished.” The season was coming to an end and Mullen persisted refusing the idea that his first World Tour had to end up that way. As if we were experiencing a déjà vu, Ryan Mullen clad in the Irish team skinsuit was waiting at the hotseat in Doha. At that point in time we wondered if he was going to be able to hold it until the 8
last contender would cross the finish line as he nearly managed two years before in Ponferrada. He wasn’t. But Mullen finished in a superb fifth position in his first elite appearance. “It was a really good course for me. I knew I was capable of doing something, but I did not expect to be top-5. I though maybe could be top-20. top-15 good and top-10
I felt in love with the Garmin-Sharp team and then it changed to Cannondale. I wasn’t disappointed but it wasn’t the same feeling a ny m o r e . was fucking amazing. I didn’t believe that was possible. I just rode as best as I could. That’s all you can do. I didn’t have a plan or anything. It’s a time trial so you don’t have to have a plan…” With such a remarkable silver lining in a season where Mullen experienced the up and downs of the sport he truly loves, the Cannondale-Drapac rider was ready to step up things a little bit in 2017 approaching a more demanding race programme, with the inclusion of hillier stage races and more UCI top-ranked races. In 2017 Mullen has been able not only to show his potential at the several stage races he has taken part in but also to redeem himself being a valuable supporter for his teammate during the classics season. After a deceptive result in the 2016 Nationals, Mullen has been able to excel this season wining again both the time trial and the road race. “It is very special to me. I haven’t missed the National championships in the last seven years and I have won something every year apart from 2016, that was a really annoying year for me. I am always really proud to wear the national championships jersey. It is a really big deal for me and it’ll always will be.” said the Irish champion.
But his double victory at the Nationals didn’t came without polemic as at some point during the road race he even considered abandoning. “I am sure it is the same in every nation, but Ireland is a very small country. So it is the same riders every year. And every year it is the same riders that try and ruin the race for the professionals. I respect the riders, cause they still race and they race hard but at the end of the end of day it is not possible for this guys to beat you but it is frustrating and very annoying the way they ride
and what they do on purpose.” The last time Ryan Mullen managed to score the double at the Nationals, he later won a medal at the World Championship. Will he manage to reedit the feat? Either way we’ll keep our eyes close to one of the most promising riders in the international peloton, that keeps extending his capabilities while claiming some strong results (bronce medallist at the European championships) and suggesting there is still room for potential growth.
10-SHORT QUESTIONS 1 - What’s your favourite bike race? Paris-Roubaix. 2 - What has been your biggest achievement in your cycling career? Fifth at the World Championships last year. 3 - What’s your greatest ambition in the sport? Be World champion at some point. 4 - What’s your favourite climb? I don’t have any. No favourite climb. 5 - Favourite teammate to have as a roommate during a stage race or training camp. Taylor Phinney. 6 - Toughest moment in your cycling career: Probably the Nationals last year when I had stitches in my hip. When I was getting on the bike at the start I felt that the stitches opened a little bit. So I had to ride the TT with stitches hanging out. 7 - Favourite training route or loop. Somewhere around the coast. 8 - Favourite performance meal. Post race meal. After Paris-Roubaix the last two years I’ve been to KFC and had 5,000 calories worth of chicken. I bought the biggest bucket of chicken. It came with like 20 pieces of chicken coated in like butter and then four fries and three siders. I’m going to that every year after Paris-Roubaix. 9 - Best attack/sprint/lead-out you’ve delivered so far. I did a lead-out this year in Flanders, into the Oude Kwaremont. I got the team to the front like 5km before the climb and there was just a big TT to the death along the big main road. I got there first and we rode up the Oude Kwaremont all eight riders in the first eight of the peloton. 10 - Biggest cycling/sport admiration. Conor McGregor
Pictures: Cannondale-Drapac Interviewee: Ryan Mullen Interviewer & editor: Diego Martín
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You are only as good as your last race.