Gullen’s stage race ambitions
Jlt-condor rider’s An Post Rás victory points to stage race future
Rising British star James Gullen is setting his sights on more general classification titles after taking overall honours at the An Post Rás last month.
The Jlt-condor rider was already an accomplished time triallist, finishing second to Alex Dowsett at last year’s National Championship time trial (he also broke Bradley Wiggins’s Levens 10 course record on Sunday) but hadn’t shown his GC potential until this season.
He took the leader’s jersey in the Rás from a breakaway on stage five and held it for the following three stages. In March he also wore the leader’s jersey of the Tour of Taiwan for a stage.
Speaking to Cycling Weekly he said the victory had taken some time to sink in: “I was saying to someone else if someone wins a sprint you win it there and then the emotion comes all at once. Because I was in yellow for a bit, it sort of sinks in later.”
He added: “It’s nice to look back now but it kind of makes other races a bit hollow as you have to get that feeling again.
“I definitely think that GC is something that suits me. We don’t get to do anything with a TT but that would help me massively too.
“It definitely gives you confidence. I took the yellow jersey in the Tour of Taiwan too and I messed up a bit and spent too much energy the next day and then lost it.”
The 27-year-old, who joined JLT this season from Pedal Heaven, praised his teammates’ role in the Irish race. “It’s only when you try to defend a jersey like that that you appreciate that you need a strong team to keep it. A team that knows what to do tactically and is strong enough to do it, especially at the Rás with five-men teams,” he said.
However, Gullen is now turning his attention to the National Championship time trial, in which he hopes to go one better than last year and stand on the top step of the podium. However, he added: “You have to go in thinking that it’d be nice to be the best of the non-worldtour guys. There is a reason why they are Worldtour guys.”