MARK DOWNEY
Meet Team Wiggins’s new Irish rouleur
Give us a taste of who this is.
After winning gold medals at the Track World Cup in 2016, 21-yearold Irishman Mark Downey is now seeking to replicate that success on the road. His father Seamus competed in the road race at the 1984 Olympics, while his brother Sean won bronze on the track at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Cycling is very much in the genes.
So he’s a trackie turned roadie?
Not at all. Road racing has always been Mark’s focus and he spent the previous three seasons racing in France. His last year in France was with CC Étupes, which counts Thibaut Pinot, Adam Yates and Warren Barguil among its alumni. He joined Team Wiggins this year as one of its lead riders. “I really enjoyed my time out in France. The amateur scene is really high and it taught me a lot about how to read the race,” Mark tells Procycling. “It taught me my trade.” He came into his own in the second half of 2017, scoring three top 10s at the Tour de l’Avenir in sprints and a ninth place in the U23 worlds road race.
We’re looking at a sprinter then?
He’s got a fast finish, though Mark says he’s better suited to tough, rolling, races where it’s a war of attrition. “I like the punchy finishes, short steep hills – Liège, Strade Bianche, races like that. I like a real hard, dogged race,” he says.
What’s he doing this season?
Mark carried his good road form straight into 2018. He finished fourth at his first race in Wiggins colours, the one-day Clássica da Arrábida, then was third overall after five top five’s at the Volta ao Alentejo. After competing at the Commonwealth Games, he’s got the Baby Giro and l’Avenir in his sights.
What about the future?
As this is his last year as an U23, a pro contract is the goal. “I’m not going to stress or push it – if I get the results, it comes,” he says. Long term, the track is still part of his plan too, with Mark hoping to compete at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. “I think it’s doable. We have the generation now of Cameron Meyer, Lasse Norman Hansen, Viviani and Cavendish who are all doing it. I don’t see why the likes of myself can’t replicate that.”