Q&A: Killian O’Brien – third in the Junior Tour of Wales

Irish rider Killian O’Brien came to the Junior Tour of Wales and raced himself onto the podium in third place against the best juniors in this classic and prestigious race. VeloUK quizzes Killian on his race #insights

Q&A: Killian O’Brien – third in the Junior Tour of Wales

Killian (left) third in the Junior Tour of Wales.  Photo: Lindsay Appleby

Q1: Third overall Killian in such a prestigious and hard fought for race. Is that a result that pleases you?
Killian: Absolutely. Back in Ireland, the Junior Tour of Wales is look upon as one of the hardest races around and to get a podium feels great. Looking at the list of Irish riders who’ve achieved good results, here it’s quite short and all of them have gone on to do great things. Even last year with Liam getting second place, it seemed so out of reach to me, so getting on the podium myself, shows me that the hard work I put in all year has paid off which is extremely satisfying.

Q2: What were your hopes for the race before it began?
Killian: I wasn’t originally going to be racing in Wales at all but when my calendar in Italy changed, the Leinster managers rushed to organise a place for me. I was told that I was racing less than 48 hours before the first stage and flew in from Italy the next morning, so in all honesty I was just happy to be at the race.

After last year, I was optimistic as I had finished 4th young rider in 2023 and I thought a good result was possible but wasn’t expecting a podium! I was a bit nervous about the race as I wasn’t able to bring my race bike over from Italy due to the last minute plans so I had to use an old bike with borrowed wheels which I hadn’t ridden in ages. I borrowed a TT bike for the first stage off a friend back home but unfortunately it broke on Thursday night meaning I’d have to ride my road bike adding to my nerves.

How great is this! Killian gives me the thumbs up before stage 3 and then provides this awesome insight into his race and podium in the race.

Q3: Where are you based – Italy? – and do the training roads there give you plenty of climbing to prepare for such a race?
Killian: I am based in a small town by the coast called Civitavecchia just north of Rome in a team house with five of my Australian teammates. I’ve been living there since the end of my exams about two months ago. It’s a great area with some lovely climbs much longer than anything we’d have to tackle in the UK or Ireland. Where I am, the temperature often exceeds 35 degrees, making it extremely difficult to train during the day and races are much slower because everyone struggles so much with the heat. It was funny watching a lot of the guys pouring water over their heads, overheating when it was 15 degrees while I was contemplating wearing arm warmers.

Q4: What was your favourite stage in the race?
Killian: Coming into the race, I would’ve said the Tumble for sure but after the race my view of it has completely changed. My performance in the TT gave me such confidence being on a road bike and placing 6th surrounded by riders on top end Time Trial bikes as well as being 3rd fastest on the KOM and the first rider not specifically targeting the KOM jersey.

Then stage 2, being in the break with Oli Dawson for so long to be joined by a group with some of the pre-race favourites and securing a huge gap in the GC. Those two stages for me stand above the rest. The Tumble was a great stage as well for sure but the strong head wind on the climb promoted negative racing paired with the infernal pace set by the Tofauti riders on the first half of the climb, meant I couldn’t attack like I had hoped to in a bid to move up to second in GC. At the end of the day, Elliot was super strong in the final kilometre and he was able to get away from the GC group so I can’t really complain, he was just better on the day.

Q5: Are you are first or second year Junior?
Killian: I’m a second-year junior so of course I’m hoping to get into a good team for next season which will give me the opportunity to learn and improve. Looking at last year in Wales, the top 5 are all on world tour development teams like Trek, Visma and DSM, which obviously that would be a dream come true. I think the Under 23 races could suit me better than the juniors as well with longer harder climbs which benefit smaller riders like me. I love long hard races and of course as you progress through the age categories, it just get faster, longer and harder.

Killian gets through the third stage which was a nightmare for many a rider with the soaking wet roads, outstanding speed of the race, and potential for crashes in horrible conditions.

Q6: What was the most difficult stage for you?
Killian: Stage 4 was by far the most difficult for me. After the miserable weather on stage 3, we were standing on the start line joking about how the weather couldn’t possibly get worse than the morning. We straight up jinxed it. The race felt like it was never going to end with the ferocious wind and torrential rain. After about 30km, I was hoping the race would be cancelled. I was shivering and my legs just seized up. When Seb and Elliot attacked I was out of position and I didn’t realise for a lap or so that they were away.

I called my teammates to the front to chase but no one was helping us and the Fensham boys were disrupting the chase a lot so I decided to attack with Josh (one of my teammates) and we set off in pursuit of the break with the help of 2 others with about 3 passengers on the back of the group. We drilled it for about 30km to try and close the gap and by the finish we had the break at only 10 seconds but Seb had got away and had a huge gap. We were caught by a small group with half a lap to go which was a bit disappointing but I was happy that the stage was over and that 2nd in GC was still somewhat possible. I think the wind on such a flat circuit really killed me, as a very lightweight rider, I lack the raw power that a lot of the guys there had and sprinting out of the corners hurts me a lot more that some of the others so that stage really took it out of me both physically and mentally.

The rain pours down during stage 3 of the Junior Tour of Wales with Killian not on his normal race bike.

Q7: What are your ambitions in cycling? You are obviously a very talented rider so something to make the most of 😉
Killian: For me, the goal is to make it to the WorldTour. Getting there has never been harder than it is now so I think that over the next few years I just have to keep putting the work in and try to get some results that will put me on the map. I’d love to compete in races like the Baby Giro and l’Avenir with the big mountains which would really suit me.

 

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