Yorkshire Recap: National Champion Pat Eddy Takes it to the Junior Worlds
At the end of September, Pat Eddy headed to Yorkshire for the Junior World Road Championships.
As a bottom age under-19 rider who claimed gold in both the Time Trial and Road Race components of the Road Nationals earlier this year, the national champion was ready to take his bike to the world stage.
Finishing 19th in the technical Time Trial and 21st in the wet and wild Road Race, Eddy again proved his nous and talent, with his impressive performance spending time up the front of the road race with no teammates an incredible feat for a first time, bottom age Junior Worlds competitor.
An incredible opportunity to race under European race conditions with the best junior riders in the world, Yorkshire was a chance for Eddy to continue to learn, improve and push himself, and push he did.
While the young gun is proud of the results, Pat Eddy tells us he’s now even hungrier to go further in pursuit of a Worlds medal.
Here, Eddy shares his experiences in Yorkshire, race by race.
Race 1: Time Trial
RESULT: 19th OUT OF 63 RIDERS
TOTAL DISTANCE: 28KM
ELEVATION: 492M
I had put a lot of time into preparing for the Time Trial, so it was something I was really confident about. I'd ridden the course roughly 10 times in the week leading up to the race, as well as several times virtually on FulGaz and Zwift, so I was really happy with my lead up into it.
The crowd there was incredible, and the amount of people cheering added to the adrenaline I already had. For the first few kilometres, I was mainly just trying to ease into it and not go out too hard. It was a really punchy, technical course; really different to most Time Trials, and therefore hard to pace. The wind picked up for the second lap and I started to feel a bit blown for a few kilometres, but I was really happy with the final 4km's. I was stoked with how the whole process of the time trial went.
I probably would've liked to have a better result, but now there's more motivation to improve and compete for a medal next year.
Race 2: Road Race
RESULT: 21st OUT OF 72 RIDERS
TOTAL DISTANCE: 148KM
ELEVATION: 2171M
I went into the roadie feeling really relaxed. The stress and pressure of the TT had passed and as my first international bunch race, it was hard to know what to expect.
The first 1.5 hours was really hectic with a few crashes, and the constant fighting for position. Plus, rain majority of the time meant it was pretty dangerous in the bunch.
I was mainly focusing on being in the right spot in the bunch and replenishing my energy stores often. I just made it to the front bunch over the top of the first major climb but the race came back together after that. Once we hit the base of the second climb, I really started feeling more confident and the fighting for wheels seemed much easier.
A break of five went up to road shortly after and I was one of the few guys who reacted early and attempted bridging with a couple of other riders just before we entered the circuit.
The amount of spectators in Harrogate blew me away. I was in the front bunch the first two times up the climb, but the lack of organisation from the bigger teams allowed for riders to get back on.
I tried to bridge to the race for 3rd with about 10km to go, but got caught a few kilometres later, and eventually got dropped up the climb. I was really stoked with the way I raced and felt I gave myself the best shot to grab a medal.
