Staggering progression for Mountcharles cyclist Jamie Meehan with Pro contract

Mountcharles cyclist Jamie Meehan will turn 22 on September 6th and the past six months has been a rollercoaster ride as he won the Ireland U-23 Road Race title; finished runner up in both the Senior Road Race and Rás Tailteann.

Then after returning to France to his AVC Aix Provence Dole team he got the call from the World Tour team Cofidis (pronounced Cough-idis) to join them as a stagiaire (an intern or trainee). It was a huge step forward but it was about to get even better.

His first race with Cofidis was the three-stage Tour de l’Ain (2.1), from August 6th. After a good opening day staying with the climbers he made a huge impression on the second stage, breaking away from a chasing group to hold on for a 3rd place podium finish. The race was shown on TNT and the commentary was fulsome in the praise for the man from Donegal, having all his background information and results.

The net result was Cofidis signing him up immediately on a three-year Pro contract, the stuff of dreams for the young Mountcharles man.

“I had the opportunity to go there and show myself.  Getting third place that day probably hammered it home

“I only got to watch a kilometre or two in the highlights. Yeah, but it probably helps that they were pushing the name a bit too.”

The staggering progression onto the Pro stage has come in such a short space of time.

“Initially, the way the stagiaire works. They sign you up as a trainee for the rest of the year, but you might do one race with them but they might not need you or take your back.

“I think I was quite lucky that I went after the second day on the road with them. It all came kinda quick after the Rás.

“I look back and including a testing week for training I’ve pretty much had a race every week since the Rás, so it has been quite full gas since then.

“I was a wee bit nervous going into the stagiaire thinking I have been full gas since the Rás; I can’t hold this for so long. 

“It was quite a relief then to go into that race and still have the form. 

“Yeah, I don’t think anyone would have expected a stagiaire to be anywhere near the podium, myself included. The first day I was kinda thinking if I can climb with the top 20, top30 guys I’d be pretty happy.

“I made it over the top of the climb in the front group and I was pretty chuffed how that day went, not talking about pushing on and making the podium the second day.

“The first day  I think I finished 27th but I was in the front group and I worked for one of the guys in the sprint. The names of the guys I was with in that group were all quite good. For me that day was a success.

“I just felt really good the second day. I wanted to push on in the last climb and to feel that, to be in that group felt really good. I was over the moon, not alone getting a podium finish as well.”


Jamie Meehan in his Cofidis gear

Meehan’s performance turned heads and Cofidis were quick to secure him for the next three years.

“It is one of the World Tour teams, in the top division in cycling. They’ve been around for a long time and everyone involved in cycling knows who they are,” said Meehan of Cofidis who have links to Tour de France winners Bernault Hinault, Greg Lemond and Laurent Fignon.

What does it mean for Jamie Meehan?

At the moment Cofidis are on the edge of relegation, which occurs every three years. “If we stay in World Tour then we’re guaranteed entry to the Tour de France, the Vuelta (Spain) and the Giro (Italy) each year. And even if the team drops down to a Pro Team for the next year, if they are in the top two Pro Teams they are also guaranteed entry.

“For sure, I’ll not be going in the next two years. I was told maybe the Vuelta in two years but for next year they want me to keep developing and dip my toe in the water,” says Meehan, who added that he was relatively new to the level having only three years abroad.

But the dream was always along these lines and he is now one of a big number of Irish cyclists involved with World Tour teams including Ben Healy and Eddie Dunbar who were in Tour de France; Archie Ryan going to the Vuelta and Darren Rafferty in the Giro

“It’s quite exciting in Irish cycling at the moment, to be at the same level as those. Hopefully, I will get to race with them in a couple of races.”

The Cofidis team is made up of roughly 30 riders and there was another lucky break for Meehan as one of them got injured.

“The reason they were able to sign me as a Pro from now is that one of their riders had to stop in the middle of season which opened a spot in the team.

“I was just really lucky. A lot of things had to line up all year. I’ve been racing flat-out since January. I was lucky when I fractured my hand at a time when there was little racing. If that had happened two or three weeks later I might have missed races and not got the stagiaire; never got the chance to prove myself.

“Everything seems to have fallen into place and clicked this year for me.”

Meehan has the Tour de l’Avenir this Saturday with the Irish team and he hopes to get home on Saturday week for a short break, but he will be travelling back on his birthday to Italy for another block of races with Cofidis.

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The Mountcharles man is still training under his coach Barry Monaghan from Newry but may have to change to a Cofidis coach in January.

As for where he will be this time next year, he doesn’t really know. He hopes to ride in the National Championships but otherwise could be found anywhere in the world. He is due to go to Japan or China in October.

“I’ve got a block in Italy and then I think I’ll have to go to Japan or China in October. 

“Then next year there is Tour Down Under, which is Australia and there will be a team sent there. At the moment it’s too far away to know if I will be on that team or not. There’s races all over the world and Cofidis will be at them.”

His training days in Glengesh have helped him and he is looking forward to climbing more hills, both physically and figuratively.

“Already I’ve encountered plenty of climbs like it but I don’t think anything will be quite as nice as Glengesh.”

He is also following in the footsteps of Philip Duignan from Letterkenny, who is believed to be the last Donegal cyclist to ride for a World Tour team. Duignan’s great claim to fame was winning a stage of the Vuelta.

Could we see Jamie Meehan following in his footsteps?