Jamie Meehan - one of the brightest new Donegal sporting stars

It is great to see so many stars in their own categories such as Dylan Browne McMonagle in horse racing; Mark English in athletics. We can lay some claim to Mona McSharry through the Marlins Swim Club in Ballyshannon and we have had Seamus Coleman, Shay Given and Packie Bonner; Michael Murphy one of the best ever at Gaelic football as well as Chloe Magee in badminton. The list goes on and on.

In the ultra competitive and individual world of cycling another cyclist with Mountcharles connections, Katie-George Dunlevy has achieved World class in her paracycling class.

On Sunday 27th September next Jamie Meehan will take his place on the start line for the World Road Championships in Montreal as part of the Elite Irish team alongside the cream of cycling including five times Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar, which is testimony to how quickly he has risen through the ranks in cycling, being a very latecomer, only taking the sport seriously after his Leaving Cert just four years ago.

The World Championships are being held in Montreal to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the city hosting the Olympic Games in 1976, an event in which another famous Donegal sportsman, Danny McDaid, was a participant.

This time around Donegal will be represented by Jamie Meehan who has had a whirlwind few years on an upward trajectory. Just 12 months ago he signed his first professional contract, a three-year deal with Cofidis and in the first year he has made progression after progression culminating in a third place finish recently in the Tour l’Ain.

Back home for a few weeks, Meehan reflected on his first year with a Pro contract and this modest young man (who will be 23 next month) feels he is going in the right direction.

While at home he was able to take a spin up to Grange in Co Sligo to meet his mum, Rosie and the other 79 cyclists who completed the Dublin to Drimarone Charity Cycle recently.

“They did well and even though it was wet on the Sunday, they knew they were on the home stretch and on roads that they knew,” says Meehan, for whom the trip up to meet them was just a warm-up.

“I didn’t realise there were so many of them. I thought it might be 15 or 20 and then I arrived in Grange and I was chatting to Patsy Breslin and he said 80 were doing it but I thought he said 18. And then I saw the first 20 come in and I thought that was it. But then another 20 and another and then I realised it was 80. They just kept coming.”

It was a nice distraction for Jamie Meehan, supporting his mum, after a busy and very productive 12 months of his new career. He has been to so many places representing his team Cofidis it is difficult for him to remember.

“We started the year in Saudi Arabia and then I was in France a lot after that. I made the early races in Italy and then it was back to France and on to Hungary and Germany. But it was mainly Spain and France.”

During the year a number of scenic pictures were posted on Meehan’s Instagram account and he says Andorra was really cool.

From now to the end of the year there is a race in Slovakia, the Worlds in Canada and then it’s off to China to finish it off.

With so many venues and so much travel, where is Jamie Meehan based? “A bit of everywhere this year to be honest. I rented an apartment in France because my plan was to be mainly based there, but then I've actually been home quite a lot.

“Anytime I didn’t have a block of races I’ve been at home. Because my girlfriend (Sarah) is from Offaly, and that’s just an hour from Dublin, it’s been a mix between France, Offaly and Donegal.”

Jamie’s schedule is decided by his team Cofidis. “We have got 30 in the team and if there’s a hilly race, it’s like, Jamie will go to that. Or if it’s a sprint race Milan (Fretin, the team sprinter), will go to that. And sometimes there could be two races on the one weekend or even three,” said Meehan, who makes his own way to a meeting point with the team.

That involves plenty of travel, mostly through Dublin Airport. Say if we’re racing in Frankfurt, we fly there and they’ll pick us up at the airport, bring us to the hotel while the team bikes, etc. will arrive on a bus from their headquarters in Lille.

“The Frankfurt race was one of my favourites for the year. Because I left Dublin on Friday evening. It was a quick flight. Next day you do your pre-race ride and in the evening have a massage, dinner and chill out. We raced on Sunday and I was back in bed in Ireland on Sunday night.”

Meehan says there is a lot of personal organising but the team have a plan. “But you have to do your job and show up. We’ve actually got an app now where you can log in and book your tickets and hotels, so it’s quite handy. It is a different world, different to what I was used to,” says Meehan, who said it was a bit scary at first using the train system in France, especially one time when he was quite tight for time.

“We don’t really have a whole lot of train experience in Donegal so I wasn’t really used to getting on these platforms and getting on the right side of the platform. I was completely lost but luckily I had another boy with me and we worked it out together.”

And how is the French coming along? “I struggle with it,” admits Meehan. “I’ve always struggled with languages but this year it’s got better. I’m at the point where I can kind of listen in to conversations and get the gist of what’s going on.”

After a successful first year, Meehan isn’t sure of what may lie ahead in 2027. “There was a lot of talk this year of doing the Vuelta (which started last week in Spain) or a grand tour. But I’ve an ongoing issue with my back where my glutes tighten up and I get a lot of pain.

“I just knew that going to Spain for three weeks wasn’t going to be a good idea. Half of the staff wanted to send me and the other half felt I should wait a year. So when I looked at it and it was just coming before the World Championships, I said I would rather not go to the Vuelta. I want to arrive at the Worlds with better legs.”

Which seems a very mature decision for such a young man. As regards the back injury, he is hoping that it will clear up and it looks more than likely that he will be part of the Cofidis team at one of the big tours next season. The fact that his team are genuinely considering him for the big tours is testament to the progress he has made in such a short time.

As regards the back injury, one of his training trips last week in Donegal included meeting a friend, Darren McCarter in Cavangarden outside Ballyshannon and then proceeding on a trip to Ballybofey and back through Castlederg, Pettigo to Mountcharles and a wee run around the shore - a little five and a half hour spin.

And Meehan explains that he experiences more discomfort in the first couple of hours than in the last.

While Meehan has yet to turn 23, he feels that younger cyclists are beginning to make their mark with the likes of Isaac Del Toro finishing third in the Tour de France this year

Meehan has had a much different pathway to most of the riders coming through, who have been racing since they were 14. But he feels his late arrival on the scene has worked.

“I think, for me, it was the best thing, yeah. I was very lucky that it all worked out the way it did. I was just very lucky that I met the right people at the right time. That always left me in the right place or going to the right place.”

He feels once the back issue is resolved, and the team are assisting him in that regard, he will be ready for one of the big tours. “I think I’d be quite ready,” says Meehan, who references the summer of 2025 when he did the RAS in Ireland over five days and then did another five-day race in France and he says he felt at his best on the last day of that sequence. “I think racing over three weeks is something that will suit me. I tend to struggle in the first hour of a race. But then all of a sudden you can nearly flip a switch at some point and I feel a lot better at the end of the race.”

Meehan says cycling is now just his job and he is happy with the discipline that’s attached to it.

“I think I'm quite relaxed compared to most pros, especially when it comes to eating. I wouldn’t have a lot of weight on. Up until last year I did a lot of work in the gym but when I joined the team, each coach is different and my coach, he’s not a big fan of the gym work.

“But I think this winter, I'd definitely like to do a bit more,” said Meehan, who hopes that might help with the back issue.”

He agrees that his recent podium finish at the Tour de l’Ain was probably the highlight, but he was happier with some of his top 15 finishes in tougher fields.

“I have been taking it as it comes. Like, I knew I was stepping into a bit of a different world this year. I think I've learned a bit more each year as it's gone on. My team would still be considered quite a small team. But I think that suits me quite well as I'm still kind of learning and progressing and stuff. But there's just so much to the sport that people don't see.”

But to be at the centre of professional cycling, France is the place to be, says Meehan, who says it is worlds apart from Ireland with the roads closed for races, etc.

And what about the descents from those high mountains? “For me, it’s best not to think about it,” says Meehan, who knows there is extreme danger there. We do get briefings and told through our ear pieces the best place to be. But then everybody wants to be in the front for the descent.”

The upcoming World Championships in Canada is another career high on Jamie Meehan’s sporting curve. And for the first time outside of Ireland he will have most of his family there cheering him on.

He has experienced the Worlds before with the Irish U-23 team in Zurich but he says they got to watch the men’s race and the crowd and the atmosphere was huge. “I’m kind of hoping Canada will be something similar.”

He will be part of an Irish team led by Ben Healy with Darren Rafferty and Ryan Mullen. He says the team will be hoping to lead Ben Healy out. “We see what Ben can do. I think we have to really back him up with everything we can,” says Meehan, who said he would be happy to give up his own race to give Ben the chance.

For now Meehan is relaxing and with his girlfriend Sarah Purcell having a different sporting love of horses, he says that is a great way of switching off when races are over.

The only other Donegal cyclist to be involved in one of the big tours was Philip Deignan, who won a stage in the Vuelta in 2009.

Jamie Meehan is too modest to make any predictions about what is to come but his progression after one year as a professional cyclist is there for all to see.