Local cyclist set for centre stage

A NORTHSIDE cyclist, who was the first to win a stage in the An Post Rás as an amateur since 2009, is gearing up for this year’s event in May, despite juggling a strict training regime with his 9 to 5 job.

Originally from Swords, Eoin Morton (28) surprised everyone including himself after claiming Stage 2 in Ireland’s biggest cycling race, last year, which welcomes dozens of professional riders from around the world.

While wearing the ‘King of the Mountains’ jersey after an exceptional first stage, Morton meandered from Mullingar, County Westmeath to Charleville, County Cork quicker than the rest on the way to clinching the stage.

Almost 10 months later from one of his proudest achievements, the amateur cyclist is still in shock.

“It is still very strange,” he says. “It is still hard to believe. There are people saying to me all the time that I’ll have ‘Rás stage winner’ at the end of my name as if it’s a title. It is all very bizarre.

“The best way to put my achievement for people who don’t watch or follow cycling, is if you were looking at the FA Cup a few weeks ago and saw those non-league teams edging towards Wembley.”

Now living in Bray, the Irish Water employee focuses his training around work – literally. He cycles 25km into the city centre every day, sometimes hits the gym at lunch and embarks on a 75km detour journey home, while competing in national events at the weekend.

The devotion is even further evident when he explains his nutritional lifestyle. An absence of beer, an extremely rare encounter with chocolate and doubling the calorie count of an average man while keeping a close eye on protein and vitamin intake, tells us that this isn’t just a game for Morton.

However, this dedication didn’t arise from childhood. Morton only took to the saddle regularly aged 22 while studying for a Masters in UCD when he joined the university’s cycling club.

Now he competes as often as one can under the sponsorship of UCD Fitzcycles, as well as off his own back, but it is his love for cycling which keeps him going.

“These guys (professionals) are paid to ride their bikes,” he says. “I do a 9 to 5 to pay the mortgage. Their income comes from sitting on a bike and winning loads of prize money so I do it for passion and they do it for their job and that’s the clear difference.”

But why does he and other amateur sportspeople do what they do?

“The honest answer is: I don’t know and if you asked any GAA county player, they would probably say the exact same thing. I think there is a sense of pride,” he says.

“I think we all have that mad, crazy islander in us. We all have a few screws loose. I think it is also that sense of accolade, that sense of achievement that we get in amateur sports.”

Looking to this year’s Rás, Morton will be hoping for more of the same luck, which he knows can’t come without the same intense regime and mindset he’s had all along. “If I can do it I can do it, if I can’t then I’m not going to hang my head in shame, I’ll still be walking around with pride,” he adds.

REPORT: Brein McGinn