Monk claims sprinters jersey in Adelaide

Local cyclist Cyrus Monk has returned from the Adelaide’s Festival of Racing event crowned sprint champion, after a stellar showing on the roads last week. 

Monk, who returned to Australia in November from Ireland where he races for EvoPro, took up the opportunity to race for CycleHouse Racing in the tour event, with the team helping him get home to compete. 

With the usual Tour Down Under event cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was held as a smaller domestic cycling festival, which allowed more Aussie riders the opportunity to showcase their skills. 

He spent each of the four stages in the breakaway, with the goal to claim one of the jerseys on offer, something he was proud to achieve.

Monk finished on nine points in the sprint category, one ahead of Raphael Freienstein in a tense final criterium stage that saw him grab two points on the first sprint of the day to hold on.

He also took up a new role on the team as road captain, helping to strategise for the stages and praised fellow teammate Matt Ross for helping him get into the right positions to vie for the sprint jersey.

“I’ve been one of the helpers riding in Europe, so to be the protected rider was great. It was great for the confidence too, there were at least a dozen world tour riders so to see I can compete was good,” he said.

Sporting a mullet during the event, Monk said his new look might be one he considers keeping after his showing in Adelaide.

“It was a bit of a lockdown thing, it started as a joke, but in the Irish team I ride for, every rider looks like they’re from their country, so I thought I had to step up my game and be more Aussie and the mullet is the best way to do it. It also flows nicely out the back of the helmet,” he laughed. 

By his own admission, he was a bit surprised by his own form in Adelaide, especially after a less than ideal preparation in the lead up.

After landing in November, he spent two weeks in hotel quarantine, only able to train for an hour a day on the bike due to the heat and little ventilation he had in his room.

He was also caught up in the border closure between Victoria and New South Wales, racing back from Eden on New Year’s Eve, which saw him spend three days in isolation awaiting a negative result for COVID-19. 

The turning point came at the team’s training camp at Bright, which saw him attack the Victorian alpine region. 

“I was helping to prescribe some of the training and I just trained super hard, that did me a world of good,” he said.

As many of his fellow riders struggled in the hot conditions Monk was able to push through, the training camp paying dividends on the final stage as the peloton tired, allowing him to stay ahead and claim the sprinters jersey.

He now has his sights set on his next challenge at the national championships at Ballarat. After claiming the under 23 title in 2018, he is now hoping for the same result in the elite men’s category on Saturday. 

“That’s been the big goal of the summer for me. The goal would be to get on the podium, it would be super nice to win, but the podium is the realistic goal,” he said.

With his original plan of returning to Europe in mid-February now up in the air, he’s content with being home.

“I’ve been speaking with my team in Ireland, there are a lot of races being cancelled so it’s difficult to travel. For me at the moment I’m quite happy here, we are pretty lucky, so it’s looking more like April or May I’ll return,” he said.