THERE have been a number of indications over the past year that Joe Nally is on his way to the big-time. But for the 19-year-old from Dunfermline, there is no doubt as to what has been the most significant indicator that he is making a name for himself in the cycling world.
“There’s a fantasy cycling league online – it’s just like fantasy football,” he explains.
“Every year, I always play it. And now this year, I’m on it which is just crazy. So I’ve got my own fantasy team line-up – and I’m in it.”
Nally fully deserves to be in the spotlight. This time last year, the teenager was not even on the GB programme; just twelve months on, he has been selected to ride for GB at the Tour of Britain, which begins tomorrow in Wales.
This is Nally’s biggest test to date and the teenager will be lining up against stars of the sport such as recent Tour de France winner, Geraint Thomas, and four-time Tour champion, Chris Froome. It is, he admits, a hugely exciting prospect, as well as a somewhat daunting one.
“If someone had told me this time last year that I’d be riding for GB at the Tour of Britain, I’d have just laughed at them,” he told Herald Sport.
“It’s difficult to put into words how big a thing this is. I think I’ll only fully start to realise it when I’m there. Some of the names that riding are unreal. It’s pretty scary to think I’ll be on the start-line with guys like Froome and Thomas.”
Nally and his compatriots have been tasked with supporting GB’s lead rider, Ben Swift, but the Scot is under no illusions as to how tough it will be for him to merely reach the final stage, in London, next Sunday.
“I’m not really sure what to expect because this will be so different to anything I’ve done before in terms of level," said Nally, the lone Scot in the Tour of Britain.
"I’m guessing there’ll be days when I’m pretty happy sitting in the bunch and then there’ll be days when I’m going full-out just to make the time cut. It’ll take everything I’ve got to not get eliminated – so I’m expecting some long old days. But if I do get through it, it’s a pretty cool thing to say.
“It’ll be a great learning experience for me too. This is my first time racing with world tour riders and that’s another level entirely. So it’ll be interesting to see how they handle themselves, how they ride in a bunch and just absorb what they do and learn from them.”
Nally’s most talked about success to date has come on the track when he was crowned British Senior Points race champion last year, becoming the youngest ever rider to win the title. And while he continues to combine track and road racing for now, he admits he would like for his long-term future to be on the road emulating, he hopes, his childhood idol.
“I’m not looking at leaving the track scene any time soon and I think that development-wise, I’m in the best place possible at the moment so I’ll stay as long as I can," he said.
"But personally, I do want to focus on the road for my career. That’s where I’ve always wanted to be. When I was young, it was always the Tour I watched. I really like an ex-German pro called Jens Voigt. He was my favourite rider and he was so cool to watch. The way that he attacked races and always got stuck in, I loved that. It’s the best style to watch and I’d like to be like that.”
Nally has now been part of the lauded British Cycling programme for almost a year and the step up has, he admits, been challenging at times. But as he comes to the end of his first full season as a GB rider, he is beginning to find his feet. A well-earned break awaits him at the end of the Tour of Britain before he launches into year two of his GB career he hopes, a much improved rider.
“It’s taken a while to adapt to what’s a whole new life really,” he said.
“I still adapting, I guess. It definitely took longer than I’d hoped to adapt physically. So I’m hoping that I can have a good eight days at the Tour of Britain, have some time off and then come back a whole year stronger next year. That’s the plan anyway.”
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