Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Mark McNally – Tour of Britain 2014 KoM; “I don’t do this for the money”

-

HomeInterviewsMark McNally - Tour of Britain 2014 KoM; "I don't do this...
Mark McNally
Mark McNally.

In the week that the man born in the splendidly named Fazakerly in Lancashire moved from AN Post to Madison Genesis under the stewardship of former British Elite Road Race Champion, Roger Hammond we publish an interview with Tour of Britain King of the Mountains, Mark McNally.

It was an unexpected but nice result from a man who’s better known as a Flanders flat lands protagonist, we spoke to him before his signing for the British Continental squad who eschew carbon and ride ‘good old’ steel frames.

The Vuelta dominated the news in September and the Tour of Britain spotlight was more focused on what Cav didn’t do; Alex Dowsett’s brilliant ride to grab – but subsequently lose – yellow; and Wiggins’ fast – but not fast enough – time trial, so perhaps McNally’s excellent performance was over shadowed.

It’s a while since we’ve spoken to the affable Belgian-based Liverpudlian so we decided to give him a call.

McNally is a product of the British ‘cycling academy’ system and was a member of the winning team in the European junior team pursuit championship in 2007 and European U23 team pursuit championship in 2008.

‘Let go’ by the academy, McNally rode as a UK domestic professional for Halfords in 2009 before crossing the North Sea and signing up for Irish/Belgian hard man’s team AN Post, where he’s remained since.

His first year, 2010, was quiet – but 2011 saw him finding his feet in the toughest of schools and the results came, topped by his winning the hard fought Mi-Aout-Bretonne stage race against some of the best young talent in Europe.

The 2012 season saw another raft of top 10 results in Belgium including a win in the GP Beeckman in Ninove and whilst last year perhaps wasn’t his best, the second half of 2014 has seen the results start to come.

We opened by asking about his Tour of Britain mountains result – as at the other end of the phone he had his ToB crash wounds cleaned …

“Yeah, that was a nice bonus – the hills in the Tour of Britain aren’t massive mountains, they’re more suited to breakaway riders and I was in the break for the first three days.

“I was in the break on the last day too but crashed.

“There were five of us away and someone missed their spell so I looked back to see what happened to him, touched a wheel and came down.

“I’m missing a bit of skin but nothing major.”

The Tour of Britain gets a little tougher each year.

“It used to be a sprinters’ race but they’ve taken to putting a berg in the last 10 K of each stage – there were some nasty little climbs in there, this year.”

Mark McNally
Mark in the KoM Lead at this year’s Tour of Britain. Photo©ToB

Your season started early – the Marseillaise.

“That was a disappointment, actually; I was with the lead group, we were over the climb and then I punctured and there was no getting back.

“After that we rode the Etoille de Besseges and then went to Slovakia to ride the GP Izola.” (where he finished 11th. ed.)

And you were third in the Rutland in the spring, any ‘with hindsights?’

“There was a break and we had a man in it so I got a free ride across to it and then I attacked.

“Maybe if I’d waited a little longer to go – but it’s pointless worrying about stuff like that.”

How’s the AN Post programme been, this year?

“Very strong, we’ve ridden good races; we had Nico Eeckhout as a rider with the team and now he’s on management, his name along with that of Sean Kelly carries a lot of weight – they’re both legends in their own ways – and opens a lot of doors.

“Kurt Bogaerts is still our manager and he just loves it all!”

Have you been getting the kermises in?

“Yeah, I rode quite a few as preparation for the Tour of Britain – races like the one at Geraardsbergen are just flat out racing which puts you in the box but when you recover from it your level has risen.

And it’s Koolscamp this week, the Championship of Flanders.

“Yeah, I’ve never ridden it before because it usually clashes with the Tour of Britain; it used to be one for the sprinters but it’s been won from breakaways a few times in recent years – Nico won it four times.”

Are you happy overall with 2014?

“With the first part of the season; no, not really – I got a little lost, I lost confidence in myself.

“I decided to get myself a coach and have hooked up with Jon Sharples at Train Sharp.” (VV regular Douglas Dewey’s coach. ed.)

“I think that’s paying off now, I have a tendency to stressing about my racing and it’s good to have someone to consult, give me guidance and keep me calm.

“The second half of the season has been much better for me and there’s still more racing to come.”

Mark McNally
Mark feels he’s at a career crossroads. Photo©Tob

Where’s ‘home’ in Belgium?

“I have a Belgian girlfriend and we live about 30 kilometres from Antwerp; Dan McLay and some other English speakers live with Tim Harris and his wife, Joscelin about 30 K away – so I often train with them – and the AN Post team house is about 40 K away.”

What’s the plan for the winter and 2015?

“I’m not sure, I’m at a bit of crossroads; I think my Tour of Britain ride will have done me a favour but a lot will depend on how I ride from now until the end of the season and what results I get.

“I mean I’m happy in Belgium and more than happy with how Kurt and Sean have been with me on AN Post but it’s a development team and I’ve been with it for five years.

“I think that Kurt would be happy to have me again for 2015 but like I said, I’m at a crossroads.

“I don’t do this for the money, it’s not the priority.

“I want to ride races like Flanders and the Grand Tours, that’s what I want to achieve before I think about any financial aspect.

“But I have to start thinking about my future; the scene in the UK is getting better and decent money is starting to get paid – we’ll see …”

* As stated in our intro, Mark has signed with Madison Genesis for 2015.

When does the build up for 2015 start?

“I’m old school, a couple of weeks off at the end of the season then start with the steady miles early in November and build up.

“But maybe those methods will change now that I’m training with Jon Sharples?”

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

Related Articles

Rab Wardell – A Trip Into The Unknown

Whilst Endura have been getting all the attention recently, other Scottish riders have been looking to raise their game too. Rab Wardell is taking his talent south - to Southport's Kinesis team. We caught up with him to talk about the move - eventually. (Rab is a fan of having his mobile on 'silent' after five pm - but of course, this means he doesn't hear it when it rings!)

John Archibald – CTT 25 Mile TT Champion 2020

There’s a third Scot on the 25 Mile Time Trial Championship roll of honour; John Archibald, Ribble Weldtite Pro Cycling, added the title to his 2018 CTT 10 mile title with a 44:50 ride which also saw him lead Dan Bigham and Simon Wilson to the team title.

Dan Bigham – the new mens’ 25 Mile Time Trial Champion for 2017

We’re proud of our record here at VeloVeritas; we’ve interviewed every British 25 mile time trial champion since 2005. Michael Hutchinson, Jason MacIntyre (rest in peace), Joe Perrett, Matt Bottrrill, Ryan Perry - and this year is no exception with Dan Bigham (Brother NRG Wattshop) taking time to chat to us about his seventh British title of the year [adding to CTT ‘50,’ CTT Circuit TT, TTT, kilometre, individual pursuit and team pursuit] and his ambitions for the future.

Douglas Dewey – a Road Racer, Deep Down

We last spoke to Douglas Dewey in April on the back of his successful French Spring Campaign with Hennebont Cycling.

At Random

Le Tour de France 2007 – Day 7: Stage 17, Pau – Castelsarrasin

Pau, Thursday morning, the sun is out, so that's a good start. How do we feel? A tad flat, it has to be said, but the show must go on. Over to our left, the publicity caravan is rolling-out, headed for Castelsarrasin. It's a day for the "baroudeurs" today - the breakaway specialists. There are five fourth and one third category climbs today, so it's a hard day's work - maybe a French win? That would be nice, this Tour could do with a 'lift'. The Pez guy is out of the office today, checking-out the 2008 Look frames and bikes launch in San Jose - a dirty job, but...

Jonathan Bellis – “I want to show that I can do it, not just talk about it”

Jonathan Bellis was one of British Cycling’s brightest lights - until a life threatening scooter crash on September 19th 2009 in his then home of Tuscany. The versatile man from the Isle of Man spent practically a year in hospital and even then had to return for another operation at the end of 2010. Prior to the accident it looked as if Bellis was headed for the very top.

Gerry Butterfill – Taking the Start with Eddy Merckx

Year in, year out during the 70's, Guildford man Gerry Butterfill returned to the cycling Heartland of Flanders to pit himself against the very best in the world.

“No Ordinary Joe” by Brian Jones

One of the nice things about this gig is that people sometimes send you cool cycling books to review, in this case, ‘No Ordinary Joe’ sub-titled ‘Cycling Legends 1960’s, 1970’s, 1980’s, a unique collection of stories, USA & Canada.’