Photos and report from France courtesy of the young star himself…
Foreword Dany:” Dean and his older brother Lee came over once to me at the Kinnings CX at the Dundald CX about 7 years ago and wanted a photo with me, I was chuffed some young kids been interested in what I do…who would have thought, what happened a few years later..this is why I love doing my stuff… time past and I saw Dean developing in a rider that demanding respect..off-road his specialty and winning National jersey’s in MTB and CX as a youth racer…as a junior he took off like a rocket, winning the National Series, as the highest rank junior… and feared by the A1’s this year as Espoir…could go on and on for ages, just a Wout Van Aert in the making, his climbing suburb, and can sprint if needed…He would have been someone I send to Belgium, but due to his invite of the French team for the summer (which I was informed but needed to keep for myself, but made the door open for another rider) After the summer he goes back to his home team Spellman-Dublin Port, this to compete in the CX League this winter…His teammates in France thanked Dean for the help to get a teammate back to the front and getting a podium for the team…this is an accolade for foreigners in France, not very often seen…and this promise for the future …making friends in the peloton is the key for racing in the continent…so proud of this young lad…Dean explain here below…Allez..Allez Dean, and merci
Dean Harvey told me yesterday, “
After a successful first half of my season at home, I decided to spend the last few months of my season in France with CC Etupes.
So far everything is going really well, and I’m enjoying the experience.
My first race was Agglo tour Bourg en Bresse on July 24th.
Unfortunately, after making it over the first climb in the front group, my rear mech snapped in half, and I lost a lot of time waiting for the team car to get the spare bike.
I was able to make get back to the front and felt strong. I rode for my teammate in the end and he was able to take 3rd, so it was a good first race for me.
My next race was Alsace Tour. It started with a short TTT prologue on road bikes. It was split into teams of 3 and my team managed to get 8th which was a good start for us.
There were then 4 hard Road stages. The first stage had three big climbs and I managed to finish 21st. However, the next day I could tell I wasn’t fully recovered which wasn’t ideal because the second stage finished up with “La super planche de belles files.”I didn’t have good legs and when I got to the bottom of the climb I got dropped and lost a lot of time.
I spent the last two stages taking a few risks and trying to learn as much as I could. Ultimately it didn’t come to much, but I enjoyed the experience and took lot from it.
I’ve now got Estivale Bretonne this weekend, a 4-day stage race with lots of punchy climbs. This race should suit me well, and I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do!! “
