Cyclist chases dream ride

IN FRONT: Daniel Molyneux (right) in action for his Sydney-based Subaru Albion NRS Development team.PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Daniel Molyneux is hoping his dream to ride professionally in Europe could be a step closer.

The 27-year-old from Tauranga is still juggling a fulltime career as a quantity surveyor with a semi-professional contract riding for Sydney-based Subaru Albion NRS Development team.

But if luck goes his way, Molyneux could end up riding professionally for a living.

He travels to Ireland next weekend with what is his biggest opportunity to date to impress the scouts from the major European teams.

"I have a number of races in Ireland for a month in the lead-up to my big goal and team's biggest race of the year the An Post Ras," Molyneux said. "It is an eight-day tour throughout Ireland with a rich 60-plus year history. My stint finishes with two weeks racing in Belgium.

"The [An Post Ras] has a huge following in Ireland. The country really rallies behind it and a couple of thousand people are at the finish of most stages. It is a UCI-ranked tour so you get professional Continental teams from Europe making their way there to race, so basically it is us part-timers up against the big boys.

"I have to be realistic and say a top-30 finish. It is my first chance to race over there in Europe, the home of cycling as such."

The past few months have seen him make significant progress towards his goals.

"After a two-month stint late last year riding for Subaru Albion I secured a year-long contract for 2015. This year I have already raced the New Zealand Cycle Classic in Palmerston North [UCI 2.2]. I finished 14th overall and helped a teammate to sixth overall and then raced the Oceania Road Race in Toowoomba, Australia.

"I race the club nationals road race for my club Dynamo Cycling in the Hawke's Bay this weekend."

The rest of the year, Molyneux plans to contest the second half of the Australian NRS circuit, flying back in forth while continuing to work full time in Tauranga for a construction company.

"It is getting to the point of how much longer do I hold down a fulltime job in between racing. Maybe I just need to start focussing on training and recovering and repeating day after day to see what I can do.

"Hopefully Ireland might bring an opportunity to do that and get on a team full time that pays you so you can step away from work. If I achieve the right results and make an impression on the right people you never know what might happen."