MBR

Got to start with the win, congratulations! Could you feel it coming over the season? And did you think you were in with a good chance at the start of the race week?

Oisin O’Callaghan

Coming into the start of the season my goal was to get a top 10 result. As the season progressed and saw that I was capable of a top 10 I shifted my goal to getting a podium. I’m incredibly stoked to get a win as my first podium, and excited to build from here.

Oisin O’Callaghan qualified fifth, but went fastest in a mistake-free run

MBR

Snowshoe must be pretty similar to the riding back home, in terms of the slippy, angled rocks sticking up all over the place. Did you feel at home?

It’s so good to be flying the Irish flag high… dreams really do come true!

OO

A lot of people have been saying it must be similar to home, but in reality it’s far from what we in Ireland, we don’t really have anything like it. Our home tracks are typically more rooty and have gradient, where as snowshoe was rocky and flat. Ireland is comparable to what the UK riders are used too.

MBR

Was there a strategy on the track? I know the slippy rocky middle section is totally different to the top and bottom, so did you go out to attack the middle? Or was it full gas the whole way?

OO

Full gas the whole way down as the track dried up so much, it was basically dusty the whole way down. I felt really good on the flat rock garden before the double drop, as-well as up top on the jumps, this is where I tried to push the most.

Ronan Dunne congratulates Oisin on the finish line, despite being bumped from the hot seat

MBR

It was awesome seeing Ronan congratulate you when you came across the line, how pumped you both were! Are you the next Bruni and Vergier?

OO

Absolutely crazy! Ireland 1-2 is just mental. We train together, ride together and party together, it’s so good to be flying the Irish flag high and showing the young rippers at home dreams really do come true!

Champagne showers on the podium, and probably not for the last time either

MBR

How is it working with Jonny at Fit4Racing?

OO

I’ve been working with Jonny for the last 6 years, Jonny is part of The YT Mob as our Performance Manager now. The program I have with him is more cross fit orientated and definitely allows me to keep pushing the whole way down a track.

MBR

Are you allowed to choose your own components?

OO

That’s true, with The YT Mob we have a unique approach (UNCAGED). Each of us are allowed to choose the specification we want to race, giving us the full freedom to choose whatever we believe is the best for performance. One example is that I started on SRAM drivetrain, and since shifted to a hybrid between TRP mech and SRAM shifter. I also switched to Continental tires at the start of the season after testing them.

MBR

Are you running Ochain? How do you find it, is the hype for real?!

OO

Yep, the hype is real! It is definitely more useful on some bikes and a lot of people that shouldn’t be using them are now using them, this proves the hype Is real. I’m currently running it at 12 degrees.

MBR

What support you get from Irish Cycling?

OO

Cycling Ireland have been increasingly more supportive over the duration of my career. In the last 2 years we’ve started to do lab testing to compare data between Road/Track to see what we can learn from other disciplines. It’s amazing to have the support from my national federation.