Nenagh’s Daniel Yon Hin is taking the next step in pro-cycling dream

By Thomas Conway

Head off from Moynan’s Cycle Shop in Nenagh, cut left down the bottom of Kenyon Street, cross the railway bridge, and then continue out through Tyone. Maybe take an optional right, veering over to Ballinaclough, or simply continue out by the rugby club towards Ballinamona Cross, where you can either pivot leftwards up to Toomevara, or navigate the right-angle and point your saddle in the direction of Dolla. That’s only a brief sample of a typical North Tipp Wheelers/Nenagh Cycling Club Sunday morning route, but it’s one which many readers will be familiar with, whether they’ve travelled it via bike, car, or even on foot.

Now picture this. Set off from the age-old city of Cesena, deep in Italy’s culinary heartland of Emilio Romagna, then swerve east into the winds of the Adriatic coast. Pump the legs until you reach sight of those serene, blue waters, then tack north towards the mosaics and monuments of Ravenna - once the capital of the Western Roman Empire - or swivel south and explore the sun-drenched seaside enclave of Rimini - renowned as favourite holiday destination for many native Italians.

A local sortie around familiar roads. An Italian adventure along Italy’s eastern seaboard. Each has its own unique character, and by this time next year, Nenagh man Daniel Yon Hin will probably know both routes in the type of precise detail that only an assiduous, elite-level cyclist could have.

The nineteen-year-old has spent the past several years gradually climbing up through the ranks, and in August he signed for Zappi Racing, a highly regarded cycling team based in the small city of Cesena, Italy - some 50km north of San Marino. It represented a major breakthrough for the young man, who has set his sights on a career in the professional peloton, but Yon Hin is too mature to dwell on fanciful dreams of cycling stardom. He has every intention of achieving such, but experience has taught the Irish rider that set-backs can arise out of nowhere, and progression is the product of determination and diligence.

“So last year, before Covid hit, I had a big year planned. It was my second year as a junior, so it really was going to be a big year,” he recalls.

“I was hoping to go out to Belgium, do some racing over there, because I did that in 2019 - spent a good lot of the summer months out there, and it was a really good experience. I went out there with two or three of my clubmates, and that was when I got my first real taste of cycling abroad. It was kind of different in Belgium and Holland though - there’s a lot of flat-racing, and that wouldn’t really suit my style. I prefer climbing - small, punchy climbs. I think that’s my strength on the bike.”

The disruption caused by Covid wreaked havoc on his plans, leading to a year in which he says he got “absolutely nothing done”, but a return to training and competitive racing quickly saw Yon Hin return to form, with impressive performances this summer cementing his place in the Zappi team.

“Zappi are a big team, and a few other Irish people have gone out there, so I’ve been talking to them, finding out about their experience,” he said.

“I got in contact with their manager back in May, and he said they would keep me in mind, look at my progress, and then in August it was confirmed that I had a slot in the team.”

Family history

Many of Ireland’s most successful cyclists were endowed with a passion for the bike from an early age, with family histories steeped in the sport and an acute knowledge of what it takes to make it in the game. For Daniel however, spinning wheels weren’t a feature of childhood, and sport was never really embedded in his family background.

His father Patrick hails from Mauritius, a small island nation surrounded by the Indian Ocean, located around 1,100km east of Madagascar, off the coast of south-east Africa. Their ancestral roots lie in China - his great-grandparents emigrated to the island many moons ago, contributing to the stunning ethnic diversity of a country now populated by approximately 1.25 million people. Daniel has visited Mauritius twice, but Ireland is the country he calls home.

Having lived in Dublin until the age of five, the family subsequently moved to Nenagh when his father began work as a GP in Roscrea. He isn’t too old to pursue a medical career and has already forged a reliable reputation as an unofficial pharmaceutical delivery-man, making headlines in April 2020, when he started dropping prescriptions to his father’s elderly patients via bike. Clearly, he got plenty of work done during lockdown - both sporting and philanthropic.

His mother Deirdre (O’Driscoll) isn't a professional cyclist, so it wouldn't be accurate to say that he followed her career-path either, but she certainly helped to catalyse his love for the sport. Her rediscovered appetite for the bike set in motion his journey in the saddle, with one thing leading to another until eventually, he was watching races like the Tour and the Giro with aspiration rather than just passing curiosity.

"So really it all happened because of my mother and my aunt,” Daniel said.

“They used to cycle when they were younger, as a leisure sport, so then when I was about twelve, they decided to take it up again - training for events like the Ring of Kerry and other sportifs. I was just there thinking I’d love to do this; I’d love to get a new bike.

“I started going into shops, having a look at the racers, and eventually bought one and started heading off on spins with them. Then my cousin Odhran got into it, he kind of took it up with me. Nenagh Cycling Club then set up a youth club, so we would train with them, and started going to races. I remember going to my first race - I had no idea what to expect, I thought I was so good, spinning around the place. And then when I went to the race, everyone looked so professional, and I saw just how high the standard was - even for youngsters.”

Highest calibre

Overcoming that initial trepidation was the first step, but how do you get from there to a point where you're racing alongside Ireland's highest calibre cyclists, such as Dan Martin and Nicholas Roche? The short answer is determination and hard work but captured in those two terms is a long and laborious story of grinding it out on the slopes of Irish mountain ranges or whizzing around local roads in early morning training sessions.

The path to becoming an elite-level professional cyclist is rarely linear. Different riders take different routes - Britain’s Mark Cavendish, widely regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all-time, grew up on the Isle of Man and spent a brief period as a track cyclist before shifting onto the road; Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar was a teenage prodigy, bursting onto the scene at the age of 21. In July, Pogacar became the youngest cyclist to win back-to-back Tour de France titles, retaining the yellow jersey at the age of 22, following his shock success the previous year. He, however, seems to be an exception. The average age of a Tour de France champion stands at around 28 years.

Even in modern times, since 1987, when a certain 28-year-old Dubliner bumped into then Taoiseach Charles Haughey on the Champs Elysée, most yellow-jersey winners have ranged from late-twenties to early-thirties, with a few notable exceptions. Yoh Hin is under no illusions as to what it would take to emulate someone like Stephen Roche, but he does make clear his admiration for the country’s top cyclists. Rocking alongside Nicholas Roche (Stephen’s nephew) and Dan Martin in last month’s National Road Race was a cherished experience, one which he has come to appreciate all the more since both men announced their retirement in recent weeks.

“I’ve always looked up to Dan Martin so much, and Nico (Roche), Nico is just a legend. And it was amazing being a part of Nico’s last race - rocking along beside him! It was really nice,” Daniel said.

The races are the highlight. The training is intense. Regimes can vary, depending on upcoming events, but a typical training week could consist of 20-22 hours on the saddle, travelling upwards of 500km. Sometimes that could extend up to 25 hours if he’s focusing on endurance. Come next January, the volume and intensity of the training will almost certainly increase, and he’ll be clocking up the kilometres on Italian roadways. He hopes the more mountainous terrain will suit his style, as opposed to the flat landscapes of Belgium and the Netherlands, but he’ll also be exposed to new races, new riders, and new opportunities.

“It will provide a lot of opportunities,” Daniel added.

“The two biggest races are probably the ‘Baby Giro’ and the ‘Tour of Lombardia’, but there are loads of other Italian UCI races that we’ll be attending. So, I think the main focus is just to put myself out there, try to get the best results possible and do my best to get spotted. And hopefully I’ll put myself back in contention for Irish selection, for the Irish Under-23s, but I’m 19, I have another couple of years in that grade.”

If that couple of years happens to open a pathway to the professional peloton, then great. If it doesn’t however, if circumstances change or priorities shift, then what of it? The adventure of moving abroad, living ‘la vita en Italia’, and exploring the wider continent should be an invaluable experience in itself. Cyclists are curious creatures. Many of us watch them in complete bewilderment, asking why anyone would choose to flog themselves on Alpine slopes, then risk life and limb on perilous descents. Humans aren’t built for such extremes. Cyclists are.