Mark Dowling knows pain. To compete one must endure. In his mind it is a requirement of the sport. The cyclist is a veteran of the national circuit and has been a vocal critic of Irish cycling for quite some time. He is not for backing down now.
Last year he said he could count the number of hard men in Irish cycling on one hand. A few have mentioned it to him since, but Dowling is affirmative; the sport is deteriorating.
It used to be hard racing. The races themselves were longer. The routes were harder. The riders were tougher. It was more aggressive. Whereas nowadays courses have been shortened. They are taking out the major climbs trying to facilitate riders, it is hard to say if they are getting lazier... I know people are more time-crunched now with jobs and time commitments but I'm sure they were back in the day when those racers were hard too.
These guys don’t like to go all in. They don’t like if there are breakaways up the road. They don’t like to put everything on the line, to risk blowing up themselves in order to try and make it. Like the Shay Elliott race last Sunday was the perfect example. People get distracted with fighting for the minor places. There are very few guys like myself or a few of the other guys in the bunch who don’t care about second, third or fourth place. They will just give absolutely everything to put themselves back in position to go for it because that is all that matters. Now guys settle and are happy with a top ten. That’s not something I understand, I'm from a family where it is just win, win. No one remembers second. That’s all that counts.
Dowling is grateful other jurisdictions haven't tailored their races in the same way. The UK has maintained big feature climbs while he has also ventured further afield in search of challenges. The Irishman has ridden in the Taiwan KOM Challenge numerous times, a race that is hailed as the most lucrative one-day event in cycling. It is also one of the most gruelling, with the summit over three times higher than Carrauntoohil as devastating temperatures and altitude threatening to overcome riders.
Nobody likes the pain and when you're in the race in a race like that, it is probably the hardest one-day event you could possibly do. All the way through the race, I've done it three times now and all the way through all I can think about is quitting. It’s that hard. I know I can push myself more than a lot of other guys even if I'm not as talented. I mean I can bring myself to a point where I ended up in an ambulance, the year before last at the top of the mountain. I know I possess that kind of quality to push myself and I know a lot of other guys don’t. I like the challenge to see how far you can get in a race like that. I have a third and a tenth.
Now it is a brave new world for Dowling, and not just in terms of national race quality. The cycling world is still coming to terms with Chris Froome's adverse analytical finding for salbutamol at the 2017 Vuelta a España. Salbutamol is a drug used to alleviate the symptoms of asthma, a condition Dowling has suffered with throughout his career.
It reared its head to restrict Dowling during the Taiwan Challenge last year. Already struggling to breath 3,300 metres above sea level, the onslaught of asthma symptoms meant Dowling was reduced to near blackouts and soon lying flat in the back of an ambulance: "Last year I had a struggle with my asthma and I had two crashes. That didn’t go well, I just found myself in my own world of pain down in tenth and twelfth position going further out of the race."
I struggle with asthma. I struggle with breathing difficulties. In a lot of races, I find when asthma kicks up the medication I'm on really isn’t adequate. It is so difficult to get the medication I really need for asthma because of all the bad press it is getting from Sky. I mean I’m a guy with a legitimate problem and I'm paying the price because of those guys. You can go so far in a race due to pain; push and suffer. But when you get something like asthma, like I did in Taiwan the year before last, there is nothing you can do for it. I can't fight that mentally. It shuts you down and when you are going into an asthma attack, you don’t start thinking about pushing through that pain. You just think about medical help.
I could feel I was beginning to go half unconscious, so I know I have to back off a little and use that tiny bit of air to keep myself upright on the bike. If I begin to push a little harder I’m then in trouble and I can feel like I'm about to pass out a little bit.
Since Froome's case exploded into the public sphere there has been unprecedented scrutiny of the use of inhalers. Froome has maintained he is a legitimate asthma sufferer and never exceeded the permitted dose. However, Sky's recent record of a mystery jiffy bag, mistaken testosterone patches, corticosteroid triamcinolone injections and the failed test for salbutamol have damaged the public's trust in the sport.
Not only are the public sceptical, cyclists themselves are. As recently as last week, Dowling faced jeers mid-race for resorting to his inhaler.
I'm struggling with my breathing, especially lately with the pollen count and then I need to take my two puffs of my blue inhaler, my salbutamol inhaler which I've been taking for 25 years or more. Even when I did triathlons in the past I used it. Nowadays, you go to use that and everyone behind you starts shouting 'Hey!' Ah this and that, calling at you, without any real medical experience. They just think you are getting a benefit.
I don’t know if people realise how many big, big races I've lost because I'm struggling with my asthma as I go into the end of the race. They just think 'aw, you blew up' and they don’t realise I was struggling. I don’t advertise it too much because then it is an excuse, that’s the consequence of Sky abusing the system.
Now focus turns to the next challenge. The 2018 Rás Tailteann starts this Sunday as 155 riders are set to race over eight stages totalling 1168 kilometres. Amongst them will be Mark Dowling, covering well-worn ground in unprecedented circumstances.
"I begin to think there is a lot of riders who have respect for me over the years having won nearly everything you can win in Ireland. Now they see me taking an inhaler and when I reach for it, you think 'do they think I'm just winning this race because of my inhaler.' It is infuriating."
Team Leinster cyclist, Mark Dowling, was speaking at the official Rás Tailteann launch event. Europcar, global leaders in car hire, was this week unveiled as official partner to the Rás Tailteann 2018, Ireland’s premier cycling event which attracts 31 teams (12 international and 19 domestic) which amounts to 155 riders. The historic race takes place over eight days from May 20th to 28th, covering a total race distance of 1168 kilometres.
