Halesowen cycling duo show form in Ireland (From Halesowen News)

Halesowen cycling duo show form in Ireland

10:30pm Thursday 19th July 2012 in Sport

YOUNG Halesowen Cycling Club stars Callum Ferguson and Will Hier showed their potential at the Junior Tour of Ireland.

Ferguson placed 19th overall and Hier 30th in what is one of the toughest stage races for juniors, attracting teams and riders from around the world.

The duo were part of the five-strong West Midlands team.

First year junior Ferguson believes the experience will stand him in good stead moving forward.

He said: “It was a great experience, the race was really well set up and it was different racing among Americans and South Africans.

“I really feel I can improve for next year.”

Hier, who is in his first season of racing added: “It’s the toughest junior stage race in Europe so it was a steep learning curve.

“I learned a lot from racing every day and we stayed together as a team, so you learn to eat the right things and prepare properly.

“I’m still relatively new to racing so at the moment it’s a case of going through each process and learning every different aspect.”

Both riders will form part of Halesowen’s team to tackle next month’s Junior Tour of Wales.

Matt Clarke finished a strong 10th last season and the club’s racing team manager Dave Viner believes both Ferguson and Hier could place strongly.

He said: “They will have taken great experience from being at the Tour of Ireland.

“You can learn as much from one stage race as you can over a whole season.”