Rohan Dennis reflects on the most challenging year of his professional career
Rohan Dennis’ 2019 was a rollercoaster which featured plenty of highs and gutwrenching lows. Yet, 2020 is a new year and he spoke with The Advertiser’s Reece Homfray about the campaign ahead.
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After a season of exhilarating highs and almost soul-destroying lows, when Rohan Dennis sat back and looked at 2019 on paper he felt satisfied.
That doesn’t mean he enjoyed himself but he achieved most of what he set out to in what was the most challenging year of his professional career.
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“We made a list of things I wanted to achieve for the year and, look, some of them were fairly vague because you can’t always be too specific saying ‘I’m going to win this’ when you might not even be doing that particular race,” Dennis said.
“But to the best of our ability, we – (sports psychologist) David Spindler and myself – went through everything at the end of the season and there was very little that we didn’t achieve that we wanted to.
“A lot of it was doing the best I possibly could within my control – hitting my numbers and not necessarily worrying about the result.
“So, we made goals around power in comparison to the years before and we hit all those goals. We didn’t nail everything but it was the majority of the list.
“So, in that sense, I had a successful year, but I hated it at the same time.
“I really didn’t enjoy it and, at times, thought ‘What have I done?’. But there’s no point in dwelling on it and wishing I did or didn’t do something. I have to learn from it.”
Dennis finished fifth at the Tour Down Under, 11th at the Tour of California and second at the Tour of Swiss, but the one day that made it all worthwhile was in Yorkshire on September 25 when he defended his time trial world championship.
Despite not racing since he abandoned the Tour de France mid-race on Stage 12 in July, Dennis obliterated the field to win by more than a minute on the 54km undulating course to secure back-to-back rainbow jerseys.
“It was probably the biggest win of my career, but it’s funny because it was no bigger than the year before in terms of the result,” he said.
“But what it meant to me was bigger, the way it all panned out. It wasn’t just me on the bike, it was a whole team of us who had to do the job and get through it and that’s what I felt made the difference on the day.”
Shortly before he won the world title, his contract with Team Bahrain Merida was terminated and Dennis was suddenly searching for a new home.
After weeks of uncertainty, he eventually landed a dream contract with Team Ineos – previously Team Sky – and will debut for the British outfit at this month’s Santos Tour Down Under.
“Watching on from afar I’ve always been a huge fan of the team, ever since the early years,” he said.
“And I already feel a connection to this team that really believes in innovation, especially in time trialling, which is something I’m hugely passionate about. I hope I can do the team colours proud over the course of my time here.”
Dennis’s major goals for 2020 are ambitious but he believes achievable.
“I want to start off on a good foot at nationals (in January), then the TDU, of course. I want to have a crack and see how it goes but it’s never an easy race,” he said.
“Then my own personal goals are to win the time trial at the Tokyo Olympics and world championships in the one year.
“I don’t think anyone has done that in the men’s field before so that’s what I would like to do. It’s not going to be easy but I think it’s possible.”
What winning the time trial world title this year taught Dennis is he doesn’t necessarily have to have the perfect preparation to be able to nail a perfect race.
“Any time I don’t have the perfect preparation race-wise, it’s given me the confidence of knowing that’s not necessarily going to change the result,” he said.
“Where people go ‘You have to do a Grand Tour’ or ‘You have to do this or that’, it is possible to win (a major time trial) without it which was a big question mark.
“So, coming into Tokyo it might not necessarily be the best idea that you have to do the Tour (de France).
“Let’s try to be more specific about it to get the best preparation for Tokyo and maybe that’s the best way.”
Despite the highs of his world championship triumph, Dennis said the mental stress of the sport, which led to him quitting the Tour de France, had also taken its toll this season.
“I think a lot of the time it’s looked at as a privileged position and as sportspeople we are,” he said of professional cycling.
“But a lot of people ignore the fact that it’s a high-pressure situation, we are humans, we’re not in a circus show where you pay to watch, and you can laugh if we screw it up.
“Sportspeople are in this high-pressure environment doing the same thing day in, day out for 10 or 20 years and you’re expected to be motivated every single day.
“Of course, it’s only for a short period of your life, but you see guys in their 30s who might drop off for a couple of years and then come back.”
Dennis turns 30 in May and after the ups and downs of the sport, his best season might be just about to come.