'Having a kind of delusional optimism really served me': The three year journey from beginner to Olympian

One in four Britons believe they could qualify for Los Angeles 2028 if they started training straight away – so revealed a YouGov survey in August 2024. That’s a lot of deluded people, you might think. But Irishwoman Megan Armitage has proved it’s possible, going from beginner to Olympian in just three years.

Back in 2021, Armitage and her partner, the Australian pro rider Cyrus Monk, were watching the Tokyo Olympic women’s road race on TV when Monk said: “That could be you in Paris.” A disbelieving Armitage retorted, “Get away!” But three years later, on 4 August 2024, the Irishwoman was on the start line in Paris, alongside Lotte Kopecky and Marianne Vos.

Armitage, now 28, had not set out to become a pro bike racer. In her early 20s, her sights were set on legal rather than sporting practice. “I didn’t grow up with cycling,” she says. “I studied law and French law, and hated every minute. The one great thing about it was that I did my Erasmus in Toulouse [in France], so I could go trail running. Frustratingly I got injured, so my friend suggested we go on a bikepacking trip.”

Every Thursday, after class, Armitage and her friend set out on battered rental mountain bikes for long weekends in the Pyrenees – and gradually she morphed from runner into cyclist. “We’d stay in dingy Airbnbs or take a tent, which sometimes collapsed overnight. It was so much fun, I was hooked.”

Stay in the Pyrenees

At this point, Armitage wasn’t thinking of becoming a professional bike racer, but wanted cycling in her life. “I bought a road bike, and loved getting out on it. Then when Covid hit, I initially thought I could just stay in the Pyrenees and carry on cycling, assuming it would blow over after a couple of weeks.” When the scale of the outbreak became clear, the student hurried back to her family home in County Offaly, Ireland. There, she continued to cycle in the nearby Slieve Bloom hills.

It was while out on a lockdown training ride that she met pro cyclist and coach Monk. Covid rules had prevented the Australian from returning to his base in Belgium. Noting Armitage’s potency in the hills, Monk encouraged her to try racing. After a few rides together, he became her coach, and later her fiancé. Once restrictions were lifted, Armitage started racing locally. “I enjoyed it so much, and went to every single race I could,” she says.

Given her early success and finishing eighth in the Irish National Road Race Championship in October 2020, her vocation became clear. “Once I’d finished my final year exams [in 2021], I didn’t even go to my graduation, I just went Photos: straight to Belgium and did every single kermesse race I could get into.” She was off to the races, quite literally. “Belgium was a completely different world. In Ireland I’d been racing against 20 girls, whereas here I was up against 100 or 140 girls.”

Ignorance is invincible

Looking back, Armitage feels that her naivety worked to her advantage. “I’d rock up at these kermesses and didn’t know who anyone was. Lucinda Brand and all these incredible cyclists would be there, but I’d think, ‘I can do this.’ Having that kind of delusional optimism, thinking I was invincible, really served me.

“I remember one race where it was absolutely lashing down with rain, and the whole course was flooded,” she says. Her Irish team-mate Imogen Cotter told her that this kermesse was so hard that she had never finished it.

“This fired me up even more and made me determined to finish,” says Armitage. “I can’t remember my result, but I was so happy when I finished.”

Not even the rain, chaos and crashes of hard-fought Belgian races could blunt Armitage’s newfound passion for the sport. “There were a lot of different abilities, and some very competitive girls,” she says. “I got caught up in so many crashes. I’d come down and cut open my knee. It would heal and then I’d be in another crash – I constantly had scarred knees.”

As yet, Armitage did not have a professional contract and was self-funding her racing, struggling to make ends meet. She and Monk lived in a bedsit in Belgium, and it was that summer, while watching the Tokyo Olympics together, that Monk said she could qualify for the next Games. Armitage wrote hundreds of emails to Irish companies, seeking sponsorship. Eventually she received a positive response: Philip Nolan, the cycling-mad chairman of law firm Mason Hayes and Curran agreed to back her.

“I was ecstatic!” Armitage recalls.

Family backing

Throughout these challenging times, the young Irishwoman had unwavering moral support from her family, even if they were nervous about her plan. “My mum and dad think I’m half-cracked!” she laughs. “My sister stuck with the set ways: went to university, did law and got a job, whereas I was like, ‘No I’m doing this.’” Her parents’ response: “As long as you’re safe and able to provide for yourself, we back you 100%.”

What should have been Armitage’s big break came in late 2022 when she was offered a contract with B&B Hotels, to race alongside Audrey Cordon-Ragot and Chloe Hosking. Unfortunately the team folded and Armitage, in Australia at the time, spent all night making phone calls to Europe seeking a replacement.

Fortunately, Arkéa hired Armitage for 2023, and she didn’t disappoint, winning the Vuelta Extremadura stage race in March, followed by fourth at the GP Féminin de Chambéry in April. For 2024 she signed a three-year contract with EF-Oatly-Cannondale. “It’s an incredible team in terms of the support we get,” Armitage says. “It’s full of stars: Alison Jackson and Kristen Faulkner are really experienced.”

Now based in Nice, Armitage and Monk train on the climbs of the surrounding Alpes-Maritimes. There have been bumps in the road, and Armitage has had her share of injuries, one of which ruled her out of the 2023 Tour de France Femmes. The dream came true last year when Armitage was selected to represent Ireland in the road race at the Paris 2024 Olympics. “Everyone dreams about the Olympics as a kid, but I never thought it would happen to me,” she says. “So when we were on the start line with the Eiffel Tower in front of us and all the crowds, I was looking around thinking, ‘Damn, this is pretty cool.’ Going up Montmartre was incredible, and taking in those crowds was insane.”

Although her race didn’t go to plan – she was caught behind a crash at the start of the Montmartre loop – the woman from Shinrone still relished her day on the streets of Paris. “Though it was frustrating, I try to remind myself of the Megan who started out in Belgium with no money, just trying to make it,” she reflects. “I feel so lucky to have had that incredible experience.”

Armitage’s first objective for 2025 was to get a result in the Tour Down Under. One day, a Grand Tour debut may be on the cards. As she now knows for sure, it pays to dream big.