Jason
MacIntyre
Tuesday 16th January, 2008
by Ed Hood
British 25 Mile Time Trial Champion, Jason Macintyre
(Edge RT) died this afternoon, after being involved in a collision
at 13.34 GMT with a Highland Council truck which is believed to have
turned left across his path as it entered the council yard on the
northern outskirts of Jason's home town of Fort William.
The 34 year-old multiple Scottish champion was
returning from a training run in the Spean Bridge area when the tragedy
occured at a spot known locally as Carr's corner on the A82 road.
Despite being taken by ambulance to Belford Hospital
in the town, he was subsequently pronounced dead from his injuries.
A late-bloomer, whilst giving indications of his
quality as a rider over the last 15 years, it was only in the last
two seasons that he realised the potential that many observers had
long felt he harboured.
At the end of the 2005 season, Jason began to return
to form after a spell of illness. After training right through the
Highland winter and displaying fanatical attention to his diet, he
emerged at the start of the 2006 season slimmer, more flexible and
stronger than at any stage in his career.
Whilst Scots had long known of Jason's potential,
it was not until he beat former double World Track Champion Chris
Newton, to win the British 25 Mile Time Trial Championship that the
wider cycling public were alerted to his ability.
His pride pricked by what he felt was a lack of
recognition of his 25 victory, he removed all doubts about the validity
of his win by beating multiple Britiish Time Trial Champion Michael
Hutchison, to take the British Cycling Circuit Time Trial Championship
later that same season.
The 2007 season saw him in even more towering form:
Jason won the Scottish 10 Mile Time Trial Championship by two minutes
and beat Graeme Obree's long-standing Scottish 10 mile record.
Hutchison
narrowly beat him for the British 10 Mile title but in the 25 he was
unstoppable, brushing-off the pressure of being defending champion
to beat Hutchison convincingly.
Ironically, the race which perhaps gained him most
recognition was one which he did not win; defending his British Cycling
Circuit Championship, he punctured when on a ride which looked to
have former Tour de France yellow jersey holder David Millar heading
for the silver medal behind the flying Highlander.
With Bradley Wiggins not riding the road time trial
at the Bejing Olympics, and David Millar barred from the same event
due to his drug taking admissions, an Olympic slot for Jason was no
pipe dream.
Sadly, the very best of Jason MacIntyre will never
be seen.
He is survived by his wife Caroline, and twin daughters
Chloe and Morgan, to whom we extend our deepest sympathies.
Gregor Russell
Today I heard the tragic news of the death of Jason MacIntyre.
As many people in the cycling world know, he rode
for my team for nearly his entire cycling career. In the near-twenty
years together we went through a lot of great times, and a few not-so-great
times too. Over that time he not only became a very good friend to
me, but he also developed into a fantastic athlete.
As with most people at the top of their sport,
his attention to detail and fastidious preparation was remarkable.
We first met when I took the National Team to
the RÁS International Cycle Race in Ireland. Jason crashed
and punctured at least once every day for the first five days, but
got up and made it back to the bunch each time, only being unable
to take the start when a sickness bug struck, and he was barely able
to stand, let alone ride his bike.
His approach inspired me to start a team and build
it around him, and a few years later we returned to Ireland for the
Tour of the North where Jason won two stages, as well as the race
overall and leading us to the team prize.
He went to France to try and pursue cycling as
a career however the arrival of his twin girls, Chloe and Morgan,
meant he was unable to return the following season. Indeed their premature
birth halted his cycling for a couple of years.
On his return he was, to my amazement, even better
and stronger than before, and he went on to win five Scottish Grand
Prix events on the trot, as well as winning the Glasgow-Dunoon British
Premier Calendar race, following that quickly with a win in the Wanlockhead
race.
Since then he has won countless Scottish Time Trial,
Road Race, and Track titles with apparent ease.
His selection for the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth
Games was certainly well earned, however he was overlooked for the
2006 Commonwealth Games in Sydney, and this was proven to be a somewhat
short-sighted decision when he went on to win the blue riband event
of British cycling: the 25 Mile Time Trial Championship. Then, with
even more aplomb Jason won the British Circuit Time Trial Championship.
His target then became the Beijing Olympics to
be held later this year, which he had been shortlisted for.
Sadly he will now be unable to fulfil that chapter
in his career.
My family and I, and all of Jason's former team-mates,
send our deepest condolences to his family.
Ed Hood
The news about Jason Macintyre stunned me, his face flashed before
my eyes and the tears just couldn't be stopped.
There are only two people I've seen in Scottish
racing who have really left their mark on me:
One was Graham Obree. I can still see him torturing
himself over the Dukes Pace on one of those Heath Robinson creations
he used to ride; complete with single chain ring, on his way to breaking
Robert Millar's Trossachs course record.
The other image is of Jason. His position perfect,
back flat and parallel to the road surface, eating up the tar, flowing
straight and true with that marvellous lightness of touch on the pedals.
You either love time testing or you hate it - I
love it. For me, Jason MacIntyre was the time triallist's time triallist:
his style, his cadence, his lines through the bends, his attention
to detail with clothing and equipment, his single-mindedness about
training and diet. Everything was done properly.
I can remember the "old" Jason at the
Scottish 'Olympic' time trial champs, north of Dundee a few years
ago - he went off-course when victory looked in the bag.
The 'new' Jason was different. He would have driven
and ridden that course beforehand, no-one would have known it better,
and for him to go off-course would have been unthinkable.
Many business people, if you ask them about why
it took them until such-and-such a time to gain success, will say;
"I finally got serious." The winter of 2005 was when Jason
'got serious'."
He became especially serious about his diet. He
was never what you call 'fat' at the best of times, but as the pounds
came off and the power-to-weight ratio improved, he just got faster
and faster. I looked in awe at his legs back at the Scottish Circuit
Time Trial Championship at Eglinton last autumn. Very few professionals
have legs like that: cut, sculpted, brown, and always the long-johns
to keep all of that hard fought muscle warm.
I've already written about his British title wins
- dazzling rides, but I'm convinced that the best was yet to come.
I felt there was an Olympic Time Trial Medal in those long legs.
We'll never know if I'm right about that, but what
I do know is that Scottish cycling has lost one of it's greats, and
I've lost a friend who meant so much to me.
