Hugh Carthy has told Ciclismo Internacional that he knows he has taken the hard route by becoming a pro cyclist abroad, with Caja Rural in Spain. But he is confident he can reach a high level with the Pro Continental team.

“It’s going to be difficult; I’m under no illusions. I studied Spanish at school a few years ago and this winter I hired a private tutor. Luckily, learning languages is something I enjoy, so I’m improving nicely. It’s not a quick process but I feel I’ve done as much as possible to help myself. Once I start living in Spain, it won’t take very long to get to a high level. I was nervous when I first met the team to sign my contracts. I knew very little Spanish and I suddenly felt like an outsider. With the help of my agent, Jorge Quintana from Velofutur, I signed the contracts and left Spain in July feeling happy about the decisions I had made and ready to make the step up. I’ll be based in Pamplona when the season starts. My parents were delighted for me. They’ve helped me every step of the way so far and would never hold me back!”, he said.

Carthy came to the world’s attention when the 20-year-old won the Tour of Korea, a race that is notoriously tough to control. That led to him being offered a contract in June/July by the Spanish team.

“It was my first ever UCI win as an U23. I had been close to a win on two occasions in Japan, the previous week, so it was nice to go one better and win. With the offer to turn professional coming from that win, I’d definitely say it was a pivotal moment in my career.”

He doesn’t just think his Tour of Korea win was important, but his whole two years spent racing at Rapha Condor JLT.

“My time at Rapha was very important indeed. John Herety has a lot of experience running professional and national teams, in the past, so he know’s the right formula for making riders successful. His main focus was providing the team the best race programme possible and making sure every rider on the team got opportunities to race big races. We worked with some of the best staff and some experienced riders who all helped me learn and develop. John kept us all grounded and encouraged us to keep learning.”

Hugh first met his new teammates at their first team meeting in November, saying that he was very nervous to meet them at first.

“It was a lot less stressful than I thought it would be. I thought my lack of Spanish would be a real problem. Everybody was accommodating and welcoming and I left there feeling part of the team. I spoke a lot more Spanish than I thought possible and it definitely helped my confidence. Other than that, it was very typical – clothing measurements, bike measurements, etc.”

As the second biggest Spanish team, after WorldTour side Movistar, Caja Rural will get invited to lots of big races, which Hugh is looking forward to. He says he will ride races that suit him and he will have a healthy race programme.

“I’ll have a healthy race programme with races that suit me. The team haven’t given me any specific targets yet. We’ll get a more substantial race programme at the team training camp in January. To ride a Grand Tour would be massive for me. I have 2 years with the team to make progress, so I’m not going to put lots of pressure on myself in my first year. I have to look at the bigger picture. That said, if the opportunity came along, I wouldn’t turn it down.”

But at such a young age, he knows he has to be reasonable in his first pro year, and he is refusing to set himself any targets other than developing further as a rider.

“I don’t want to set any specific targets, at this stage. I want to continue learning and developing everyday, which will hopefully lead to some success.”