MEMBERS of the Sorrento cycling club in Co Wicklow will be out in force to watch the third of the Irish stages of the Giro d'Italia which ends in Dublin on Sunday.
But they won't just be cheering on the Irish trio of Nicholas Roche, Daniel Martin and Philip Deignan.
Instead the loudest roar of all is likely to be reserved for a cyclist who was once one of their own, Chris Juul Jensen.
The name may not sound at all Irish but Jensen, who switched his allegiance to Denmark a few years ago, spent the first 16 years of his life in Co Wicklow where he followed his father and brother into mountain biking with the Sorrento club.
Now he is a member of the same team as former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador, although, sadly for local fans the Spaniard won't be competing in the Giro this year.
But Nicolas Roche, whose father Stephen famously won the Giro and the Tour de France along with the world road race in 1987, is in the Tinko-Saxo line up.
It's something Jensen could only have dreamed about in his younger days when he represented Ireland at the Youth Olympics before declaring for his parent's country of birth.
But his Irish accent is unmistakable and he has a clear recollection of his roots in Co Wicklow as a youngster. "We grew up in Kilmacanogue and we had the Sugarloaf as a back garden. It was a great place to live, a great place to ride your bike in the mountains and in the woods," he explained.
But after the outbreak of foot and mouth disease across the country in 2001, cycling in rough terrain was banned in an effort to avoid the spread of the disease.
"We decided to do some road racing then and once I tried it I really found I loved it and I never looked back." he added.
Then came selection as a schoolboy to represent Ireland at the Youth Olympics in Italy in 2005.. "In Irish terms I was of a high standard. But when you raced abroad it was a lot different," he said.
Having been bitten by the bug Jensen (inset) and the dream of a pro career, Jensen, now 24, decided to go to Denmark in pursuit of his ambition.
He spent a year at a cycling school in Aarhus where the sport was given roughly the same priority as academic matters: "It was a combination of school and cycling. Cycling was a class that you had in your timetable. Some of the best Danish cyclists were there, it was great for developing," he recalled. "It was a high Danish standard, probably high in terms of Europe as well. Once we'd tried it, there was no going back. We saw that if you wanted to develop, this was the place to be. "In Ireland you would need to spend too much time studying to do the Leaving Cert, so the bike would get less attention and a lot of guys pack it in. "In Denmark you have that bit if extra time to give to it and to mature. You do the school course work over a longer period of years so you don't need to spend as much time on it."
In 2012 Jensen's progress in the Under 23 ranks was noted by Team Tinko Saxo and his dream was to become a reality.
But he still holds fond memories of his days in Co Wicklow and the Sorrento CC members who encouraged him in the early part of his career.
No doubt he'll give them a friendly wave if can spot them in the crowd in Dublin on Sunday.