Sean joined Team dsm-firmenich PostNL in 2023, coming out of the U23 ranks where he had a successful few seasons and took a brilliant win at the Istrian Spring Trophy in early 2022.
Hailing from the not-so-sunny climate of Scotland, Sean isn’t from a cycling family as such but from a young age everyone around him has been active and pursued sports in one way or another. His first passage into the sport was from watching some downhill mountain biking and he joined a local cycling club near Edinburgh at around the age of ten. Starting in cross country mountain biking, Sean then also took up cyclocross which was followed by road and track and in his younger years he “basically did any type of cycling he could” before more recently fully focusing on the road.
A true fan of the sport, Sean loves all aspects of cycling including the ability it gives you to see more of the world and the time you can spend with friends in an active way.
“I love the variations in races and the tactics, the options that gives you and the team to be able to do well, by being smart and working well together. As for the racing I really like the team aspect and that really drew me in as I’m a sociable person.”
Making the step up from the U23 ranks to the elite peloton comes with its challenges, setbacks, and hard moments but the plucky Sean is aware of what still lies ahead of him, and he’s excited for everything that being a professional cyclist encompasses.
“It’s all the start of the next step, it’s not like I’ve made it yet. I know it’s going to be hard but I’m really looking forward to it, getting stuck in and working hard so that hopefully I can make it all the way to the top.”
Looking back on his career so far, one of Sean’s stand-out moments on the bike was being able to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games where he helped his teammate Finn Crocket to a bronze medal; or of course being part of the brilliant team time trial success on the opening stage of his debut Vuelta a España.
Sean describes himself as “determined” as he is someone who works hard for his goals, and he doesn’t really veer off that path until he achieves that goal. “Chilled” is another word Sean uses and although he sometimes doesn’t think that himself, his friends, and family would describe him that way. Finally, he is a “passionate” individual and if he finds something he likes as a hobby for example, he goes “all-in” for it. Sean thinks all three of those attributes compliment him as a rider and have helped him to get to where he is now.
Rather surprisingly, Sean’s favourite type of music is rap which he says, “people find quite funny when I tell them as I don’t think they expect that”. If he’s not blaring out some loud rap music, then Sean is like most young guys – spending good quality time with his friends and family, going to cafés, or possibly even working on his hidden talent of sarcastic jokes.