The big race of the weekend – a
stacked Irish field and across the 3 categorised races, there were
400+ racers.
In the A1/A2 race, the A2 riders got a two minute advantage over us. Over the first half of the race I ended up riding a lot and pulling some groups across with me - all part of the game. Lots of attacking, groups splitting, groups reforming but with two laps to go I was in the lead break of 12. Coming up to the bell lap, I attacked over the top of the hill and onto the descent, when I was brought back, Fraser Duncan counter attacked and went off on a solo run towards the finish. He dangled off the front while we played games for the next 15 kilometers – going up the final climb, in form Peter Hawkins and Greg Swinard attacked a counter to my move – they got the gap and the rest of the break looked at me... I didn't react immediately (Greg and Peter were super strong all day and would work well together to catch Duncan). Eventually, I attacked out of the break pulling Mark Dowling with me. Mark, having been brought back from an earlier move wasn't able to help much as we plummeted down to the finish. I caught the three riders in the final 150 meters but didn't have enough to get by for the win. Peter Hawkins won, I finished 4th.
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| Cross the line for the bell lap - Photo Amy-Norah Farrell |
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| The sprint for the win |
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