Dramatic win for Slane rider Ian in Clonmel race
SLANE native Ian Richardson captured one of the finest results of his cycling career when achieving a dramatic overall victory in the Suir Valley Pro-Am three-day fourstage race in Clonmel on Monday.
The UCD-Fitzcycles.ie rider started the rain-lashed 113km final stage just five seconds behind race leader Stephen Williams of the JLT-Condor P/B Mavic team, and the plan was to stick right behind Williams’ team riders, let them do the work and then launch a charge in the run-in to the finish.
In the end the plan worked to perfection as Richardson came out on top in the 400km event by just seven seconds, and afterwards he said the victory was ‘up there’ with his award as top county rider at the 2015 An Post Ràs.
‘My plan was to save all my energy for an all-or-nothing attack in the last three or four kilometres,’ said Richardson afterwards.
‘I just had to wait for the right moment; I had other riders coming up to me saying ‘are you going to attack?’ but I was saying ‘just hold on, it’s too early’.
‘Even at 8k to go it was too early, I was waiting for JLT to catch the break,’ he said, referring to those up the road fighting for stage honours.
‘When I saw the entire JLT team take the wrong turn and go straight (at the roundabout) I was right on their train. I’d studied the route map, I’d known the route and I attacked straightaway. There was a switch that went in my head and that was my opportunity to go.
‘I focused on not coming off my bike in that last 500 metres; even around the last corner my back wheel slid out, but I recovered it.
‘It’s definitely up there with the Rás result. I was emotional after that and I always am after a win like this.’
Elsewhere at the weekend, Navan Road Club promoted the 25th annual Mountnugent GP at Mountnugent, and this attracted a record entry of 86 riders.
By the half-way mark all groups had merged, the scene was set for a very fast finish and this proved to be so, with Philip Lavery, home on a short break from Belgium where he races with the Baquet-MIBA team, taking victory and Stamullen Road Club rider Cian Delaney in fourth place. The Senior A2 category was won by Arek Klus, Stamullen Road Club, with Alan Malone from Ardee CC second A4.
The action switched to Meath on Sunday for the inaugural Oldcastle GP which was promoted by the TC Racing Club in Oldcastle.
What a resounding success this turned out to be, with a total of 232 riders lining up to compete in the festival of races, which attracted not just cyclists but also drew in a massive gathering of spectators.
The Senior A1-A2 race was held over five laps of a 20km circuit and early on in the race a four-man break went clear, gaining an advantage of one minute 35 seconds over the main field. However, with a fierce driving attack from behind, the gap closed and all escapees were reeled in the two laps remaining. By the time the riders got the bell, signifying the start of the final lap, 10 riders detached themselves off the front of the race and built up a lead of 25 seconds.
With 15km of racing remaining Colin Robinson from Stamullen Road Club attacked from this leading group and went clear on his own, only to be chased down and caught with 4km to go.
There was great excitement as the spectators saw the lead cars with their blazing lights come into view ahead of the riders for the uphill sprint to the finish line. Using up every ounce of strength to get across the line first, North Tipperary CC rider Dermot Radford did just that and took a fine win, with Robinson ending up in 10th place on the same time as the winner.