A trio of Orwell Wheelers riders turned the Mick Lally Memorial on its head in the closing stages, before a Jack Woods bazooka settled the matter (Photo: Patrick McGonagle)
Just 12 months after claiming the C3 event at the Dublin Wheelers Open Races, teenager Jack Woods (Crabbe Dstny) got his hands in the air again today, Saturday, and his name on the trophy, at the C1 Mick Lally Memorial.
Though the 18-year-old’s kick to the line was really impressive, on a notoriously hard finish, the bunch sprint scenario didn’t really do justice to the late drama that unfolded. An all-star breakaway got a gap of well over a minute, but the riders from Orwell Wheelers, aided and abetted by a coalition of the willing, had other ideas.
They went to the front in the stickybottle.com-sponsored race, refused to give in, and turned the event on its head in the last couple of kilometres, much to the frustration of the breakaway men.
Once the bunch caught that breakaway, which was down to just four riders, up stepped Woods. He produced the kind of sprint that can carry him to many wins in the years ahead if he sticks at it.
Daire Feeley (Burren CC), who had been in the breakaway caught within sight of the Dorey’s Forge ramp to the line, still got 2nd place. The Roscommon rider looked pretty cranky as he crossed the line – though his mood quickly rallied – after missing out on retaining the Mick Lally despite helping dictate much of the race.
Craig Byrne leads Andrew Connolly in the C2 race, the duo staying away with Connolly winning the two-up sprint for victory (Photo: Patrick McGonagle)
Liam Crowley, who has switched from Austrian UCI Continental outfit Team Vorarlberg to Orwell Wheelers this year, placed 3rd. Cian Keogh (APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery) was 4th, having been in the breakaway for the day with Feeley.
Liam Kilkenny (Galway Bay CC) was 5th, followed by Tadhg Kileen (Kilcullen CC Murphys), Ruairi Byrne (UCD Cycling Club), James Connolly (Dungarvan CC), Rian Cahill (Athy Wheelers CC) and Conor McKeown (Moynalty CC).
One man who didn’t feature in that top 10 was Con Scully (Dan Morissey Pissei), who was one of the men of the race. He spent a good chunk of the opening phase of the race, well over 20km, up the road in a two-man move with Mark Shannon (Burren CC).
Though they never really got much more than 30 seconds, they put in a strong ride to stay out there. And when Shannon went back to the bunch on the second, of four, laps of 22km in Summerhill, Co Meath, Scully ploughed on alone, hoping someone would come across to him.
When he was left alone about 20 seconds in front of the bunch he eventually decided to wait for the chasing pack. Yet, it seemed like just a few minutes later he was away again, and this time in a very strong move that looked like it was gone for the day.
Tom Hughes of Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Murphy Geospatial opened his season with a win in the C3 Willie Marks after a fine solo effort (Photo: Patrick McGonagle)
With Scully were Feely, Keogh and new U23 rider, and Junior of Ireland 2025 winner, Matthew Walls (APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery). Josh Callaly (Velo Performance) was also there after putting in a huge effort to get across to the move on his own, on the comeback trail from a recent blast of pneumonia.
Once those five got together, the gap opened and was soon over one minute, with Scully especially keen to keep the pace moving. However, though they about one minute starting the final lap, the time checks soon revealed the gap was coming down, and back to 38 seconds with about half the lap remaining.
In the bunch Orwell Wheelers Evan Keane – one of the revelations of last year – Sean O’Kane and the aforementioned Crowley were riding on the front. They were aided by a couple of others offering a few pulls, including Mark Dowling (VeloRevolution).
Up front, team mates Walls and Keogh attacked multiple times, marked closely by Feeley, who put in a few digs of his own. Scully lost his place once the attacks began, though he remained quite close behind the four leaders in a one-man chase for much of the final lap.
All the attacking meant the leaders were surging forward and then stalling, thus playing into the hands of the chasers. With about 5km to go, the gap had been reduced to less than 20 seconds and it was clear the catch would be made.
And so it came to pass; about 2km from the finish the four leaders were reabsorbed, with a big bunch sprint deciding it and Woods putting in a monster gallop to win. Indeed, he was one of three juniors to take the honours today.
The C2 Ian Gallahar Memorial was won by Andrew Connolly (Dungarvan CC) from Craig Byrne (Bray Wheelers) and Jorge Rua Riveiro (Unattached Leinster). And the C3 Willie Marks Memorial also produced a junior winner; Tom Hughes (Kilcullen Cycling Club) taking it from Harry Parnell (Lucan CRC) and Ben Bergin (Lucan CRC).