It was a mixed day for An Post-Chainreaction, winning stage 3 in Azerbaijan with Josh Edmondson, above, but also being forced to digest some very bad news for Ireland's Sean Downey.
The relief and joy inside the An Post-Chainreaction team camp at the Tour d’Azerbaijan where UK rider Josh Edmondson picked up the team’s first win of the season has come on the same day as a major blow to one of the squad’s Irish riders.
Sean Downey remains ill after having to pull out of the race in Azerbaijan after stage 1 on Wednesday and he now looks a major doubt for the An Post Rás the week after next.
If the Banbridge man fails to make the start line it would be a major blow for him personally and for the team.
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Downey was their best performer overall last year, making the key breakaway of the week on the 169km stage 5 between Cahirciveen and Clonakilty.
Sean Downey was 6th overall in the Rás last year and 2nd in the National Road Race Championships; missing the eight-day Irish race starting next weekend would be a massive blow for him (Photo: Toby Watson)
He then went on to finish 6th overall, just 58 seconds down on overall winner Clemens Fankhauser of Austria Tirol.
An Post-Chainreaction manager Kurt Bogaerts confirmed today that Downey was now at real risk of missing the Rás.
“Sean picked up an allergy and will miss the remaining couple of days racing,” he said.
“At the moment it’s touch and go whether he’ll be ready for the Rás, which leaves Ryan Mullen and Conor Dunne as my only fit Irish riders”.
The An Post-Chainreaction team on the front at the Tour d’Azerbaijan yesterday; Edmundson leads Irish man Conor Dunne.
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Of the other Irish riders in the team, Jack Wilson is recovering from a crash at the U23 Nations Cup in France last month when he broke his collar bone and a bone in his hand while riding for the Irish team.
And Eoin McCarthy was sidelined from racing, also after crashing.
However, while Downey and the team now have an anxious few days to see if he recovers in time to ride the race, and be competitive in it, Edmondson’s win marked the high point of the season to date.
He attacked inside the last 5km as the last of the breakaway were being reeled in.
And despite most of the final being made up of an uphill drag, he built a gap of around 10 seconds and survived out front to win.
Some of the scenery has been nothing short of stunning in Azerbaijan over the past few days.
The 22-year-old former Team Sky rider showed the kind of power in hanging on by just one second for victory to suggest it may not be long before he moves back into the sport’s top tier.
He is now 5th overall with two stages remaining.
“I am delighted for Josh, but more importantly for the team,” said Bogaerts.
“This was a huge ride for us. There were some very strong teams involved at the finish and luckily Josh had the legs, and the talent to cross the line first”.
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