Eoin Morton's road season would appear to be over after he fractured his elbow in a crash at the Suir Valley Three-Day yesterday. The UCD-Fitzcycles.ie man came down in a big pile-up as the riders raced towards the Glen of Aherlow after 40 kilometres (Photo courtesy Jonathen Ryan-Tipperaryphotos.com)
By Brian Canty
UCD-Fitzcycles.ie might have taken their biggest ever stage race win yesterday when Ian Richardson captured the Suir Valley three-Day after a dramatic final stage - but it came at a significant cost.
Both Eoin Morton and Ben Delaney suffered broken bones in the big crash that took down a number of riders as the race approached the cat 2 climb of the Glen of Aherlow.
Morton suffered a broken right elbow trying to break his fall while Delaney broke his arm and both were forced to retire from the race.
Advertisement
It came at a time when the racing was really on with riders fighting for position on the narrow and sinuous run-in to the climb.
Related News
At least a dozen riders hit the deck though none were more seriously hurt than the Dublin duo.
Both were taken to Clonmel Hospital by ambulance where the extent of their injuries was assessed.
And at the time of writing both were waiting to see fracture specialists this week.
It makes Richardson’s achievement all the more remarkable as he was down to just a couple of riders for support in what was left of the front group; Cian O’Reilly and Joseph Breheny and two UCD men still in the race.
Morton had been flying all weekend and he was one of the race’s key players, despite missing the split on Saturday’s opener.
“Myself and Ben were in the back of the ambulance and found out on Twitter that Ian had won," he recalled.
“We nearly turned the thing upside down jumping up and down cheering. Who cares about broken bones when the team has won?”
Topics
