Cathal Moynihan, second from back of line, took another win on Sunday in the A3 race as comeback man Barry Meehan took the A4 race after a strong sprint.
By Brian Canty
Cathal Moynihan (Tralee BC) on Sunday made it two wins in as many weeks after he took the honours in the A3 event of Rás Luimni in arctic-like temperatures at Caherconlish.
Last week’s winner of the Cycling Pursuits Cup, on Sunday he was part of a nine-man break that surged clear on the second of three laps and he had enough in his legs come the finish to escape with a kilometre to go and stay away. He took victory ahead of Dylan Foley (Nicolas Roche Performance Team) and third placed Trevor Robinson (Comeragh CC).
It was anything but easy, said Moynihan afterwards; adding he was happy to get another win under his belt and close in on the A2 ranks, while also building form for Rás Mumhan in three weeks time.
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“Yeah it was wet and cold, tough conditions but we got there in the end. There was an early break of about four or five. I wasn’t in that but we started to reel them in and then the second time going through the town I squeezed on up the hill a bit and there were two Carrick riders came with me.”
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“We were joined then by six others and that was the break of the day, we rode well together.”
Indeed, with the likes of Barry Meade (Planet Tri), Dylan Foley (NRPT) and promising Kanturk youngster Eddie Dunbar with him, any hopes of them being caught vanished when they took the bell with a gap of two minutes to the bunch.
Though the breakaway would eventually be trimmed to just seven riders, the hard part was done for Moynihan who now faced a dilemma of how best to approach the finish, with so many strong riders around him.
“Just coming into Caherconlish I was first through the corner. There’s a sharp bend and it was an uphill finish for less than a kilometre so I just put the head down, went for it, got a bit of ground and thankfully it was enough.”
The A4 race was won by a man making a return to racing this year – Barry Meehan of Worldwide Cycles. A columnist with stickybottle, he showed he still has the appetite, tactics and ability when he comfortably won a thrilling sprint from Killarney’s John Brosnan.
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