Dolan (right) just about holds off the fast finishing Coyle (Photo: Stevie McKenna)
Karol Dolan got the Tour of Omagh off to the perfect start for the promoting club Omagh Wheelers CC last night, Friday, when he opened the sprint finish a little earlier than the bunch expected and caught them napping.
Paul Coyle (Strabane-Lifford CC) blasted up the home straight after him and while a photo finish was needed to separate them on the line, it confirmed that the local man was indeed the winner.
Dolan attacked with about 500ms to go and got a good gap on the bunch and while Coyle timed his effort to near perfection it was a case of “close but no cigar” for him.
Dolan will pull on the yellow jersey going into stage two this afternoon, Saturday, and is equal leader in the points competition. Mickey O'Kane (Termon Wheelers) took both bonus sprints on the night and will be wearing the points jersey, while Niall McEnhill (Omagh Wheelers) took top KOH points and leads that competition.
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The first half of last night’s stage was active, with Owen Campbell (Island Wheelers) particularly aggressive. The race all came back together before starting the KOH into Carrickmore which subsequently blew the bunch apart.
As the field snaked its way towards Creggan, a group of around 40 riders formed at the head of affairs, with the remaining riders spread across numerous groups fighting to get back in contact.
Turning onto the Cookstown road, a strong headwind faced the riders for the final 15miles back to Omagh. This proved tough for those in no-mans land.
Coming towards the finish, the large group at the front was still in tact as Dolan made his early bid for the win at the end of the 30 mile stage.
The overall is still all to play for going into today’s second day of competition, with 47 riders on the same time on GC. There are also the other competitions up for grabs with more sprints and KOH points on offer today and tomorrow.
The riders face a road race today starting at 2pm, with a 2.5 mile TT tomorrow morning, Sunday, as well as a 40 mile road stage in the afternoon. The event is open to A4 riders only. It is sponsored by ‘Costcutter Omagh’, with Stevie McKenna, no slouch himself, as race director.
Stage 1 Results & General Classification
| Postion | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Karol Dolan | Omagh Wheelers A |
1:09:01 |
|
2 |
Paul Coyle | SLCC A |
1:09:01 |
|
3 |
John McGlaughlin | East Tyrone CC A |
1:09:01 |
|
4 |
Johnston McFarland | Omagh Wheelers B |
1:09:01 |
|
5 |
Geoff Hewitt | Phoenix CC B |
1:09:01 |
|
6 |
Ryan Reid | Omagh Wheelers A |
1:09:01 |
|
7 |
Paul McGuire | Phoenix CC A |
1:09:01 |
|
8 |
Daragh McCarter | Omagh Wheelers D |
1:09:01 |
|
9 |
Mickey O'Kane | Termon Wheelers |
1:09:01 |
|
10 |
Micky Dan Murtagh | Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar |
1:09:01 |
|
11 |
Raymond Browne | Omagh Wheelers C |
1:09:01 |
|
12 |
Steven Bruce | East Tyrone CC A |
1:09:01 |
|
13 |
Brian McMorrow | Innisfree Wheelers |
1:09:01 |
|
14 |
Brian McCombe | East Tyrone CC A |
1:09:01 |
|
15 |
Bob Talbot | Harps CC |
1:09:01 |
|
16 |
Colin Loughery | Roe Valley CC |
1:09:01 |
|
17 |
Ryan Walsh | Carn Wheelers A |
1:09:01 |
|
18 |
Tom McGread | Omagh Wheelers A |
1:09:01 |
|
19 |
David Wallace | Duffin Transport |
1:09:01 |
|
20 |
Julian Dunlop | Lakeland CC |
1:09:01 |
|
21 |
Donal Burns | SLCC C |
1:09:01 |
|
22 |
Michael McGlynn | SLCC C |
1:09:01 |
|
23 |
Paul Toner | Phoenix CC A |
1:09:01 |
|
24 |
James McCusker | Orchard CC Shelbourne |
1:09:01 |
|
25 |
David Allen | Wexford Wheelers |
1:09:01 |
|
26 |
Kevin McEnhill | Omagh Wheelers C |
1:09:01 |
|
27 |
Rodney Stewart | Team Vision Racing |
1:09:01 |
|
28 |
Dean Henderson | SLCC A |
1:09:01 |
|
29 |
Stephen Law | Carn Wheelers |
1:09:01 |
|
30 |
Ivor Wilkinson | East Tyrone CC A |
1:09:01 |
|
31 |
Mark McKnight | Team Vision Racing |
1:09:01 |
|
32 |
Philip McGuigan | Dunloy CC |
1:09:01 |
|
33 |
Trevor Nixon | Phoenix CC B |
1:09:01 |
|
34 |
Alan Gilkinson | East Tyrone CC B |
1:09:01 |
|
35 |
Ed Boyle | Phoenix CC A |
1:09:01 |
|
36 |
Davy Blevins | Harps CC |
1:09:01 |
|
37 |
Seamus Donaghy | Omagh Wheelers B |
1:09:01 |
|
38 |
Ryan Patton | Ballymoney CC |
1:09:01 |
|
39 |
Gary Maguire | Harps CC |
1:09:01 |
|
40 |
Damien Heffernan | Wexford Wheelers |
1:09:01 |
|
41 |
Edward O Mahony | Orwell Wheelers CC |
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1:09:01 |
|
42 |
Eugene Power | Omagh Wheelers E |
1:09:01 |
|
43 |
Brian McGrath | Team Vision Racing |
1:09:01 |
|
44 |
Clive Caldwell | SLCC B |
1:09:01 |
|
45 |
Mickey Kelly | Carn Wheelers A |
1:09:01 |
|
46 |
Vincent McCarron | SLCC B |
1:09:01 |
|
47 |
Eamon Doherty | Foyle CC |
1:09:01 |
|
48 |
Aidan Borchers | Omagh Wheelers D |
1:09:02 |
|
49 |
Paul Caldwell | Omagh Wheelers E |
1:09:02 |
|
50 |
Owen Campbell | Island Wheelers A |
1:09:02 |
|
51 |
Johnston Glasgow | East Tyrone CC B |
1:09:42 |
|
52 |
Aidan McGlynn | SLCC C |
1:09:42 |
|
53 |
Eoghan Kevlihan | Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar |
1:09:42 |
|
54 |
Brendan Collins | Omagh Wheelers E |
1:09:42 |
|
55 |
Gareth Donnelly | Island Wheelers A |
1:09:42 |
|
56 |
Nial Mc Enhill | Omagh Wheelers A |
1:09:42 |
|
57 |
Barry Hayes | Island Wheelers B |
1:09:42 |
|
58 |
Paul Duffy | Carn Wheelers A |
1:09:42 |
|
59 |
Wesly Foster | Lakeland CC |
1:09:42 |
|
60 |
Eunan Loughran | Termon wheelers |
1:09:42 |
|
61 |
Aidan Daly | Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar |
1:09:43 |
|
62 |
Michael Scullion | Carn Wheelers A |
1:09:43 |
|
63 |
Dolan Dunlop | Harps CC |
1:11:42 |
|
64 |
Jim Hegarty | Phoenix CC A |
1:11:42 |
|
65 |
Judith Russell | Phoenix CC B |
1:11:42 |
|
66 |
Gerald Mc Veigh | Island Wheelers A |
1:11:42 |
|
67 |
Jerome Donnelly | Clann Eireann |
1:11:42 |
|
68 |
George Boyd | Roe Valley CC |
1:11:42 |
|
69 |
Seamus Kennan | Omagh Wheelers B |
1:11:42 |
|
70 |
Paul McCormac | Apollo CT |
1:11:42 |
|
71 |
Kenneth McConaghy | Clann eireann |
1:11:42 |
|
72 |
Richie Sheerin | Foyle CC |
1:12:04 |
|
73 |
Ryan Doherty | West Tyrone Velo |
1:12:57 |
|
74 |
Stewart Graham | SLCC A |
1:13:42 |
|
75 |
Paul Warriner | Omagh Wheelers B |
1:13:44 |
|
76 |
Jonathan Graham | Orchard CC Shelbourne |
1:13:44 |
|
77 |
Gareth Dempsey | Island Wheelers A |
1:13:44 |
|
78 |
Gregory Lennon | Phoenix CC B |
1:13:44 |
|
79 |
Dermot Donaghey | Island Wheelers B |
1:13:44 |
|
80 |
Shane Murphy | Square Wheels CC |
1:13:44 |
|
81 |
Mark McClure | SLCC A |
1:13:44 |
|
82 |
Ann McFarland | East Tyrone CC B |
1:15:54 |
|
83 |
Kieran Logue | Omagh Wheelers C |
1:15:54 |
|
84 |
Sam Monaghan | Omagh Wheelers C |
1:16:40 |
|
85 |
Simon McCarron | SLCC B |
1:16:40 |
|
86 |
Cathal Mc Guigan | Island Wheelers B |
1:16:40 |
|
87 |
Mossy Keane | Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar |
1:18:45 |
| Paul Mahirt | Team Vision Racing |
DNS |
|
| Graham Agnew | East Antrim CC |
DNS |
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