Few can live with Mark Dowling when he's in this kind of form; the DID Dunboyne man saying he did the ride of his life yesterday (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Brian Canty
Mark Dowling said yesterday’s win at the Des Hanlon Memorial was the performance of his career.
The DID Dunboyne man obliterated a top class domestic field to win on his own.
He was just under a minute clear of Ryan Sherlock (Unattached) and a fast-finishing Robin Kelly (Waterford Racing Team) who led home a group of around a dozen riders.
And despite some aggressive racing throughout from the country’s top two teams, ASEA and Aqua Blue, the best they could muster was fifth place.
Damien Shaw leads the field up the climb with Dowling, before he took flight, on the right with one hand off the bars (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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“I think for me that was my biggest win,” said an elated Dowling afterwards.
“I just wanted to prove to myself I could do it.
“For the last three and a half months I’ve been absolutely flat out just for this race.
“Instead of trying for Rás Mumhan and the other stuff I wanted to pick off the big races that I haven’t won,” he added.
“For me, I think it’s the best performance I’ve ever done.
Ryan Sherlock comes home for 2nd place behind Dowling, having been 3rd last year to winner Bryan McCrystal and runner-up Paidi O'Brien (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“The Hanlon, I guess, is known as the biggest one-day race now. The Elliott has the reputation but in recent years the Hanlon has become the biggest so I went flat out through the winter and aimed to peak for this.”
Dowling’s plan of attack yesterday was to wait and see.
“I just conserved energy; let the big hitters fight it out and wait until they tired and I said I’d do one attack.
“I attacked an hour before the finish, in Castlecomer. I knew I could hold decent power for an hour and if they chased me they chased me.
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“I knew they’d (ASEA and Aqua Blue) be riding together but it was a risk I took; if I was caught I was dead.”
A significant ride for Robin Kelly; the man known as a sprinter has trimmed down over the winter and he bagged a result yesterday he would perhaps not have been in the hunt for in previous years. The Waterford man rounded out the podium (Photo: Sean Rowe)
But that doomsday scenario never unfolded and Dowling took what was a fantastic victory.
“I’ve been training so hard all winter, going to the limit every day, so much so that I’ve been barely able to get out of bed the last two weeks.
“I knew I had the form and if I could shake the tiredness I’d do a good ride today.
“To me, it was worth spending an entire winter focussing on one race. It was a bit of a gamble if I didn’t win it.
“I spent the whole winter at home training and as soon as the season started I got away for two weeks down to Sandsbeach Resort in Lanzarote. I just wanted to push it and see how hard I could go."
Sean McKenna has been the driving force so far this year but had to be content with 7th yesterday (Photo: Sean Rowe)
And all those hours came in useful yesterday because when he attacked at Castlecomer, he immediately got a gap – and didn’t want anyone bridging.
“At one stage I heard seven were coming across but they were caught, then six but they were caught too.
“It was easier for me by myself because I can ride my own pace on the climbs and recover on the descents. I wanted to go on my own.
“I just used the descents to recover, got into an aero tuck; my arms were even cramping on the way down to the finish I was just trying to keep myself as aero as I could.
“I’ve been close here before so to come in by myself was perfect.”
The victor chews the fat with his proud parents after a fantastic ride yesterday (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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