Mark Dowling rockets up the final drag to claim the gold medal at the national crit champs last night in Banbridge. The ASEA-Wheelworx man had been one of the key players on the night and was a thoroughly-deserving winner for the second year in a row (Photo courtesy of Toby Watson)
By Brian Canty
Mark Dowling has said he is more motivated than ever to continue racing and training after he won his second national crit title last night in Banbridge.
The ASEA-Wheelworx man beat Philip Lavery and local man Gareth McKee after they’d all been part of a four-man break that animated the evening.
Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles) was the other rider who comprised the break but he was unlucky to just miss out on the medals.
“There was a big field this year and it was such a good quality field too” said the winner.
Advertisement
With the usual attacks flying off, Dowling tried to cover most of them until his teammate Declan Mulholland got in the first break of the day.
Dowling gives the champagne a good lash after his win on Friday evening (Photo: Toby Watson)
But when he was brought back, Dowling went after the first prime of the night after 15 minutes and when three more followed him the key escape was established.
“I was just floating around the front marking moves and I went for it and just got a gap," said Dowling.
“I put the hammer down, Kinning, Lavery and McKee followed and I think the guys were looking at each other behind.
“We got a gap fairly quickly, though it wasn’t that hard.
“I was hoping for a harder race but it’s just the way it was, everyone was tipping through, we had a steady lead the whole way through,” he added.
Dowling looking focussed as he powers his way to his second Irish criterium title in a row (Photo: Toby Watson)
Related News
They stayed away for the majority of the race and Dowling admitted he thought it was between the four of them for medals.
But things took a turn for the worse when the chasing bunch closed.
“When we got the bell lap I turned around and the group had caught up,” the winner continued.
“I actually wasn’t sure was it a group we’d lapped or what; I could see a lot of the top guys there though so I knew they were on us.”
Taking matters into his own hands he made another huge effort to get clear, and that proved the winning of the race.
“I wouldn’t be the best sprinter but as soon as we got the bell I just put the hammer down, stretched it out enough that only one or two would get past me in the finish.
“I was only trying for a medal (at that point) but I ended up doing a full lap and then coming into the last bend I could see someone on my wheel but nobody came around me.”
Now he said he is “motivated more than ever” to continue training for the event that has consumed him the last couple of years; the Taiwan KOM Challenge where the first prize is €30,000.
And after only recently getting to the bottom of an allergy problem that prevented him from really giving a true account of himself this year he’s optimistic for what the rest of the season holds.
“I’ve struggled all year and I couldn’t understand why,” he revealed. “At the start of March I set a power personal best and I wasn’t aiming for it.
“I got sick after that and for some reason I just had the worst four months of my life and it happened to be the Irish cycling season.
“I realised after the Rás, I went to the doctor because I couldn’t breathe and it turned out I had an allergy problem.
"It was affecting my asthma and I was operating at 10 per cent below my normal power all through the Rás.
“I only got that sorted now and now I’m back to my normal legs.”
Those legs saw him go very close to a stage win at the Kreiz-Breizh Elites (2.2) but no matter, the form is where he wants it to be.
Now, the training starts for Taiwan and an event he was third in last year.
“It’s 12 weeks from now so I’ll finish the last few races here in Ireland and continue the build-up to that.”
Topics
