The action was thick and fast on the opening stage of the Tour of the North. Above, Gareth McKhee on the way to the stage win and first yellow jersey of the race (Photo: Marian Lamb - Cycling Ulster)
Gareth McKhee is celebrating the biggest victory of his career after winning the opening stage of the Tour of the North yesterday.
The Banbridge CC man broke away from the peloton in the closing kilometres of the 104-kilometre stage and together with Dutchman Thijs Nijvelct of the WTOS-Delft team time-trialled to the finish.
McKhee admitted his breakaway partner conceded the win on the approach to the line – but the former wasn’t willing to take any chances.
“It was frantic from the start, and I had to be very active,” said the winner of how the race panned out.
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“I just tried to be in as many moves as I could in case anything stuck.
“On the climbs I tried to be in the top 20 going over the top to try and stay in contention so I knew I was feeling good when I was able to do that.”
Coming to the end of the stage, McKhee just rolled off the front following a brief lull and when Nijvelct came across they got straight down to work.
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Ronan McLaughlin is riding with Team ASEA and holds the lead in the climbers' classification (Photo: Marian Lamb - Cycling Ulster)
“Once we got the gap of 10 seconds we worked hard. We rode together and I could see he wasn’t super strong, but he was still strong.
“He came to the front and helped me, which gave me a bit of a breather but whenever I went to the front I went as hard as I could.
“He said coming in the road that he was happy with second so that was a great feeling, but I still had to make sure he wasn’t bluffing.”
McKhee has been riding for 10 years but today trumped all in terms of achievements.
“It’s the biggest road win I’ve ever had," he concluded.
“The best I’ve had before now is a first is the Noel Taggart Memorial in Banbridge and fourth in the Newry Three-day and the king of the mountains.”
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