Eoin O'Connell looked to be having a right ol' time up the road in the Munster road race championships this afternoon. The Killarney CC man won solo after another monstrous effort out front. (Photo thanks to Maura Lynch Moriarty)
By Brian Canty
Eoin O’Connell took yet another solo victory this afternoon, blitzing the opposition with a near day-long escape in the Munster road race championships.
He did something largely similar when he won the John Drumm Cup in Currow, the final stage and overall at the Ballinrobe 3-day as well as the Paddy Flanagan Memorial in Kildare last weekend.
But today’s win was the sweetest – and the toughest, he reckons.
“I did the last six laps (60 kilometres) on my own when the gap (to the chasers) was always around 40-50 seconds,” he said.
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“Then Dylan Foley (AquaBlue) got out of the chase group and had me down to 15 seconds (with three laps to go) and I thought it was all over.”
In the original escape were Foley, Michael Fitzgerald (Strata3/VeloRevolution), Mark O’Callaghan (AquaBlue), Aaron O’Brien (Mego RAW Cycles), Damien Travers (Dungarvan CC), Stephen Shanahan (ASEA-Wheelworx) and Cathal Moynihan (Manor West Hotel Tralee/iBike).
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O’Connell tore across to them on his own as they were getting away and keen for the move to stay away (which was gone inside five kilometres) he set a savage pace.
However, nobody responded initially and only Moynihan managed to bridge after the first time up the climb on the Blackstone Bridge circuit.
The leading two rode together for a couple of laps but Moynihan dropped back to the chase group, leaving O’Connell to go it alone.
With around half the race left, Foley jumped clear of the chase and came to within 15 seconds but never made the juncture.
“I was hanging, I had no jump in me anymore but thank God Foley cracked,” said the winner.
“Then going up the steep climb on the circuit with 2 laps to go I had 50 seconds again and I knew that was it.
“It was probably the toughest because I was away for so long and they never really got properly organised behind,” he added.
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