Dylan Foley, riding for the Irish National Junior Team, took a really good win in Gorey after a strong team performance (Photo: www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)
By Brian Canty
Dylan Foley enhanced his growing reputation with another accomplished display over the weekend to take the Gorey Three-Day.
And the tough Corkman said he won’t be resting on his laurels as he looks forward to some of his next targets, namely the Junior Tour in July and the National Championships.
Foley, who won the Charleville Park Hotel Two-Day last year, executed his team’s orders to perfection and went into yellow on Sunday’s third stage. And on Monday’s final stage he managed to defend the jersey quite comfortably, albeit with the help of a star-studded Irish National Junior team that included Thomas Fallon, Sean Hahessy, Jack Sadler, Dylan O’Brien and Mark Downey.
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Indeed, the team rode exceptionally well all weekend and as well as securing the yellow jersey, they also took the mountains classification through Fallon and third overall through Downey, while O’Brien was narrowly beaten into second on stage three.
But the weekend belonged to 17-year-old Foley, who was quick to thank all those around him for helping to make the weekend such a success.
“Everyone on the team did their bit, the mechanic, the soigneurs and the lads on the team and without them all I wouldn’t have won,” he said.
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Ironically, Foley’s race got off to the worst possible start when he crashed 40 kilometres into the first stage, broke his wheel, hammered his hip and found himself distanced from the peloton. And when he got back on, Alistair MacAuley (Phoenix CC) clipped off the front and won the stage, gaining 40 seconds on Foley’s group behind.
“I was kind of on the back foot from there,” he explains.
“After that, though, the weekend got better. I got second on the time trial and didn’t go into yellow which was what we wanted. It would have been harder to try and defend the lead if I had. But the Sunday afternoon stage went to plan and I managed to get into yellow so it was all about defending it then for the final stage.”
“I had a good team behind me though, and we set out a plan to keep a steady pace at the front and stop attacks from getting away because that’s what happened last year when I finished third. The lads rode great and stayed at the front, kept a good pace. And towards the end then the French team started attacking a fair bit and I knew they’d be the team to watch so any one of them who attacked I went with them.”
“Then with 8km to go there was a guy 34 seconds down on GC and he attacked so I went with him and we got a gap. I didn’t have to do any riding so he dragged me along for the last few kilometres. He had a better kick than me and won the stage but to get second on the final stage and the yellow jersey, I was happy with it.”
Foley, a fifth year student, will now possibly turn his attention to the Tour of Ulster over the May Bank Holiday Weekend. But he stresses that recovery, as instructed by his coach Timmy Barry, is the priority.
“Gorey isn’t my biggest target this year, it’s the Junior Tour but I seem to have wintered well. I’ve to start intervals yet so there’s a bit left in the tank. Experience is a huge thing, I’ve learnt from last year. If someone asked me to defend a yellow jersey in 2012 I’d have struggled but I’ve come on a lot and Timmy has a huge part to play in that. Hopefully I can keep it going now.”
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