Ian Richardson savours the moment of winning the biggest road race of his life. The UCD-Fitzcycles.ie man crossed the line solo in Moy, Co. Tyrone this afternoon and believes anything is possible in the An Post Rás in a few weeks. (Picture: Dany Blondeel - TheBelgianProject)
By Brian Canty
Ian Richardson has said today’s win on the second stage of the AmberGreen Energy Tour of Ulster was simply the product of years of hard work.
And coming just three weeks out from the An Post Rás it’s given him the belief he can emulate last year’s heroics.
The UCD-Fitzcycles.ie man jumped away from some of the best riders in the country with five kilometres to go and held off the bunch by 29 seconds, which was led in by Conor Hennebry (Aquablue)
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Of those final kilometres Richardson laughed: “It was fairly hard alright but I had to keep going.
“I had a gap really quickly when I attacked; I got 10 seconds straight away because everyone was tired.
“Sean McKenna (Aquablue) was keeping a strong tempo on the front but they were happy for me to go because I’m nowhere on general classification and I’d take the 10-second time bonus on the line from guys challenging GC.
“It was a nice one to win, particularly because of the strength of the group I went from; the best riders in the country were in it.
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“It’s great to finally… The years of work I’ve put in are only paying off now.
“Coming 10th in the Rás last year was brilliant but at that point I’d never won a road race.
“I’ve won plenty of time-trials before but never a road race and it’s just a fantastic feeling.”
As regards what he can do now, he’ll most likely try to do the same tomorrow, given he’s so far down on GC.
But he is happy with his lot, especially given the Rás is looming large on his horizon.
“Definitely; if I can have the same luck as last year anything is possible," he said of a week when he was the best county rider and held his own with the visiting Continental teams.
“It’s a hillier Rás so it won’t suit me that well but I’m climbing a hell of a lot better than before.
“Mark Dowling, myself and Chris McGlinchey had the group gapped on Spelga Dam today.
"So that’s a good sign because Dowling is best climber in the country so to ride up Spelga on his wheel is good.”
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