Emerging Irish teenager Dion McCarthy gets the better of Owen Dudley from the Isle of Man for 3rd in the Suir Valley Three Day criterium (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Dion McCarthy underlined his potential at the weekend with a gutsy display in the Suir Valley Three-Day, taking a third place on the rain-lashed criterium on Sunday night.
The first-year junior from Mitchelstown, Co Cork, was one of around a dozen finishers on the night after the organisers shortened the race to 30 minutes and three laps.
On safety grounds the commissaires awarded anyone who completed 15 minutes of racing the same time as the stage winner towards their general classification position.
It meant the stage was effectively neutralised as far as the general standings were concerned and that the vast majority of the field simply called it a day once they had completed their 15 minutes.
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But McCarthy wasn’t keen to opt out, instead staying towards the front of affairs in the hope of winning the stage.
McCarthy said the weekend of racing against most of the best riders in Ireland, with some very strong UK visitors thrown into the mix, was tough but he was happy with his performance (Photo: John Coleman – Dc Images)
He would finish third behind winner JLT Condor-Mavic Grivell-Mellor and team mate Ed Laverack.
But he was ahead of many established men from both home and abroad, including top crit riders MicheálFitzgerald and Paidí O’Brien.
McCarthy was with Owen Dudley of the Isle of Man sprinting for 3rd and just got the better of him.
“I'm pretty battered now, yesterday took it out of me,” he said after the final stage on Monday.
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“I was delighted with the result there, it was one of the best I've ever had," he added in relation to his podium finish in the criterium.
On the podium after a gutsy performance on a rotten evening when most of the field simply opted out (Photo: Sean Rowe)
He said of his approach to the race: “I wasn't nervous at all; I was really motivated to put in a good result and I was hungry.
"I knew from the beginning of the weekend the crit was the only race I could realistically do something in.”
As the riders dropped out McCarthy became more and more confident, feeling he could actually win.
“From the start I didn't even question whether or not to pull out. The plan was to ride from the front and follow the JLT Condor team.
“I’m happy with the weekend overall; it was very hard but I was using it to try to ride myself back into some form but I'm happy coming away from it.
“I had a crash in the crit too so I was happy to finish it out and get a good result.”
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