Teenager Jake Gray clearly has plenty of class, but he's also turning into a street wise and aggressive racer (Photo: Toby Watson)
By Brian Canty
Jake Gray established himself as one of the best juniors in the country at present last weekend when he won all classifications at the Newry Three-Day.
The NRPT-Magnet.ie man did not win any of the four stages but he did just about enough to ensure outright victory after he made the break on the final day, holding out for glory by just a solitary second.
“It was the best win of my career and to take all jerseys on offer was incredible,” he said.
Gray finished third in the bunch sprint that decided the opening stage, was second on the following day’s morning road race stage but took the yellow jersey.
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He lost the race lead to John Heverin (TVR) following the evening time-trial but wrestled it back on stage four, clawing back the 14 seconds he needed.
“It felt amazing to be out there in the break all day Sunday and to pull it off,” said Gray, who has since been named on the Irish team for the Junior Tour of Ireland.
“It felt like one of them rare breakaways in the Tour that succeeds,” he explained.
Gray leads the breakaway on his way to winning the Youth Tour of Scotland while riding a national selection two years ago. He goes into the Junior Tour the form Irish rider.
“I'm starting to learn how to ride a bike properly now; I'm starting to know my body and what I’m capable of.
“The performance means more than the result and if the result comes it's a bonus.
“I know how to do these big rides now and I'm confident to do them again.”
Gray, a 17-year-old from Cookstown, said though his main concern was Heverin, there were plenty of others lurking with intent starting the final stage around Newry.
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“I wasn't worrying or didn’t feel under pressure. I was third so I had nothing to lose.
“The main concern was Heverin and I was also worried a lot about Derek Cunningham (Bikeworx Celbridge) because I knew he’d be very hard to drop.
“I couldn't believe he missed the break and ended up chasing moves.
Gray has used the high intensity effort of cyclocross to keep in race shape over the winter months (Photo: Toby Watson)
“Des (Woods) was another man very close to me overall,” he said of the Newry Wheelers veteran who started the day 5th just 18 seconds in arrears.
Woods would get away from Gray in the closing stages but came up short of the final yellow jersey by just one second.
“I'd only looked at the guys ahead of me before the stage so that was a mistake.”
“I knew John would have a hard ride defending yellow on the last day so I used that to my advantage.
“I needed to make sure I was in a strong break without Cunningham or Heverin so when a group formed without them in it we knew it was time to act.”
Eventual stage winner Gary Crory (VC Glendale) was in the move, as was David McIntyre (Maryland Wheelers), Gray and Kevin Lynch (Newry Wheelers).
“I knew Gary would be very strong and experienced on the last stage and I learnt a lot from him,” said the promising teenager.
“But I was only thinking of yellow so I drove the last 10 kilometres and collapsed at the finish line; I knew I had it won because Woods never got the time back he needed.”
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