Ireland's Jake Gray on his breakaway ride at U23 Gent-Wevelgem
Jake Gray, 19, produced an excellent display at the U23 Gent-Wevelgem in Belgium over the weekend, riding in a 14-man break that also included teammate Angus Fyffe for much of the afternoon.
By Brian Canty
Jake Gray had a memorable afternoon in his first U23 Nations Cup event over the weekend. The former junior national junior road race champion rode in the break for much of the afternoon.
The VC Toucy rider was perhaps a surprise selection in the six-man Irish team given his age. But he proved his worth with an attacking ride.
Along with Angus Fyffe he made the breakaway and took the pressure off the rest of the team in the peloton.
The opening kilometres were hectic with several crashes. But after that initial period things settled down. And when Gray sniffed an opportunity to go he didn’t hesitate.
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“I saw a group of eight or so riders go and the bunch had completely stalled," he said. "So I put in a big effort and rode across.
“I brought three others with me. And then another group of four or five came afterwards.
“I looked back and could see the bunch had fanned out across the road. And I knew the gap was going to open then."
The Irish team of Marc Heaney, Gray, Darragh O'Mahony, Daire Feeley, Fyffe and Eddie Dunbar in Belgium for the U23 Gent-Wevelgem Nations Cup event.
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He was up there for much of the 185-kilometre contest and shirked no turns as the gap ballooned over the lumpy course.
But the cobbled sections took a big toll on the move and Gray found himself deep in the red.
“It was pretty cool being up there. It was my first time in a breakaway in a Nations Cup race. I hadn't even done it in a junior race before
“We actually rode pretty well together; maybe a little messy at times but overall it was pretty good.”
When they hit the Kemmelberg the break began to split up.
“I was so close to getting onto the wheel of the winning group but I couldn't do it. If I’d been there I would have been in the top 10 but I just have to get stronger.”
His teammate Eddie Dunbar was in that group and managed 16th on the day at 23 seconds.
But for Gray it was a case of damage limitation at this point as the group rode away.
“I waited on Angus and the other four of five lads behind me who also got shelled," he said.
"And we tried to hold off the group behind but with 20 kilometres left we were caught.
“We got caught at the bottom of the Monteberg and I couldn't hold onto the group.
“My tank was empty and I dropped back into the next group around five minutes down.”
Daire Feeley was 40th at 58 seconds with Fyffe five places further back in the same time.
Darragh O’Mahoney finished 9:45 down while Marc Heaney was listed as a non-finisher. Heaney was very unfortunate, crashing and breaking his bike.
And because the Irish team's spare bikes were on a car following the breakaway with Fyffe and Gray, Heaney was forced out of the race.
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