Irish schoolboys Mark Downey and Michael O’Loughlin have had a very good ride on the national team in the Scottish Youth Tour over the weekend, dominating the climbers’ classification in the four-stage event.
Riding for ‘FBD Ireland Talent Team 2020’, the duo were first and second in the classification after working closely together to mop up as many points as they could.
Downey, who rides in Ireland with Banbridge CC, was the designated team leader and was paced up the climbs for the primes at the top by O’Loughlin, who normally rides with Iverk Produce-Carrick Wheelers.
This teamwork reaped dividends, with the pair walking away with a 1-2 in the classification despite a number of other teams deploying similar tactics to challenge the Irish climbing supremacy.
In the end, Downey collected 105 points to win from O’Loughlin on 38 points; with both dominating the seven climbs on the final hilly stage. Best of the rest was Dylan Kerfoot-Robinson of the Welsh team on 24 points.
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Aaron Sawn, also of the ‘FBD Ireland Talent Team 2020’ selection, finished in the lead group on the final stage. He rides at home for TCR Racing.
There were 100 riders in the boys’ race, including a number of strong national and regional selections from across England, Scotland and Wales.
In the girls race Emily Birchall – from Fermoy CC but riding for the girl’s ‘Ireland Talent Team 2020’ – was seventh on the final stage. This was a remarkable ride on the hardest stage of the race especially considering the talented youngster is eligible for underage racing for two more years.
We’ll have a full report on the boys’ and girls’ Ireland team performances in Scotland at the weekend when the full results are available from the race organisers.
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