Fermoy CC youths Eoin Birchall and Dion McCarthy have had a fantastic weekend at one of the UK’s most prestigious stage races, taking five stage wins and one outright victory against some of the best youngsters in Britain at the North West International Youth Tour.
McCarthy (Fermoy CC) won four of the five stages in the U14, or ‘Youth B’ event; two wins apiece on Saturday and Sunday. He held the yellow jersey by 19 seconds going into the final stage yesterday, Monday; a 36.2km 18-lap circuit race in Blackpool.
However, having been rampant in the sprint finishes on the first four stages, his dominance took a dent yesterday when a two-man breakaway went clear and opened a lead of two minutes by the finish.
McCarthy finished fifth on the stage, exactly two minutes down on stage winner Daniel Tullet (Hargroves Cycles), who took victory by four seconds from Peter Kibble (Cycology Bikes).
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That ride by the leading duo was enough to give Tullet the win on GC by 24 seconds from Kibble. McCarthy was pushed into third on the final overall standings, some 1:41 down.
He was heavily marked in his efforts to get clear of the field in pursuit of the leading pair on that final stage, and with no team mates to help out he had little chance of closing down the gap when it opened. The strong cooperation and hard riding by the duo up front also worked against him.
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While his relinquishing of the yellow jersey was a disappointment after riding so well, he has the consolation of knowing that he went toe-to-toe with a very strong British field and came away with wins in four of the five stages on offer.
Tullet is ranked third in British Cycling’s latest rider rankings while Kibble is fourth.
In the Youth D race, Eoin Birchall also riding for Fermoy CC put in a fantastic showing. He took the yellow jersey after placing second on both of the stages on Saturday. He lost the lead on Sunday’s first stage, when he was second again. But he took the yellow jersey back in the afternoon with his fourth second place out of four stages.
He then finished the race in fantastic style yesterday, winning the fifth and final stage in Blackpool on his own by a few seconds. He wrapped up the GC win by 18 seconds from Matthew Egglestone (Beacon Wheelers), with Aaron Freeman (Chelmer CC) in third place at 25 seconds.
Birchall’s determination to win back the leader’s jersey, and then win the final stage while in yellow was a massive performance. The quality of that win is underlined by the fact that Egglestone is the number 1 ranked U10 rider in the British Cycling rider rankings, with Freeman currently fifth in those rankings.
Eoin’s sister Emily was competing in the Youth B girls event and took a very strong sixth overall.
Jack McCarthy and Laura Birchall (both Fermoy CC) rode the Youth C race are rode very well, gaining invaluable international experience that will stand to them as they progress through the sport.
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