Aaron Kearney of Carrick Wheelers shows his delight at winning the A3 race at the Deenside Cup in Co Kilkenny. It was a brilliant day for the Tipperary club, with his teammate Declan Hanrahan taking second (Picture courtesy John Coleman - DC Images)
By Brian Canty
Aaron Kearney could be the latest to roll off the Carrick Wheelers production line after he won a brilliant A3 race in the Deenside Cup yesterday against far more experienced men.
The 16 year-old first year junior from Portlaw, Co Waterford, showed maturity far beyond his years in beating a quality field, albeit one that didn’t include NRPT-Magnet.ie duo Michael O’Loughlin or Adam Stenson, who were riding the A1-A2 race.
“This is my biggest ever win and I’m absolutely delighted,” said Kearney.
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“I hadn't raced for two weeks so I wasn't sure how the legs would be and it was a very windy day,” he added.
The latter point makes his win all the more impressive as Kearney is by no means a big man and would naturally suffer in the wind.
“The race was flat until we got to the climb about 25 kilometres in,” he recalled of how things played out.
Jamie Blanchfield up the road for Carrick Wheelers yesterday; the club would eventually take a 1-2 via Kearney and Hanrahan (Picture courtesy John Coleman - DC Images)
“There were a few attacks on the climb but nothing was sticking.
“Then my club mate Jamie Blanchfield got away and held a good 30 second lead for over half a lap.
“The race was so flat and there was a strong wind so I knew it would be hard for anything to stay away.
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“So I decided to keep my powder dry until the last time up the climb. But a group of three were up the road and had about 25-30 second lead.
“I jumped across just before the 10k to go sign and looked around and saw I had a gap.
Pierce Butler of Upperchurch Drombane CC takes the A4 race yesterday (Picture courtesy John Coleman - DC Images)
"I knew I had to make the bridge before the top of the climb or it would've been hard to make it on the junior gears on the descent.”
Kearney managed to tack on to the back of the leading trio at just the right time, those being teammate Declan Hanrahan (Carrick Wheelers), Paul Coffey (Blanch Wheelies) and Noel O’Dwyer (Comeragh CC).
“We rode flat out to the finish and I saw we had enough on the bunch to fight for the win amongst ourselves.
“I played the waiting game until 200 metres to go and kicked as hard as I could; just managed to get it on the line.
“My coach Martin O' Loughlin rang me on Monday and told me this was a race I could win so I started planning it in my head all week.
“It feels brilliant to win against more established guys.”
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