“It was great; trying to fend for myself against the big boys”

Cameron McIntyre, left, drives for home on the fifth stage of the Scott Bicycles Junior Tour of Ireland up Gallows Hill. The NRPT-Magnet.ie man was third behind an American Hot Tubes 1-2 but showed he can contend on the tougher stages.

By Brian Canty

Cameron McIntyre was one of just a handful of Irish riders to really threaten to win a stage at the Scott Bicycles Junior Tour of Ireland last week.

He’s hopeful the form he showed can carry over to the national championships in a few weeks.

The Banbridge CC man went close to winning the fifth stage to the finish at Gallows Hill but had to settle for third behind the American Hot Tubes duo of Matteo Jorgensen and Gage Hecht.

The first-year junior was guest riding for NRPT-Magnet.ie for the week as there was no Ulster team in the race.

“I went into the race hoping to get a stage win but more so to do my best and try fend for myself against the big boys,” he explained.

“We had some strong guys in the team so obviously I was there to help them out as well.

In his Banbridge CC colours taking the final stage of the Lakeland Two-Day back in April and with it the final yellow jersey.

Related News

Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains

Video - Italy's hero Balsamo mobbed mid-stage during Giro TT

“Apart from a bad crash on stage three I'm very happy," he added of the Junior Tour.

“It was a great week and being in the team with a job to do was excellent. It was a very professional set-up”

McIntyre normally rides for Banbridge CC and he exploded onto the scene in April when he won the overall at the Lakeland Two-Day as well as the climbers’ competition, young rider classification and also claimed a stage for good measure.

He was also up there most days in Rás Dun na nGall and is currently one of the highest-ranked juniors in the country.

He will now turn his attention to the national road race championships in Mayo on August 17th after which the cyclocross season will be his main goal

“I'm heading to Belgium for a month now to race and gain more experience on the road before I start to prepare for cyclocross; the nationals (road and cyclocross) are big objectives for me.”