Caimin Muldoon has taken a great win that suggests he’s well on his way to having a great season.
By Brian Canty
Caimin Muldoon announced himself as a rider to watch this season after he claimed the overall at Rás Maigh Eo over the weekend.
The 18-year old Aquablue man didn’t win any of the three stages but he raced smartly throughout the Westport Covey Wheelers-promoted event.
And by the end, three seconds was his margin of victory over host club rider Richard Meaney.
“It’s always a boost to the confidence when you get a good result but for me, it’s been a long time coming,” he said in reference to the injuries that have plagued him in recent years.
“I want people like the Emerald Fund, Velocity Bikes and Aquablue to have a reason to back me and this is the start of me trying to pay them back for all their support.”
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The Loughrea man laid the foundations for victory by getting in the break on day one and staying away to contest the finish, crossing the line 13 seconds down on stage winner Meaney and 58 seconds clear of the bunch.
“I worked really hard to make the break and keep it out there the first day,” he recalled.
“We were gone from the gun so it was 100k in the break and by the end of it none of us really had much of a sprint in us.
“I was just trying to limit the damage to the stage winner and keep a decent gap from the bunch.
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“I went into this race hoping for a stage win but not to win overall.”
Things got a whole lot more real for the teenager a day later when be put down a strong time-trial over the 4.2-kilometre course, finishing 28 seconds behind the winner in 8th but crucially, 16 seconds faster than Meaney.
That put him into the race leader’s yellow jersey ahead of the final stage where just a handful of seconds separated the top dozen or so.
“I knew what I was in for but all I could do was race smart and give it everything,” he said of yesterday’s concluding stage.
“I found it very hard and I felt very isolated all day because no one was going to do me any favours.
“There were attacks right from the drop of the flag and I found myself doing more work than I’d have liked.
“But I was keeping an eye on who was attacking and eventually, a group of guys who were no immediate threat got away.”
Muldoon patrolled things as best he could but the break weren’t really pulling out huge time.
“The pace was fast up the last climb so I was confident we’d reel them in to within 30 seconds before the finish.
“And when Conn McDunphy (Lucan CRC) attacked in the last few kilometres he pulled the whole group to within shouting distance of the break before bridging across by himself.
“From there I just drilled it to close the gap. I was the only one chasing until Valario De Bacco (Galway Bay CC) came up and did a turn.
“We just caught the break on the line and got the same time so that sealed the win. It was a brilliant way to finish it off.”
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