Mark Dowling talks pulling clear on Mamore, Rás argy bargy
A man in his prime: Mark Dowling's legs are ripped and doing the damage as he pulls clear on Mamore Gap (Photo: Toby Watson)
By Brian Canty
Mark Dowling went into today’s stage of the An Post Rás with high hopes of a big result.
And he looked very good for that when he crested Mamore Gap with 15 kilometres remaining in fourth place.
The flyweight climber riding for Strata3-VeloRevolution had the legs for better.
But strong chasing by the group behind who were protecting lofty general classification positions and jerseys meant he was left disappointed.
“I wanted to go for the stage but the speed at the start of the race; I didn’t have the horsepower to be attacking all the time,” he said.
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“With the way it’s going, it’s just pure luck who stays away because there’s so many moves going and coming.
“My idea was if there were any big moves I’d try to go. It would have been ideal to be in the break and then try fighting it out with the guys.
“But it was impossible to pick what move will stay away,” he continued.
With the break up the road he was still hopeful, given it was brought back when the steep climbs came.
The Strata 3-VeloRevolution lads being presented on Sunday in Dublin Castle. Left to right: James Davenport, Mark Dowling, Dancin' Stephen Murray, Mick Fitzgerald and Simon Ryan (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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“When we came off the last category two (Pinch Mountain after 120k) before Mamore, I tried to get away instead of getting into a shitfight into the base of Mamore.
“But the French army team and the Dutch team started riding on the front. So I just got brought in with that.”
The stage was still alive at that point but with eventual winner Michael Storer (Australian National Team) having bolting along with a few more it began to turn against Dowling.
“I was maybe 20th starting the climb so it took a while to move up,” he said of Mamore.
Starting the ascent Storer and Jacob Sitler of USA CCB Velotooler were clear. They were never caught and took victory and the runner-up slot respectively.
“It took me a while to get to the front,” said Dowling of eventually getting there on Mamore as he coped so well with the gradient.
“But when I got there around halfway up I just rode strongly with the idea of keeping that gap over the top.
“I had a gap on the descent but they picked me up on the other side on another uncategorised climb.
“I had to knock it off but I was feeling quite good. I gave it another dig trying to take advantage of a stall.
“But once the strong teams regrouped in the last 10k I knew it was third I was going for.
“I didn’t fancy my chances in a sprint so I was waiting for a lull where I could go again.
“I knew I didn’t have the legs to hold off a group (with a solo attack).
“In the end I was almost put in the barriers and had to knock back the speed and that was basically it.
“But I’m feeling really good; disappointed I didn’t get a result but I did everything right.
“Different guys have different objectives and that was why I was brought back. But I’ve good legs for the next few stages.”
However, he suggested he’d need good fortune as well as his climbing legs to grab a top result.
“It’s so unpredictable, there could be a group of 20 go up the road,” he said of the kind of moves going clear so far.
“It seems to be pot luck and going with a move is like trying to pick the winning lotto ticket.”
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