Irish rider Mark
Downey had an eventful day at Tro Bro Leon yesterday when one of the race’s
cars ran into him.
The driver of the
vehicle clearly didn’t see Downey and the Irish rider paid the price; being
knocked off and sustaining cuts and abrasions to his hip.
However, despite suffering a puncture when riding well in the race and then suffering the crash after getting back on, he still finished.
“I was in the front split with around 50 to 60km to go and then blew my back wheel,” Mark Downey said of his first mishap.
“I chased for 35km then and I was in the cars on an off road section when a race official pulled out in front of me.
“I’d
no other choice but to bin it,” he said of coming off the bike. “But I got up
and I got home eventually.”
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The 205km event
is Brittany’s answer to Paris-Roubaix, with 26 sections of gravel and otherwise
unpaved tracks.
Those off-tarmac sections are referred to in the region as ‘ribinoù’ which means anything other than paved roads; including gravel, cobbles, dirt roads and farm tracks.
The race, which
starts in Plouguerneau and finishes in Lannilis, was won by Andrea Vendrame
(Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) after five hours in the saddle.
Belgian Baptiste
Planckaert (Wallonie Bruxelles) looked like he had it sewn up in the sprint
from a 12-man group only for Vendrame to shoot past. Emil Nygaard Vinjebo
(Riwal Readynez) was 3rd.
Downey, despite
his problems, was a very decent 66th at 6:20 and it is a race he might do well
to consider riding again.
He was in a group 6:20 down while fellow Irishman and EvoPro Racing team mate Cormac Mcgeough was 70th at 8:03. Aaron Kearney also started the race for EvoPro Racing but was a non-finisher.
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