Mark Downey up the road at the Tour of Britain yesterday in the colours of Team Wiggins, a late call-up into the event (Photos: Simon Wilkinson-SWPix.com)
Mark Downey of Team Wiggins at Tour of Britain
A man who spends almost as much time on the attack as Conor Dunne, Mark Downey was up the road again yesterday at the Tour of Britain.
Downey is coming near the end of a long campaign, having been racing track and road almost without interruption since last year.
His Team Wiggins outfit was called into his race with less than a week to go, following the sudden demise of Rick Delaney's Aqua Blue Sport.
But the lack of preparation did not phase Downey yesterday as he was immediately out of the blocks on the 175km stage to Newport. He was caught 150km later on the Tour of Britain opener.
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In the end the combination of his breakaway effort and a full throttle assault by the WorldTour men up the last climb saw him lose time.
But competing against those WorldTour teams for the first time, Downey's uncharacteristic lack of fear was clear.
He told stickybottle he was content with his ride. However, he hoped to get more from it.
While his preparation for this race has been just days, he has the recent Tour de l'Avenir in his legs.
And having taken 2nd on a stage there, he is clearly going well and can hopefully show himself at the Tour of Britain this week.
“It was pretty cool as my first experience racing with these boys,” he said of spending the stage out front.
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“I didn't really know what to expect. But after 5km I followed the guy in front of me from JLT-Condor and that was it for the day.
“I was super surprised at how quick the move got away. We settled straight down into tempo; working away at it,” he added of the six-man escape he was in.
“It was a long and hard day; 175km and a headwind nearly all the way. We never got any more than about 2:30.”
Downey added with a breakaway having won the opening stage of the Tour de Yorkshire earlier in the year, the bigger teams didn’t want a repeat.
And so they hit the front to ensure his escape would be reeled in and not take the stage and jerseys.
“I felt fine riding super tempo all day. But then I had to go deep. And I just didn't feel on it,” he added.
Mark Downey decided to sit up from the breakaway as the peloton neared and the attacks begun up front.
However, when he waited the escape only had 13 seconds on the bunch. And all the escapees were caught just a few kilometres later; with 11km still to go.
Hoping for more in days ahead
He believed feeling slightly flat towards the end was due to the lack of preparation before the race and the after effects of Tour de l’Avenir.
“I was a bit annoying not to get something out of it. But it wasn’t for the lack of trying,” he said, having hoped to pick up the sprints jersey.
“All in all it was a surreal day. The crowds lined the streets from the first to last kilometre. It was something I'd be never really experienced.
“There was Welsh flags everywhere and the cheers from the crowd was a big motivator. I definitely enjoyed the day.
“It was a great day for the team with Gabz (Gabriel Cullaigh) getting 4th on the stage. So we are with these guys and competing.
“I'm looking forward to getting the legs back that I had at L'Avenir. I want to really let myself see what I can do against these boys. These sort of climbs suit me so it will be an interesting week for sure.”
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