Paidi O'Brien takes the win at the Bobby Power Memorial from Sean Hahessy. He believes the standard is higher this season (Photo: John Coleman)
While many of the headlines to date in the new campaign have been dominated by Aquablue’s Sean McKenna, seasoned campaigner Paidi O’Brien has also been taking care of business.
Riding for the Osbourne Meats-McCarthy Cycles team, also backed by Rocca Sports of which Nicolas Roche is a partner, O’Brien says he does not have the winter training of previous years in his legs.
But, with the sprinting prowess that has characterised his storied career, he is putting to good use the preparation available to a man with a 5-month-old new baby and final year college exams to contend with.
His victory at the Bobby Power Memorial in Carrick yesterday was his third of the fledgling season, having also won in Blarney on Sunday and been victorious in Broadford two weeks ago.
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And while many riders who experienced the life of pro racing on the Continent, as he did with An Post-Sean Kelly, would have packed up their racing wheels by now, 31-year-old O’Brien says he is still enjoying the game.
“You want to acknowledge that they are making an effort with us and get yourself up there,” he said of the personal friends who are now his team’s sponsors.
Anto Walsh of UCD drives a group up the road, with eventual winner O'Brien to the left (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“I’ve known Nicolas since I was 12 or 13 years old,” he added of the Team Sky man with whom he soldiered on Irish teams from the youth ranks up and raced in France on the same VC La Pomme team in their teens.
“And John McCarthy of McCarthy Cycles; I’m also a friend of his. You want to get a win because it’s nice and you want to get them some publicity.
“Osbourne Meats are from Blarney so it was nice to win there at the weekend. The fact they are supporting us gives you the impetuous.
“OK, so I haven’t as much training done as last year. But I’m fit and we have a great team atmosphere so you go to races and you try to do the best you can.
“And in terms of the training, you do the best you can with your time management.”
He said he was delighted with his win yesterday, where he beat Sean Hahessy (Fitscience) in a two-up sprint after they had broken clear of the day’s main breakaway.
The men who would form the key breakaway after around 50km begin to move clear of the bunch (Photo: Sean Rowe)
But when asked questioned about his performance and his own form, O’Brien constantly reverts back to talking about the young men coming through the home scene.
Of the aforementioned Hahessy, for example, he says: “I managed to get away first and then Sean came across. He’s very strong at the moment and I appreciate he may have won the race if I didn’t have a good sprint.
“It’s good to see him going well too; he’s young and it’s good to see those guys coming through.”
He says of McKenna, a winner of his sixth race of the season in Summerhill, Co Meath, yesterday: “He can’t stop winning at the moment and he’s a student as well.
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“(His winning form) might encourage some of the younger guys to say to themselves; ‘Look, I’m not an Eddie Dunbar; I’m not going to go full time on the Continent, but I’m still a good rider’.
“Maybe McKenna might be a role model for fellas who might go away and do a four year degree and still win races.”
Sean Hahessy had to be content with 2nd, but O’Brien said he was very strong and could have won. A convincing ride says the new Fitscience man is in very good nick for the major showdowns ahead (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Despite being in the middle of a great early season run, O’Brien believes the standard is higher this year.
He says the winning breakaway yesterday only went clear after 50km of hard racing precisely because so many riders are fit and strong enough to impose themselves.
When the winning move did pull clear, in there with O’Brien were, among others: Colm Cassidy (Aquablue), Sean Lacey (Aquablue), Stephen Murray (VeloRevolution), John Hoage (Dungarvan CC), Robin Kelly (Waterford Racing Team), Mick Fitzgerald (VeloRevolution), Simon Ryan (Mego Racing), Anto Walsh (Aquablue) and Keith Gater (Waterford Racing Team).
“The last 15km or so were those really dead Irish roads; it was the hardest section of the race,” O’Brien said of the approach to the finish when it was clear the escape would stay away on the new, harder circuit.
“From a racing point of view, it was going to split there. So for me, it was a good time to attack and I was delighted it paid off.”
After he had beaten Hahessy to the whitewash, Aquablue’s Cassidy rounded out the podium as best of the breakaway behind.
Not a winner yet this season but clearly the big engine is in great shape; Colm Cassidy comes home alone for 3rd just after the remains of the breakaway sprinting for 4th place (Photo: Sean Rowe)
O’Brien said he would race every weekend until the Stamullen GP in the middle of next month; an event he won last year.
After that his final year accountancy exams at Cork Institute of Technology would be his priority, though he hoped to do some racing.
Once the exams are out of the way and he has his degree in the bag, he will focus on the remainder of the season as he has done in previous years.
The National Road Race Championships in Omagh at the end of June will be among those goals.
But if previous years are anything to go by, he will be in the hunt most weekends. The Rás is out for this year as it clashes directly with his exams.
“I’d love to ride the Rás. But look, it’s my final year in college so I’d hope to be there next year.”
One of the legends of Irish cycling, Mick Lawless in the South Dublin CC team car yesterday (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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