Barry Meade took a great win on the first day of the season in Newbridge (above) and added stage and overall honours last weekend in Kanturk, though not without some drama (Photo: www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)
By Brian Canty
Barry Meade has said while thrilled with his win the Corkman Three Day A2-A3 race at the weekend, protests about the time gaps from Blarney CC and booing at the prize giving afterwards had taken something of the shine off the win.
Meade – a former multiple national underage champion - claimed the final yellow jersey after four stages by virtue of his final day stage win. It saw him overhaul Kieran Crean in the last few hundred metres to take the yellow jersey from the Blarney man in cruel and dramatic circumstances.
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It was a turnaround in fortunes for the Planet Tri rider because after a terrible fall on Sunday’s third stage, where he broke his bike and suffered cuts and bruises, he wondered if he’d be able to start the following day.
But having won the last stage and turned a six second deficit on Crean into a 15 second advantage, he was a clear winner – though not according to some.
“I am happy with the win; only for the prize-giving. It left a bit of a sour taste,” admitted Meade.
“It was one of my two goals this year; Gorey and the Corkman. But Gorey was taken away from me when my chain broke in training and I fractured my face. But I was delighted to win last weekend, for sure. It was a great buzz to come up the hill on the final day. All weekend I’d good home support.”
“Obviously it was a hard pill to swallow for Creany; dropping from first to fourth but he rode unreal all weekend and he’s a great warrior but he had emptied his tank protecting the jersey on previous stages, and I was that bit fresher.”
“Fellas were a bit angry that he finished fourth but I didn’t deserve the booing afterwards. I didn’t do the timing, it was the people who do the Rás and Gorey timing who looked after that but that was all heat of the moment I guess. It’s just unfortunate the way they reacted; it didn’t allow me to say a few words, but I've since thanked Dan Curtin and the organisers on a great weekends racing.”
A dispute arose at the end of the final stage. While Meade and Cathal Moynihan pulled out a gap on the field on the finishing straight, some in the Blarney camp did not believe the gap between Meade and their man Crean was as big as that credited in the official results, which saw the yellow jersey change hands.
However, most people did not agree and felt Meade’s official time gap was accurate.
On Saturday’s opening stage Meade missed the break but did much of the riding to limit his losses. He then won the time-trial by 30 seconds on Sunday morning and somehow remounted after his crash on Sunday afternoon to finish in the bunch. And on Monday he blazed up the last drag to the finish to take the stage and overall win.
But it was no easy ride, he explains.
“There was a lot of negative riding, fellas riding up on your wheel and not coming around. That kind of thing was a bit frustrating.”
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“On Saturday when the break went, nobody was really interested in chasing and people were relying on anyone who would have been a favourite like myself or Foley, Dunbar or Moynihan to pull it back. People just thought the break was going to come back but they didn’t realise there were some good strong guys up there like (Kieran) Crean. He’s a guy I’ve been in breaks with this year and he’s a strong rider.”
“When we came out over the climbs and started the descent into Newmarket and Kanturk a couple of guys started to get organised; a couple of the Garda guys (Neil O Leary and Steven Enright), Eddie Dunbar was doing his bit even though he was spun out on the small gears. We did manage to reduce the gap alright.”
As for the TT, he said it was his target to win that from last September.
“I was well prepared for it. I worked off my clock, to keep my average speed up. I knew I’d be there or thereabouts. I was happy enough with my time but I didn’t realise I’d have taken 30 seconds out of the guys behind so to win it like that, I was happy enough.”
“Being in yellow wouldn’t have been ideal starting the afternoon stage (on Sunday) because I didn’t have much back-up for the weekend. As it turned out, when the accident happened, a break went and by the time I was back up and in the bunch it was gone and I had a teammate up there so I was happy enough with that.”
“I was thinking on Sunday evening that I wouldn’t be bothered cycling the following day but when I realised I was still at six seconds I said I’d see how I’d feel in the morning. And after a night of tossing and turning and being stuck to the bed with road rash I said I’d go at it.
“I knew Monday was going to be the hardest stage and I wasn’t in any discomfort so I carried on. Eddie the Rocket (Dunbar) went in the break then with Denis Dunworth on the second lap, and I was happy to see him go because it’d be nice to see him do well on a stage.”
“I was watching fellas making efforts like young Foley but they were going nowhere, they weren’t being allowed; just negative racing and it was very frustrating for those guys. I didn’t bother trying to get stuck into any moves. The last lap was going to be my only hope so I ate and drank what I had by the time I turned left for Kanturk.”
“I was kind of content with third at that stage but it started to string out after John Dempsey attacked. Cathal Moynihan was moving up so I got on his wheel and coming in by Kanturk castle a friend of mine Steven from the Garda club gave me a dig out and hit the front; did a huge turn into Kanturk.”
“I was on his wheel and just as we entered Strand Street I went on Russell Treacy’s wheel, we cornered well and myself and Cathal Moynihan got a gap. I did a good turn up as far as the Garda station on the left. Cathal took up the reins again. I thought I was goosed but I gave it one last go. I didn’t realise we had such a gap. I was completely empty, I didn’t realise we split the bunch up so bad but as it turned out it was enough to win the race. I didn’t look back or forward, I just put my head down, I had nothing left.
“I rolled up past the finish line with Moynihan, shook his hand and when I came back past the finish line, it was a great feeling to meet such support at the finish. I met Kieran afterwards and said he thought I had it but I didn’t think so. There was rumours spreading around that I’d done enough and then the prize-giving came out and it turned out I’d done enough... Roll on the summer and I'm looking forward to the few crits.”
(This weekend's St Finbarr's Road race, scheduled for Whitechurch in Cork on Sunday, has been cancelled due to a lack of volunteers.)
