Sean McKenna leads the breakaway with some very strong a dogged juniors in Co Kerry (Photo with thanks to Maura Lynch-Moriarty)
By Brian Canty
Having transferred from UCD CC to Aquablue during the off season, winner of the Lacey Cup Sean McKenna said his new outfit’s race plan was to fire other men up the road in Tralee yesterday.
However, when local riders and now his new team mates Sean Lacey and Cathal Moynihan found themselves heavily policed in the 75km handicapped event, Dubliner McKenna seized the day.
“When I attacked the plan was to be hanging out there waiting on the lads to come across,” he explained.
“But it never happened because the juniors I was with were very strong and according to Sean any time himself or Cathal budged they had men on them straight away.”
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McKenna went clear of the A1-A2 bunch and bridged to the back of the A3 bunch with Robin Kelly (Waterford Racing Team) and one other rider for company.
Paidi O'Brien leads Sean Lacey on a climb yesterday; both had to be satisfied with scrapping for the minor placings (Photo with thanks to Maura Lynch-Moriarty)
The newly trimmed down Kelly had won impressively last week at the Ned Flanagan Memorial in Kildare so McKenna knew he was a danger man.
However, not content to hang around, McKenna went again; this time going clear on his own on the climb to the summit of Glean na nGealt.
“I attacked on the bottom of the climb and got clear,” he said.
“But there were three up the road who I just caught with 200 metres to go to the top.”
Going towards the crest of the climb just ahead of him were eventual runner-up Simon Tuomey, his Cork-Giant teammate Robert O’Leary and O’Leary’s Stone-Kanturk CC man Darragh O’Mahony.
Paidi O’Brien, far left, takes the sprint for 5th place from Robin Kelly, right, and Stephen Murray (Photo with thanks to Maura Lynch-Moriarty)
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O’Leary would become distanced and O’Mahony followed him out the back a little later, but he would impressively last all the way to claim an eventual third place.
“The junior lads were great,” continued McKenna.
“The tailwind was ridiculous though; we were hitting 60kpm on the flat and they were on restricted junior hears (52x14 - Ed). But they did what they could.
“They were very honest and in fairness they knew what they were doing.
“They’d very good heads; they said they’d pull through on the drags.
“I was very impressed by them, they rode brilliantly and deserved second and third.”
McKenna sprints to the finish ahead of the very impressive Tuomey of Cork-Giant (Photo with thanks to Maura Lynch-Moriarty)
O’Mahony would lose contact on the second climb by Castlemaine, leaving McKenna and Tuomey to battle it out in the final kilometres.
But with a flat tailwind finish, it was always advantage McKenna.
“We came into the last kilometre together,” explained the eventual winner.
“Tuomey put in a dig but with his 14 sprocket on and a tailwind; it was always going to be hard.
“I was delighted to get the win; it’s a real weight off the shoulders.”
Full results for all races by clicking here.
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