Damien Vereker and Sean Hahessy went from leading the tandem road race at the Paralympics to being listed as non-finishers. There were all kinds of conflicting rumours and reports as to what happened them but team manager Neill Delahaye cleared up any uncertainty.
By Brian Canty
Ireland had two bikes in the men’s B road race at the Paralympics in Pontal, Brazil, on Saturday in the shape of Damien Vereker-Sean Hahessy and Peter Ryan-Marcin Mizgajski.
With a numerical advantage over several nations it was a great chance for the men in green to continue an incredible week and get amongst the medals.
The plan to get a bike up the road worked when Damien Vereker-Sean Hahessy surged clear of the peloton and by the halfway point in the 100-kilometre contest they were clear and out of sight of the bunch.
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In fact, such was the strength of Vereker and Hahessy that they were almost two minutes clear with the bunch in disarray behind with nobody seemingly willing to commit to the chase.
But suddenly and without warning, the men in green appeared to have vanished of the course and they were listed as non-finishers.
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There were all kinds of reports and suggestions on social media as to what happened, with crashes, mechanicals and fatigue all being mentioned.
Cycling Ireland’s official twitter account read; "Vereker and Hahessy are out of the race. Reason TBC."
But it was simply a case of the riders going too deep for too long and eventually blowing up in the stifling heat.
“They got caught by strong bikes 50 metres from the top of steepest hill,” explained team manager Neill Delahaye.
“They needed oxygen and medical assistance as they had gone so deep into the red by the summit of the climb.
“They completely emptied themselves and were very close to getting a chance to recover had they got to the top of the hill amongst the other bikes.
“They essentially did a 60-kilometre time-trial ending in a ramp test hitting 24 per cent gradient so couldn't have done any more. It was a huge effort by them and they left it all out there.”
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