The An Post Rás peloton always has a few secret weapons thrown in; those riders with a lot more firepower than is known about and with entertaining tricks and party pieces up their sleeve (Photo: John Coleman - DC Images)
If there's one thing that's guaranteed about the An Post Rás it's how unpredictable it is.
Every year the pro riders who come from abroad to take on the race comment on how all-out aggressive it is.
And tucked away in the bunch you always find secret weapons; those riders who pop up and shine during the race and whose pasts are more impressive than people bargained for.
Paul O'Reilly of UCD-FitzCycles.ie was one such competitor this year.
An excellent rider on the road race scene and off road, O'Reilly has won races on both sets of terrain on the domestic scene in recent years.
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He delighted the crowd on the final day of the Rás last Sunday with a pretty unique way of celebrating completing his first ride in the race; popping a good long wheelie up the home straight and over the finish line as these photos reveal.
But O’Reilly is much more than a popper of wheelies. As a junior he rode the World MTB Championships twice for Ireland and the Europeans.
He also competed in the Cyclocross World Cup Koppenberg when competing internationally off road.
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The crowd was clearly delighted with O'Reilly popping a wheelie coming over the finish line in Skerries at the end of 8 savage stages (Photo: Sean Rowe)
And he said that experience of preparing, racing and suffering at such a high level in the past helped him around the Rás.
He came into the race having recently become a father and with a very understanding partner, without whom he says he couldn’t have done the race.
“The training itself is hard but if you have lots of time it's pretty easy to get it done,” he said.
“It's when you have 8 hours a week to train, a 9-month old baby, a job and no time for pleasure and leisure that it becomes an almost impossible task to even think about completing the Rás.
“I had some things on my side though. Having raced at an international level in years previous I know the requirements and I have a very, very understanding girlfriend.
“I squeezed in training anywhere and everywhere and made sure I was at a standard that I could do more than just get around.
“The race was everything I expected, just as hard, just as mentally challenging as it was physically.
“The team had an amazing race. We got a stage win, had the climbers’ jersey won the county jersey and we had as much craic in the camp as possible.
“We stuck to our plan at the start of the week and we came back with even more. And I even got a few wheelies in to celebrate and keep my role as chief trickster; a job well done!”
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