While attacking on the Giro stage into Dublin was tempting for Philip Deignan, he had good reason for deciding against it (Photo with thanks to Karl Monaghan)
By Brian Canty
Ireland’s Philip Deignan said the Giro d’Italia in Ireland “lived up to expectations” and he will be sad to leave the race’s Irish excursion behind as he heads to Italy in the morning for its resumption on Tuesday.
Despite the weather that lashed the field for much of the weekend and Dan Martin’s crash that saw his hopes end after quarter of an hour, Deignan believes it was a positive weekend for Belfast and Dublin, the sport and Irish cycling.
“I had high expectations from seeing the crowds back in 1998 when I first saw a pro bike race (the Tour de France in Dublin - Ed) and how big the sport has grown since then,” he said.
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“It was incredible, even talking to the other riders in the peloton they said they never see crowds like that, except for the Tour de France. There were so many people at the side of the road. It has been an amazing three days and I’ll be sad to go back to Italy now.”
Indeed, an estimated 200,000 fans lined the streets from Armagh to Dublin for today’s third stage and approximately 50,000 turned up in Dublin’s city centre. And the Letterkenny man said he had to resist the temptation to attack and go up the road in front of home crowds.
“I think there was a temptation to go up the road and go in an early break, it would have been nice but at the end of the day the race is three weeks long and I have to think about that.
“I was a bit nervous this weekend, definitely more nervous before the team time trial than I would normally be.
“It’s always stressful at the start of a Grand Tour anyway, but having so many people there that I knew and having busloads coming from Letterkenny, it was a whole new experience for me.
“I’ve been all over the world racing but only a few times have I raced in Ireland. It was a brilliant experience.”
And he expressed enthusiasm for the team’s plans in the weeks ahead, given they’ve no main GC rider to protect.
“For sure, it’s the first year the team have come to a Grand Tour without a designated team leader so we’ve nine guys who are all going for stage wins.
“It’s quite an exciting team when you look at the guys we have here and to be able to show what they can do when they’re not riding on the front,” he said in reference to the squad normally working for a team leader such as Chris Froome, Bradley Wiggins or Richie Porte.
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