Simon Tuomey (Cork Giant) will be one of the top favourites in tomorrow's national junior road race championships but he can expect to be followed very closely by the likes of Darragh O'Mahony (O'Leary's Stone Kanturk) and Sean Yelverton of Mego Racing Team (Photo: Chloe Matthews)
There’s a field packed with quality for tomorrow’s national junior road race championships in Cong Co Mayo and unlike 12 months, it’s absolutely wide open.
Last year, the man to beat was two-time Junior Tour of Ireland winner Eddie Dunbar and he lived up to his favourites’ tag with an epic last-ditch finishing line lunge to deny Michael O’Loughlin.
The latter, of course, is eligible again and will be one of the top men but he won’t be as big a favourite as Dunbar was last year.
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Having said that, O’Loughlin is a classy rider and is well able to read a race, when to go and when to stay put.
The fact he has a number of strong teammates will also work to his advantage, though it will not all be about the Carrick man within the NRPT-Magnet.ie camp.
Jake Gray, Adam Stenson, Caimin Muldoon and Polish native Patrick Goszczyk will command just as much respect as O’Loughlin and the threats posed by each of them is considerable.
Gray is still a first-year junior and has enjoyed a superb season so far, winning the Newry Three-Day and proving a real menace throughout the Junior Tour of Ireland.
Simon Tuomey (Cork Giant) and Darragh O’Mahony (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk CC) were teammates of O’Loughlin’s for the European Championships in Estonia recently but will be in opposite corners tomorrow.
Both will look to impose themselves and look to make the key selections.
Tuomey’s teammate Robert O’Leary is a real dark horse and looks to be coming into some good form.
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With two or three places on the Irish team for the World Championships in America next month up for grabs, it promises to be an absolutely thrilling race.
It’s going to be hyper-aggressive and likely different to last year’s race where a large group got away early on but in the move were none of the really big names.
But when the likes of O’Loughlin and Dunbar forced the pace the race took on a different complexion.
Tomorrow, one can expect less of the ‘watching’ that characterised last year’s showdown and plenty more full-tilt attacking.
Dion McCarthy (Zanatta-Lotto) will like the sound of that, as will Sean Yelverton (Mego Racing Team).
They’re two very quick gallopers and no one will want to come to the line with them.
Cathal Purcell and Aaron Kearney will fly the flag for Carrick Wheelers and it would surprise no one if either took a medal in the same way their Carrick teammate Jamie Blanchfield took bronze last year.
There are 43 riders going to the line with up to a dozen top contenders but with less than half that likely to be going to America for the World Championships, it promises to be one hell of a battle.
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