Damien Shaw said riders upped their preparation to make every season harder, but he was less sure if new names were coming forward to challenge. Above, winning stage 2 of the Tour of Ulster last year (Photo: Marian Lamb – Cycling Ulster)
By Brian Canty
Damien Shaw says the Irish domestic racing scene is getting more competitive, but it’s the same guys who are making it so.
The Team ASEA man blitzed the field in his first race of 2015 last Sunday when he attacked his four breakaway men with 50km to go.
He held on to the finish line to claim back-to-back Cycleways Cups, having also taken it 12 months ago.
Next best was Sean McKenna of Aquablue CC around a half a minute back.
Having won the Mick Lally Memorial on Saturday, Sean McKenna got closest to lone escapee Damien Shaw last Sunday in Navan but in the end could not catch him (Photo: Sean Rowe)
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After that came the three men who were with Shaw in the original escape; Stephen Murray (Strata3VeloRevolution), Sean Lacey (Aquablue CC) and Eoin Morton (UCD CC).
The bunch, however, was a staggering seven minutes back.
“It seems to get more and more competitive every year,” said the Mullingar man about the challenges he faces when he races.
“I don’t know about new faces coming forward to challenge but everyone just seems to step it up and put in a little bit of extra effort every year.”
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Last Sunday’s conditions were as bad as Shaw ever raced in so to combat the cold he knew he needed to get up the road.
“Straight away we got going in the break, a lot of it was wanting to warm up and get out of the danger zone,” he explained.
“When we got a big gap, I don’t know if it was tactical or what but (the break) was slowing down and that’s when I decided to go on the attack.
The conditions were biblical on Sunday and Shaw said getting up the road early was as much about keeping warm as trying to get the upper hand in the first exchanges (Photo: Sean Rowe)
“We had 2½ minutes most of the day but it went down to 45 seconds and that’s when I said I’d get out of there and shake it up.”
He attacked on his own and held on – despite a rampaging McKenna who closed to within half a minute or so.
“Sean is a very good rider and it came down to who had more left in the tank.
“I had a gap of 2½ minutes and all of a sudden at 10k to go it was down to 40 seconds. But I started up the motor again and just time-trialled my way to the line.”
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