Siobhan Horgan (far left, closest to camera) in the bunch heading towards Conor Pass (Photo: Pat Doherty)
Fresh from another strong performance against the best men in the country, GSD Gestion rider Siobhan Horgan talks us through her ‘Kerry Group Ras Mumhan’, where beating her husband and all his team mates up Conor Pass put her in bragging rights poll position.
Well, there’s certainly no rest for the wicked – I’m just getting packed up and ready to head off to France again. But I thought I’d give you an insight into my ‘Kerry Group Ras Mumhan’ experience last weekend.
It was a really good race - well run, with good circuits and nice people. The Irish elites put in a good performance I thought - winning three of the four stages - and Ryan Sherlock was unlucky not to come away with the yellow jersey after a sterling performance from him and his team.
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I was staying with the Dan Morrissey-Speedy Spokes team, and the slagging matches in the evening made the race all the better – especially as I was the first of all of us up the Conor Pass…… That meant all bragging rights were mine for the weekend.
That said, I had a shocking first stage. I really don’t know what happened – all I do know is that I got caught behind a little crash and the bunch was around 15 metres in front of me and I just couldn’t get back in. It was like I had no power. I was really upset after the stage, as a group of around 80 contested the sprint and I felt I should have been among them.
I put it down to calories (or lack of) and ate all around me for the rest of the weekend. It seemed to do the trick – and so I have learned another valuable lesson. Paidi O’Brien from Dan Morrissey-Speedy Spokes won the stage – so the morale in the house that night was great.
The second stage was up the infamous Conor Pass. I was feeling much better and felt comfortable on all the climbs. I wanted to keep myself in the front half of the bunch at all times – and generally speaking I did that. As we headed for the Conor Pass, the DID Dunboyne team started chasing the break. There was a cross/tailwind at the time so I made sure to stay in the top 30 and keep out of trouble.
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When we got to the Conor Pass I started a little bit too far behind but decided to just ride up my own tempo and see what happened. I picked up a few bodies on the way and we rode together. I was very happy with my climbing and managed to finish 28th. Mark Dowling from DID put in an amazing performance to take the stage.
The third stage was the Waterville/Valentia leg. Historically this is a ‘hard mans’ stage (or in my case ‘hard woman’) so I was hoping I might do OK and finish in the bunch. I felt good again on the climbs – but struggled more than some in the crosswinds. I got around Valentia Island OK but after around 110km I was really swinging. Fortunately I managed to hang on in to finish with the bunch.
The fourth and final stage was basically a flat one – but what made it difficult was the weather; it was lashing down and absolutely FREEZING. We did three big laps of about 25km and nine little laps of almost 5km. On the big laps we passed our accommodation, and each time I thought, ‘OK I’ll pull in, it’s not worth it’, but somehow I ended up being dragged along by the bunch and racing on.
On the small laps I planned to stop too, but again I just kept going……… ultimately I am delighted that I did finish the race – but my constant ‘I am going to stop soon’ mentality meant I didn’t eat or drink a single thing during the last stage. That, along with the cold, meant that in the final few kilometres I was absolutely drained. I had nothing left.
After the race I was interviewed by RTE news which was surreal, but nice. I really enjoyed the weekend and all the guys in the race were really nice to me. Overall I was delighted with how it went for me. Now all I have to do is translate my good form into results in the women’s races in Europe.
Sean Lacey usually gives the lectures…… (Photo: Pat Doherty)
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