Sean Downey rode well in Holland last weekend and seems to be gaining form for the all-important An Post Rás
By Brian Canty
With just two weeks to go to the start of this year’s Rás, An Post-Chainreaction rider Sean Downey appears to be hitting form at the right time and he underlined that with an excellent ride in last weekend’s Zuid Oost Drenthe Classic (1.2) in Holland.
Downey was 15th while the team were ruing not winning the race outright, with veteran sprinter Niko Eeckhout taking the runner-up spot behind Jef Vermuelen of the Metec Continental Cycling team.
Eeckhout managed to escape with a group of six others with around 25 kilometres remaining and they worked well together, retaining a gap of 24 seconds on a chase group of 36 riders all the way to the finish.
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Though Eeckhout was beaten in the dash for the line, the team can take a number of positives from the race, primarily the strong pulling and aggressive riding by Downey.
Glenn O’Shea and Mark McNally were the team’s only other finishers; the latter with Downey’s group while O’Shea was 64th, just over four minutes back.
“I can’t complain, I wasn’t really expecting it, I was ahead of steam and I rode pretty well so I was happy with that,” said Downey.
“At the start there wasn’t enough wind to do much damage but then about 100k into the race that’s where the s*** hit the fan and the bunch sort of exploded. There were bunches all over the place. A group got away with Niko in it, and then that came back. And I was in another group with Niko and a group caught us and then it sort of broke up again. And in the last 25k a group nipped off the front and Niko was in that.”
“It was just one of those races where you had to be aggressive and just stay at the front fighting for position. It was flat as a pancake, and not one hill. It was a day for killing yourself and staying at the front.”
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“It was my first proper ride of the year after getting through some sicknesses. Hopefully I can just get better from here.”
Indeed, Downey had been hampered by a chest infection in March which curtailed his influence in races last month but he’s hoping that can change as the weather improves and the races come thick and fast.
Last Sunday saw the team race the Zuid Oost drenthe Classic, part II, but they didn’t have as much luck. The race was a 200kilometre leg sapper, with 12 sections of cobbles and gravelled roads with O’Shea the best placed finisher in 16th, 33 seconds back.
Sam Bennett had been in the breakaway for a large part of the day but he punctured – just one of 10 punctures the team were to get during the day.
But despite his DNF, Downey took positives and said he’s in a better place now than he was last year.
“I’m probably a lot stronger. I know how to race the races now and I have a lot more experience now so I feel more confident of my ability,” he said.
“The new guys (Archbold, Gate and O’Shea) are a great bunch of guys. They’re just like the Irish, love the craic and they’re so easy-going. They’re easy to live with as well so everything with them is spot on. I knew Shane before because he was in the UCI when I was there a few years ago, so I’d be pretty good friends with him.”
As regards a team for the Rás, manager Kurt Bogaerts is keeping the line-up under wraps for now.
“Kurt is keeping it hush hush until the last week. He’s just watching us and assessing our form.”
With the Tour of Belgium due to start on the Tuesday of the Rás, it’s likely that the team for Ireland will feature a strong home influence once again.
