Ben Walsh was one of the stars of this year's Scott Junior Tour of Ireland, finishing third overall. The NRPT-Magnet.ie man will go up against the big boys this weekend at the Suir Valley and based on current form, has every right to be confident.
By Brian Canty
The Irish junior development team named for the Suir Valley 3-Day this weekend might be a bit of an unknown quantity but anyone competing would do well to get to know them a little better – and definitely not underestimate them.
Aaron Kearney and Cathal Purcell are probably the two more known of the five as they’re second year juniors and have come out of the Carrick stable.
They’ll know the roads very well this weekend and at the very least, they’ll be targeting the red jersey as best A3/junior rider.
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Ben Walsh (NRPT-Magnet.ie) had a superb Scott Junior Tour of Ireland, finishing third overall and he’s the current holder of the Deenside Cup, a race he won back in May.
Liam Wilson (Powerhouse Sport) is 11th in the Cycling Ireland junior rankings courtesy of a very consistent season to date which has seen him pick up placings in tough races like the PJ Logan, the Stamullen GP as well as the Junior Tour.
In the latter he finished third in the sprint that decided the final stage but arguably, the ace in their pack is Eoghan McLoughlin (Westport Covey Wheelers) who won the climbers’ jersey at the Junior Tour.
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For a first-year junior that is a very fine achievement and he could be one to really raise some eyebrows this weekend.
He won a stage of the Gorey 3-Day this year while also finishing second on a couple of stages of the Kanturk 3-Day.
He was third in the Claremorris crit and will really relish what’s in store this weekend.
“It was a great Junior Tour for me and even better to come away with a jersey,” he said in relation to the KOH jersey he claimed.
Riding for the Connacht team he said it hadn’t been the plan to target the jersey and it just happened by accident.
“I just wanted to do the best I could and see how I was feeling against a big international field and if the points where there I said why not take them?
“It was very hard going during the race but I felt the (pace on the) climbs was slow so I decided to push and I managed to get a lot of points.
“I wasn’t watching anyone; I just wanted to race do well and if the points where there I would take them.”
Anyone racing this weekend has been warned…
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