Anthony Walsh took a fine win on stage 3 of the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan and almost followed it up with another a day later. This photo was taken in the early part of Sunday's stage when crosswinds shredded the main field but Aquablue had four in this escape (Photo: Brendan Slattery - TheBigLittleBikeShop)
By Brian Canty
Anthony Walsh has been around the block a few years now but the Dubliner took his first ever stage win at the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan last Sunday.
The Aquablue man edged Daire Feeley (iTap) in the gallop to the line in Waterville after a brutally hard stage that saw the riders battered by crosswinds.
Some suggested the stage would be shortened on account of the harsh conditions and it was apparent from early in the contest that many in the field struggled.
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Splits occurred as soon as the flag was dropped. But Walsh wasn’t one of those affected.
“It was a pretty nice stage to win,” the Clontarf man said. “I've always loved that stage of Rás Mumhan.
Walsh takes victory ahead of Feeley at the end of Sunday's stage 3 in Kerry (Photo: Brendan Slattery - TheBigLittleBikeShop)
“The weather was pretty wild but our manager (Timmy Barry) had us very well-drilled.
“An initial group of 15 went clear in an echelon and we had 4 in it; that shows how up for it we were.
“I managed to seal the win but to be honest, I just put the finishing touches to what was a great team performance.
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“I had Mark O’Callaghan in the break with me and Conor (Hennebry) and Sean (Lacey) coming across in the chase group behind.”
Walsh is not a full-time rider anymore, meaning he has fewer hours to train as he now runs his own coaching business.
But he almost managed to win Monday's stage in Kerry as well, with Mark Dowling (ASEA-Wheelworx) besting him in Killorglin.
Walsh praised the collective effort of his Team Aqua Blue, saying manager Timmy Barry had the riders well prepared (Photo: Brendan Slattery - TheBigLittleBikeShop)
“It would’ve been great to get back-to-back stages," said Walsh, who has raced in France and Canada in the past.
“I should have attacked a little earlier; I had a go inside two kilometres but Mark managed to close it down.
“I had planned on taking a flyer about three kilometres out but there wasn't much time for messing about as the gap was down to around 10 seconds.
“That's my second time being second on that stage," he said in reference to being beaten by Bryan McCrystal in 2014.
“It's a stage I'd love to win as the atmosphere around the town is always something special.”
The plan for Walsh now is to keep building for the An Post Rás in May.
“It's my favourite race on the calendar and it'll be extra special this year starting in Dublin Castle.
“We've a great bunch of lads at Aquablue; we'll go into the race with a focus to be competitive but regardless of how the race pans out, we'll have good craic along the way.”
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