Hugh Mulhearne leads John Madden, Keith Gater and Carrick team mate Rory Wyley in the escape at the National Veterans' Championships (Photo www.jimmymcelroy.com, homepage by Dc Images)
Hugh Mulhearne went close to defending his national vets’ road race crown in Westmeath last weekend but admitted in the end he was hanging on for dear life just to get the silver medal.
The Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers man was seen as one of the favourites for gold. And he gave himself a huge chance of achieving that when he made his way into the winning five-man break with teammate Rory Wyley before fading on the final lap.
Sensing Mulhearne was under pressure, eventual winner Keith Gater (Aquablue) attacked just after taking the bell and drilled a furious pace up the climb and over the top, which left Mulhearne and Wyley on the ropes.
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They would keep Gater to around half a minute, and with Greg Swinand (UCD CC) screaming across to them on his own, they had to remain honest right up until the finish.
While falling short of defending the title he won in Carlingford last year, Mulhearne seemed happy with his silver.
Mulhearne found himself out front in a three man move accompanied by team mate Wyley. But the Carrick team mates - both former champions - couldn't match Gater when he went for home with a lap remaining (Photo: www.jimmymcelroy.com)
“Keith attacked on the last lap up the hill and our petrol lights were well on at that stage because we were riding hard all day after Greg had missed the move,” explained the Waterford man.
“The gap to the bunch was never massive, always around a minute or 1:30. So we had to stay on the rivet the whole time.”
Initially the trio had Paul Kennedy (VeloRevolution) and John Madden (Dig Deep-Inspired Coaching) for company but they would tail off after around 60kilometres.
“We didn’t attack them or anything," said Mulhearne.
“They just started to lose it on the hills the last few laps, and we kept pushing on. It wasn’t a tactic to get rid of them they just ran out of gas a bit earlier than the rest of us.”
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The escape comes down to three from five, leaving Mulhearne, Gater and Wyley to battle for the medals (Photo: www.jimmymcelroy.com)
He added when the group numbered five, it worked well.
“There was a little bit of a stand-off when it was just the three of us but we said to Keith – and he agreed with us – that we all have something to gain if we keep riding and he did.
“He’s done a lot more in terms of racing than us so it was in his own interests to keep riding as well. Mine and Rory’s lights were always going to go out and that’s what happened.
“Keith put in a dig on the little drag coming out of the village and up near the top he went very hard, I was cramping after 70k and Rory was going nowhere either.
“Keith didn’t get a massive gap and we covered it as best we could. But then we heard Greg was coming across out of the bunch and he closed a gap of a minute down to around 10 seconds on the line.
“So we had to keep riding hard to make sure we got those two medals and so Keith never got a massive gap. We could see him up ahead on the straight parts of the course and we’d get him close but he’d pull away again.
“As Rory said to me, if someone said we’d take home silver and bronze we’d have taken it with an open hand. We got the team prize as well so it’s great.”
As to how Swinand missed the move, Mulhearne was a little mystified.
“He seemed to be going with everything early on; I just floated around for the first 7 or 8k in around 15th place. He was attacking and getting brought back and he used up a little bit of energy.
“And then there was a windy headwind section up by the feed zone and Rory rolled off the front and he got 10 seconds; so Gater went after him and I went then and we were gone.
“Our first time check was 20 seconds so I just put the head down and we buried it for a lap to get a gap. It went out to around 1:30 but the two lads, Madden and Kennedy, went south after around 60k so we had a lot to do. But we’re delighted.”
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