Stephen Shanahan has only raced three times this year but took victory in the Brian McNamara Memorial in Galway on Sunday. The Limerick CC man has a fine pedigree having represented Ireland at the Junior World Championships last September (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
By Brian Canty
Stephen Shanahan has made quite an impact since returning to racing after his Leaving Cert, taking fifth in the Mullingar GP and winning the Brian McNamara road race on Sunday.
The Limerick CC man beat Sean Yelverton (Mego Racing Team) and Paul McCarter (Donegal Bay CC) at the end of the 115-kilometre event promoted by Réalt Tuam CC.
“It's my first win of the year and it means a lot," he said.
"I wasn't sure if I'd manage to salvage any part of a season with the lack of training I had.
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“I'm also delighted as wins don't come easy to me; I've finished second countless times through the years.”
Indeed, his last victory was over a year ago and the time he spent off the bike spanned from the World Junior Road Race Championships last September to the beginning of this month
“It's been an unusual year for me with the Leaving Cert and I decided not to race for the first half of the season so I could get that done and get it done right,” he explained of the lay-off.
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“I only managed about one spin a week all year as school prevented me from putting in a decent winter."
Sunday’s feature race in Connacht was handicapped and after catching the A3 group on the second of eight laps it was all to play for.
“A break of about seven formed and I jumped across to make it eight and in fairness, everyone worked well all day, especially when the gap started to come down on the last lap.
“My legs came around in the second half of the race and I knew at that stage a win was on the cards.
“I bided my time and with 300m to go I kicked hard and managed to hold it to the line so I'm delighted.
“It was great to get the win considering the long break I took and my last win was well over a year ago so it's great to be back in the mix again.”
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