Adam Ward wins Tour of the Mournes with attacking ride | Sticky Bottle

Adam Ward now has two strong wins in the bag follow this victory at the Tour of the Mournes promoted by Newry Wheelers (Photo: Toby Watson)

A dominant junior last year when he won the national road race title and a string of elite races at home and junior events in Belgium, Adam Wards has won the Tour of the Mournes.

He was best for the second year in
succession at the Newry Wheelers promotion yesterday; attacking the finale of
the race and scooping victory in the process.

He adds yesterday’s win to his victory
last month at the East Tyrone GP and now looks to be coming good form with
plenty of racing to come.

While Ward eventually won out, he
initially missed a dangerous breakaway that spent a prolonged period out front
but was ultimately caught with about 20km remaining.

In that group were Jody Wright (Phoenix CC), Jude Sands (Newry Wheelers), James Ambrose (The Bikehouse), Sean Featherstone (Newry Wheelers), Johnny Taylor (Carn Wheelers), Garrett Fitzgerald (VC Glendale) and Gareth McCullough (Armagh Down).

There was plenty of action off the front on the climbs; top junior Nathan Keown of North Down among those pushing hard to get clear.

Two good men: Maybin and McLaughlin were among the aggressors; proving very strong in the closing stages and starting the winning move (Photos by Toby Watson)

Ward (BioRacer-DHL-FRS) managed to jump
across to them solo but there were caught on the climb out of Rostrevor.

Mitchell McLaughlin
(Four Masters CC) and Richard Maybin (Ballymena RC) jumped from what remained
of the peloton with about 10km remaining.

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And while they only
ever gained a modest gap, they pressed on strongly and did not appear to be
coming back to the large chasing group.

Ward and a couple of others then took
the initiative; attacking out of the bunch on the final incline and getting across.

With the eventual winner was John Morton
(Harps CC) as well as Karl Morgan (Phoenix CC).

When they caught the two leaders that
made for five riders out front approaching the finish line.

Though the chasing trio only caught the
two leaders deep into the final kilometre, Ward managed to recover and sprinted
to victory.

He took the win from Morton, followed by Maybin, Morgan and McLaughlin, with what remained of the peloton just behind them.

Gary Donaldson of Caldwell Cycles took the bunch sprint for 6th place; McLaughlin proving strong enough to hold on for 5th despite being one of the main aggressors in the closing stages.

Full results when we get them.