Adam Armstrong lands a great win from Robin Kelly and an aggressive Conor McConvey (Photo: Amy-Norah Farrell)
Adam Armstrong (Eurocycles) has continued his run of very good form, taking the Coombes-Connor Memorial in Drogheda today, Sunday, in a final sprint to the line from the fragmented winning breakaway.
The Newtownards man galloped in for the win ahead of Robin Kelly (Waterford Racing Club), with Conor McConvey (An Post-Sean Kelly) in third.
McConvey and team mate Ronan McLaughlin were home from their base in Belgium this weekend and made much of the running from the early stages today, before both made very strong efforts to get away as the race entered the business end of the day.
However, Armstrong and Kelly were both able to match them and in the end Armstrong looked the strongest and took the sprint win with a bit to spare over renowned speedster Kelly.
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“Today was a big test with the An Posts there; it was great to be able to respond to the attacks from them and then be able to be strong myself,” Armstrong told stickybottle.
The A1/A2 race was run off over eight wet laps of the usual testing course; with one very tough drag each time around to spice things up.
McConvey and McLaughlin were eager to get up the road from the off and, with four others for company, that’s exactly what they did. Not long after the start the Belgium-based duo moved clear in a six-man group that included, among others, Shane Baker (Usher IRC) and Pat Deegan (Eurocycles).
Around a lap later, and with the gap to the leaders starting to go out, Armstrong got clear in a six-man chase group that had to ride very hard to get back on terms with those up the road.
“When we were getting across they (McConvey and McLaughlin) made it hard for us; you could tell from the way we had to ride that they wanted to go very hard from the off,” said Armstrong.
When the two groups merged, the twelve riders up front combined well for a period to make sure nobody from behind could get up to them. However, McLaughlin was determined to put his stamp on the race and started attacking with more than three laps remaining.
His efforts and some counter attacking from McConvey split the group; with McLaughlin finally getting clear alone with around 20kms to go. He led solo when taking the bell for the last lap and stayed out front until around 8km from the finish.
Immediately he was reeled in McConvey, Armstrong and Kelly got away and would survive to share the spoils at the finish. McConvey made a number of efforts coming in the road to shake off Kelly and Armstrong. But the home-based riders were able to respond, with Armstrong saying he felt strong in the finale.
Unable to break clear alone, McConvey then led out the three-up sprint; with Armstrong taking it from Kelly by a few lengths. McConvey was third a few seconds back in the Drogheda Wheelers promoted event.
Armstrong said he was happy with the way his form was going and believes he can improve before the An Post Ras, where he is targeting a stage win.
“There’s definitely a bit more there to come,” he said of his form.
“You’re always hoping you won’t get sick or injured but as long as that doesn’t happen I feel I can get stronger. I have the Tour of Ulster in two weeks and that’s also a big goal for me. It will be a hard race with stages over 90 miles and with some of the UK teams there who’ll be riding the Ras; Philip Lavery’s NODE4 team being one of them.”
In the A3 race today Aaron O’Donoghue (Unattached) took a convincing win, coming home ahead of a small breakaway in what was a very fast finish. Just behind him was Stephen McWilliams (Phoenix CC), with Conor Hanna (North Down) in third. Aidan Wall from Navan Road Club took the junior prize.
In the A4 race, Karl Taylor (Ballymena CC) romped in for a great sprint finish win just ahead of the Orwell CC duo of Phillipe Bourdariaz in second and Ken McCullough in third.
In the women’s race – the second round of the ‘Stickybottle National Women’s League’ – round 1 winner Sara Ortiz (Black Rose) was at it again; taking the group sprint that decided the race ahead of Mandy Collie, who was riding under the colours of Forme Racing. We’ll have more coverage of that one later.
Many thanks to Kay Howard for the results, below, and to Ger Campbell of promoting club Drogheda Wheelers for his assistance this weekend - it’s genuinely much appreciated.
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All photos, including homepage shot, by Amy-Norah Farrell
No messing about; Armstrong rode strongly today and took the gallop well
An Post’s McLaughlin put in a very strong ride; finishing here with Gary Cranston
The A1/A2 bunch – it was dirty day in Drogheda
The A3 bunch takes a pounding from the elements
A1/A2 Race
1 Adam Armstrong (EuroCycles)
2 Robin Kelly (Waterford RC)
3 Conor McConvey (An Post/Sean Kelly)
4 Ronan McLaughlin (An Post/Sean Kelly)
5 Gary Cranston (Audi East Antrim)
6 Shane Baker (Usher IRC)
7 Martin O’Loughlin (Iverk Carrick Wheelers)
8 Paul Kennedy (Swords CC)
Unplaced A2s
1 John Priest (Lucan CRC)
2 Javan Nulty (DID Dunboyne)
3 Andrew Hedley (ChainReactionCyles-Vitus)
4 Ciaran O’Conluain (UCD CC)
5 John Kenny (Navan RC)
6 Sean McGreevy (Newry)
A3 Race
1 Aaron O’Donoghue (U/A)
2 Stephen McWilliams (Phoenix CC)
3 Conor Hanna (North Down)
4 Peter O’Farrell (U/A)
5 Eoin Deegan (EuroCycles)
6 Paul Dargle (Stamullen)
7 Ryan Bankhead (Ballymena CC)
8 Eddie Lynch (Orwell CC)
Unplaced Juniors
1 Aidan Wall (Navan Road Club)
2 Ciaran O’Connell (Stamullen)
3 Robert Deegan (Kilcullen CC)
4 Fionn Sheridan (Orwell CC)
A4 Race
1 Karl Taylor (Ballymena CC)
2 Phillipe Bourdariaz (Orwell CC)
3 Ken McCullough (Orwell CC)
4 Patrick Delaney (Drogheda Wheelers)
5 Declan Looby (Usher IRC)
6 Eriberto Isidro (DID Dunboyne)
Stickybottle National Women’s League
1 Sara Ortiz (Black Rose)
2 Mandy Collie (Forme Racing)
3 Amy Brice (Phoenix CC)
4 Margaret Donnelly (Orwell CC)
5 Caroline Conway (Usher IRC)
6 Ann Dalton (Orwell CC)
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