Big breakthrough as Damien Shaw takes first pro win
Damien Shaw has taken a big win in France and the yellow jerse.
He may have suffered a delay in getting his season underway, but that hasn’t stop Damien Shaw taking a big win.
The Mullingar man riding for An Post Chainreaction has claimed the opening stage of the Tour du Loir et Cher (UCI 2.2) in France.
And he also leads the race heading into the second of five stages tomorrow.
Shaw, riding his first foreign race this year, managed to get clear and take a solo win.
He finished four seconds ahead of former Rás stage winner Thomas Rostollan (Cycliste Armee de Terre).
In 3rd place was Joey Van Ree (Destil-Joe Piels CT) a further two seconds back. He brought home a five-man group to round out the podium.
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The main bunch was 47 seconds behind lone winner Shaw at the end of the 154.5km stage from Blois to Mont-Près-Chambord.
Shaw’s breakaway of seven men escaped early in the stage. They combined well and built up a lead over five minutes.
However, that was trimmed back to just under one minute with 30km to go. At that stage it seemed like the breakaway was doomed.
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But there was plenty of firepower up front, including Damien Shaw of course, and they would survive.
Shaw managed to distance the others in the closing stages and hung on for a fantastic victory.
It is a fantastic result for Damien Shaw considering a bad training crash sidelined him for a long period.
The injuries he sustained in that spill stopped him racing until now. He returned to competition by riding the recent VisitNenagh Classic.
And now the 32-year-old, in his second year at Continental level, can face the rest of the campaign with real optimism about moving up to ProContinental if he can score more results.
Shaw's big win despite bad crash
Clearly he has worked very hard over the winter, with team manager Kurt Bogaerts saying he was a clever rider who knew at the end of last year exactly what he needed to do to improve.
Shaw was in great condition at the team’s training camp in Calpe at the start of the year. But then in a frustrating blow he was sidelined.
A training crash at home left him with a broken rib and wrist. They are both very nasty injuries on their own, but combined they would floor any rider.
He has clearly progressed hugely over the winter and proved the strongest after 3½ hours today.
More to follow.
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