The Irish riders put in a very aggressive showing on the final stage of the Junior Tour of Ireland into Ennis, Co Clare. However, it was Jules Gillam of Team Specialized from France who got up the road solo and held off the peloton for an impressive victory (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
By Brian Canty
Marin Joublot Ferre has won the Scott Bicycles Junior Tour of Ireland after today’s final leg saw the bunch finish just three seconds behind the stage winner, meaning there was no change in the overall general classification.
Ferre did not win a stage of the race but he took the yellow jersey last Friday and with the help of his AC Bisontine team had defended it successfully since then.
It was a very impressive win for the young Frenchman who faced some relentless attacking from the Irish team ever since taking the lead.
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He showed his class from stage 2 when he was very aggressive off the front and mopped up enough climbers' classification points to take the jersey in that competition.
Darragh O’Mahony and Simon Tuomey were the two closest to him on general classification this afternoon, trailing by 14 and 54 seconds respectively.
But try as they might they could not shake him on the circuit race based around Ennis.
Simon Tuomey of the Irish national team tracks race leader and eventual outright winner Marin Joublot Ferre (Bisontine) on today's final stage (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
The shortest road stage of the week saw the riders tackle seven laps of an 11-kilometre circuit with the main move coming early on when five riders clipped away and built a lead of around a minute.
However, under strong chasing from the North California Cycling Foundation and NRPT-Magnet.ie teams the move was neutralised which paved the way for a bunch sprint.
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Jules Gillam of the Specialized team won the stage after he attacked with a kilometre to go and just held off the aforementioned Pernot and McCarthy.
O’Mahony and Tuomey rounded out the general classification podium for second and third and they’ve stated serious claims to be included on the national team again this year when selection for the European and World Championships is made.
It brings to a close a fabulous and closely-fought affair where the race lead changed hands just twice.
Team Specialized keep the pace high on the front of the peloton before their man attacked and held on for a great solo win (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
Rising American star Gage Hecht of the Hot Tubes team claimed the opening stage prologue and retained the lead for the following two days which ended in bunch sprints, albeit reduced ones as the tough parcours took a heavy toll on riders.
The big shake-up took place on stage four last Friday when the race saw the number of possible winners trimmed to just eight men after four came to the line together and four more escaped the clutches of the peloton.
To the Irish team’s huge credit they had two riders in that eight; stage winner Darragh O’Mahony and Simon Tuomey while Jake Gray ended up tied with Chris Jackson as winner of the green points jersey.
However, Jackson, riding for Strada Sport won that classification as he was higher on general classification. Cameron McIntyre also marked himself out as a man for the future in taking 3rd on Friday's stage 5 which finished at the top of Gallows Hill.
For full stage and overall results click here.
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