Ronan O’Connor (Team Skyline) has come of age as a bike rider today in Co Wicklow, where he realised the potential he has shown since his junior days to win the Trinity Skoda Shay Elliott Memorial on perhaps the hardest finish in Irish cycling.
The winner and JB Murphy (Kilcullen CC Murphy Geospacial), a European Track Championships medal winner who excelled on lumpy terrain today, showed great bravery in the final when they pushed on from a 14-strong all-star move that got clear late in the race.
The two men led into the base of the Shay Elliott climb, with the chasers fragmenting in their wake. Gareth O’Neill (Athlete Nutrition Coach HD) and Ruairí Byrne (UCD Cycling Club) got clear of the rest of the breakaway, before the brutal final climb, and went off in pursuit of the two leaders.
And though Murphy is a road man, who also achieved great things during his track days, he matched climber O’Connor on the hardest section of the finishing climb, right at the base as the road kicks up. It was only as the ascent progressed, past the halfway point to the finish, that daylight opened between the two men out front.
O’Connor pushed on solo for a win he’ll remember for a long time, as Murphy gave it everything to hang on to 2nd place, though he was caught and beaten by eventual runner-up O’Neill, and Byrne who claimed 3rd.
Murphy had to settle for 4th, though he was one of the animators of the race and, perhaps along with Jack Conroy (Bray Wheelers), was the most aggressive in the C1 event today.
Though O’Connor, the former Irish junior road race champion, is a great bike rider, he had not won a race for over four years. That was mainly due to competing at a very high level in Europe in the recent years.
However, he finally took a big one today, after at times finding himself on the back foot, being caught in the bunch and chasing moves that went clear. But he was ever-present on the front of that bunch, and joined plenty of attacks himself, before he made it into the right breakaway in the latter stages and took on all-comers to win.
The riders raced out of Laragh this morning to Ballianclash, where they entered the 24km circuit for four laps. On completion of four passages of the course, they then raced off the circuit, for an additional 13km, onto the Shay Elliott climb for the finish at the top.
Though the early stages were marked by plenty of aggression, the field surprisingly largely stayed together until deep into the final lap of four, though the pace and terrain conspired to regularly jettison riders out the back.
The breakaway move that became most established broke clear on the second lap and remained up the road for about 40km, maybe a little more. There were four riders in that move: Jack Conroy (Bray Wheelers), Ciaran Maguire (Dan Morrissey Pissei), John Buller (Banbridge C) and Con Scully (Dan Morrissey Pissei).
However, their advantage was mostly in the 25 to 40 seconds range and it always looked like the elastic would need to snap if they were to have a chance of making it all the way. Unluckily for them, they simply never managed to gain any more time and deep into the last lap they were caught.
Shortly after the juncture was made, the bunch split several times before regrouping until a large group got off the front, with most of them never seen again.
In that group were: Lindsay Watson (Powerhouse Sport), last year’s winner Mark Dowling (VeloRevolution), John Buller (Banbridge CC) and Jack Conroy (Bray Wheelers) again, JB Murphy (Kilcullen), Daniel Yon hin (ARBÖ MiKo PV ON-Fahrrad), Luke Smith (Moynalty CC), Ruairí Byrne (UCD Cycling Club), Matteo Cigala (Dan Morrissey Pissei), Leo Doyle (Atom 6 Bikes-Decca Continental Team), Kevin McCambridge (Unattached), Ronan O’Connor (Team Skyline), Gareth O’Neill (Athlete Nutrition HD) and Padraig Moran (Lakeside).
They immediately pulled out a gap; 10 seconds doubling in no time before time checks said 40 seconds. It was immediately clear that it was going to take something extra special for anyone back in the bunch to get across, especially so deep into the race.
However, the leaders had very little time to settle into any working formation before O’Connor and Murphy were on the move; impressively going clear and pulling out a proper gap on the hard roads as they raced off circuit and towards the climb.
Though O’Neill and Byrne would later catch Murphy on the climb and taken 2nd and 3rd, there was no catching O’Connor, who climbed his way to victory. Behind the leading four, Matteo Cigala (Dan Morrissey Pissei) was 5th, with Padraig Moran (Lakeside Wheelers) and Daniel Yon Hin (ARBÖ MiKo PV ON-Fahrrad) 6th and 7th.
Luke Smith (Moynalty Cycling Club) was 8th, with last year’s winner Mark Dowling (VeloRevolution) in 9th and Lindsay Watson (Powerhouse Sport) rounding out the top 10. After all their aggression, John Bulller (Banbridge CC) and Jack Conroy (Bray Wheelers) had to settle for 11th and 12th, though both were impressive today.
And behind them were two men who did not make the 14-man winning breakaway, but proved best of the rest on the final climb; Eoin Kelly (UCD Cycling Club) and Matt Teggart (Banbridge CC) in 13th and 14th.
Sun May 11th | Shay Elliott-Ken Duff Memorials
Laragh, Co Wicklow
Promoted by Bray Wheelers
Shay Elliott Classic 124km
- Ronan O’Connor Team Skyline
- Gareth O’Neill Athlete Nutrition Coach HD
- Ruairi Byrne UCD Cycling Club
- JB Murphy Kilcullen Geospacial
- Matteo Cigala Dan Morrissey Pissei
- Padraig Moran Lakeside Wheelers
- Daniel Yon Hin ARBÖ MiKo PV ON-Fahrrad
- Luke Smith Moynalty Cycling Club
- Mark Dowling VeloRevolution
- Lindsay Watson Powerhouse Sport
- John Bulller Banbridge CC
- Jack Conroy Bray Wheelers
- Eoin Kelly UCD Cycling Club
- Matt Teggart Banbridge CC
- Unidentified
- Odhran Doogan Caldwell Cycles
- Greg Clarke Bray Wheelers
- Darnell Moore Caldwell Cycles
- Ali McAuley Phoenix CC
- Unidentified
