A breakaway of three strong - and brave - riders has won the day in the junior road race at the National Road Championships in Co Tyrone. The three men up front got clear with a very long way to go in the 122km race, on a blistering hot morning for the title decider.
And once they had pulled out an initial gap, they put their heads down and combined well. Their combined efforts meant it soon became certain they would share the medals; their gap over two minutes for much of the race.
At the finish it was one of the new arrivals into the junior-senior peloton who won the day; Seth Dunwoody (Cannibal B Victorious) putting in a huge finish to win by a clear margin. The 17-year-old - who had already made a big impact on the 2023 campaign before today - will now take the champion's jersey to Europe, where he will race for much of the remainder of the season.
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However, today's title decider was far, far from a one-man show as Dunwoody's breakaway companions rode a fantastic race. Liam O'Brien, the Fermoy CC rider who took silver in the junior TT on Thursday evening, took the silver medal today. He tried several times, especially deep into the race, to go solo from the breakaway.
And just behind O'Brien, Cal Tutty flew the flag for The Déise; getting into that winning move and taking the bronze medal for himself. That's another very clear sign the young Dungarvan CC man is having a breakthrough season after some strong results earlier this year.
Sam Coleman had initially been in the breakaway - making for a four-man move. But he lost his place up front, going back to the peloton. That left three men in the breakaway, the perfect number for championship racing as everyone was guaranteed a medal if they made it all the way.
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Behind the leading trio today, another one of the impressive juniors this year, and already an international rider, Joseph O'Brien of Navan Road Club took flight from the bunch in the closing stages. And while it looked like he had left it late to get across to the leaders, he made a very good fist of it.
He pulled well clear of the peloton, but behind him the action continued to unfold thick and fast off the front of the peloton. Patrick Casey (Anexo Group Race Team), who took bronze in Thursday night's junior TT, attacked and went off in pursuit of Mullen.
As Casey began closing in on Mullen, eventually catching him, Josh Callaly (Navan Road Club) was also in the mix in that gap between the three leaders and the remains of the peloton.
In the end, Casey beat Mullen at the finish in the two-man battle to decide 4th and 5th; Casey 1:05 down on race winner Dunwoody and Mullen another two seconds back in 5th. Young Callaly, another first year junior very much on the move this season, finished alone in 6th place, some 1: 42 down on Dunwoody.
And behind those top six, all racing ahead of the bunch, came Oisin Ferrity, last year's champion. The Team Caldwell Cycles man won the sprint from the remains of the bunch - a very small group - for 7th place, at 3:03. Eoghan Lattimore (Dungarvan CC) was just behind Ferrity in 8th, with Darragh Doherty (Flanders Color Defever Team) 9th and Travis Harkness (Scott Bright Motor Group) in 10th.
