Buggle gets the verdict from Meade and Corcoran in a wet Thurles (Photo: Barry Sutton www.irishcyclingphotos.com)
By Brian Canty
Just one week after it emerged he had signed for the UK-based Continental team Rapha Condor Sharp for next season, Aaron Buggle has celebrated with a win on home roads today, Sunday.
Buggle was strongest at the end of the Thurles Halloween Criterium in Co Tipperary after an action-packed race this afternoon – run over 50 minutes plus five laps.
He led the field home from Barry Meade (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk); the 2012 comeback man who won the A4 event at Charleville Park Hotel Two-Day in September.
National Junior Champion Liam Corcoran was third today and was very impressive. The teenager from Castlebar CC is a junior again next year and showed some great speed this afternoon to claim every prime as well as the final spot on the podium.
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But the day belonged to Buggle and the 22-year-old said he was thrilled to notch his first win since signing for his new team.
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"Yeah for sure, it's great for the confidence to be able to win a race like that against a pretty good field in tough conditions so I'm thrilled with it," he said.
Conditions clearly mitigated against a larger field taking to the line, with incessant rain making the surface slippery. But aside from "a few sketchy moments" Buggle stayed out of danger and for the most part was at the front of the race dictating things.
"It kept on splitting up and to be honest I kept trying to make the race hard but no one really rode at the same tempo as myself. So it all kept coming back time after time. But I decided to keep attacking and I kept on going really hard.”
“There were three of us there every time I'd put in a really hard effort- me, Paidi O'Brien and Liam Corcoran. Every time I went hard it ended up being the three of us. Then with about five or six laps to go I said I'd take my chances on the sprint because it was clear at that stage I wasn't going to get away or we wouldn't stay away.”
“Luckily it came down to a sprint and I came into the last bend first and that was it, I won it and I'm delighted with it. I've been doing a lot of strength stuff lately and I said I might be able to take it in a sprint, so thank God the training sees to be paying off."
Corcoran’s third place was a great ride for the Castlebar youngster in a race in which he scooped all of the primes on offer while second placed Barry Meade also showed he will be one to watch next year.
The Thurles criterium, promoted by Team DMG, was organised in conjunction with the Thurles Halloween Arts festival and the Thurles European Town of sport.
Thurles Halloween Criterium
1. Aaron Buggle (Rapha Condor)
2. Barry Meade (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
3. Liam Corcoran (Castlebar)
4. Olan Barret (Fermoy)
5. Paul Christopher (Edge)
6. Paidi o Brien (Dan Morrisey Speedy Spokes)
7. Mike Storan (West Clare)
8. Dermot Radford (Tipp Wheelers)
9. Michael Looby (Tipp Wheelers)
10. Stephen Butler (Visit Nenagh Team DMG)
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