McGlinchey takes Mournes win with long-range attack from breakaway

*Chris McGlinchey came close last weekend in Newcastle West but made no mistake yesterday at the Tour of the Mournes, where he took victory out front on his own (Photo by Alan Weir)*

Chris McGlinchey
has opened his 2021 account with a strong win in the main event at Tour of the
Mournes; the Spectra Wiggle p/b Vitus rider doing it the hard way with a
long-range attack.

McGlinchey (27), the leading rider in the country on the
eracing scene during lock-down, has been going well on the road in recent weeks,
with a series of top results.

However, he was missing a victory and finally turned his
good form into a win by attacking the breakaway with over 20km to go yesterday.

With four laps of the Kilcoo circuit to complete in the A1-A2 race, before the riders headed for Reed Hall, Elm Hall and the finish at Spelga Dam, a strong breakaway got clear early in the race.

*Mark Dowling leads Irish junior road racing champion Ronan O'Connor in the group behind the breakaway (Photo: Alan Weir)*

McGlinchey was in that move when it forged clear on the second
lap of four and he had some very strong riders for company.

He was with Darragh McCarter (Spellman Dublin Port), Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles), Lindsay Watson (Powerhouse Sport), Alan Bingham (Newry Wheelers), Luke Smith (Moynalty Cycling Club), Chris Reilly (Bohermeen CC), Mitchell McLaughlin (Swift Carbon) and Conor McCann (Inspired Cycling).

They knuckled
down for the remainder of the laps of Kilcoo, at the end of which the
finale began to unfold. McGlinchey quickly took the initiative on the first of the three climbs on the run-in to the
finish.

While his attack seemed designed to test the legs of those he was with, nobody responded and he found himself off
the front solo with over 20km, and two more climbs, remaining.

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However, once he got the gap he decided to go for broke. And by the top of the second climb his gap was no more than about 40 seconds, which was cut by half by the base of Spelga.

*Lindsay Watson put in a great ride but just couldn't get McGlinchey back and had to settle for 2nd place on the day (Photo: Alan Weir)*

Having battled a headwind coming out of Rostrevor, McGlinchey had the benefit of a cross-tailwind up Spelga, which played into his hands somewhat.

In the closing
stages, Watson managed to get clear of the chasing group and set off on his own
after McGlinchey. While the Powerhouse man was closing in on the lone leader, McGlinchey had the legs to
finish the job.

He reached the chequered flag alone and had time to celebrate a well earned win in front of a quality group of riders.

While Watson
couldn’t get up to McGlinchey,
he was rewarded for his efforts with 2nd place on the day, followed by Luke
Smith (Moynalty Cycling Club), who won the opening round of the National
Road Series in Limerick a week ago.

Conor McCann (Inspired Cycling) was next, in 4th place, followed by Mitchell McLaughlin (Swift Carbon), Alan Bingham (Newry Wheelers), Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles) and Chris Reilly (Bohermeen CC).

After the breakaway men had finished Irish junior road race champion Ronan O’Connor (Orwell Wheelers CC) was 9th and Matteo Cigala (Dan Morrissey MIG Pactimo) placed 10th.