Newry's Cormac Clarke steals a glance behind as he crosses the line for his first victory on foreign soil.
Having established himself as a member of the elite and U23 national pursuit teams on the track in the last 12 months, Cormac Clarke showed his race legs haven’t suffered when he took his first foreign victory yesterday.
From Newry Wheelers back home in Ireland, Clarke signed with Belgian team Illi Bikes CT along with fellow track international Thomas Fallon during the off season.
His victory yesterday came, not on Belgian roads, but during a road racing excursion just after an Irish U23 training camp in Mallorca.
With 130km facing the riders on the Spanish island, the course was a testing one that included a 4km climb to be negotiated on each of the six laps.
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The field was typical of those seen in races on the island; packed with strong and experienced men who ride for Continental teams or who continue to race after pro careers.
Clarke was to get away in a six-man move that was recaptured after a long period off the front.
In yellow on the podium after a confidence-boosting win in Mallorca where he has been training with the Irish track team of late.
However, he would later take flight alone and hold off the bunch despite only building a modest gap of between 150 and 200 metres.
“I went out to ride an aggressive race and try and get in any moves that slipped away,” he said.
“And on the third lap six of us got clear, with Thomas Fallon in there as well.”
With an Irish team mate for company, both were keen to commit with a view to bagging a result.
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“We worked hard to stay away but we got closed down on the last lap,” he explained.
However, Clarke said he still felt strong and focussed on recovering from his breakaway effort with a view to having another throw of the dice as the intact peloton hurtled towards the finish.
And while a bunch sprint looked the likely outcome, the Irishman clearly hadn’t read the script and went for broke just inside the last 5km.
Leading the Irish elite team pursuit squad at the UCI World Cup in London in December (Photo: Guy Swarbrick)
“After two hard weeks on the track I just put my pursuit training into practice and attacked,” he said.
He built a lead of no more than a couple of hundred metres on the depleted peloton gathering behind in anticipation of reabsorbing him and sprinting for the win.
But with the charge to the line almost the same 4km distance he and his Irish colleagues have been mastering on the velodrome in Mallorca, the Irishman simply refused to fade.
He held no more than 100 metres for the last couple of kilometres, only stealing a glance behind when he was upon the finish line and knew he had it in the bag.
“I was happy with the first win of the year, especially after a hard training camp with the Irish team,” he said.
The Irish squad is training in Mallorca mainly in preparation for the U23 team pursuit at the European Championships later in the summer.
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