Conor McAteer & David Montgomery outwit elites to share spoils at Lakeland GP

Conor McAteer gets the better of David Montgomery in the Lakeland GP main event yesterday (Photo: www.raffoto.com)

Conor McAteer has benefited from some brave riding at the Lakeland GP, taking victory after he and David Montgomery got away from the A3 bunch and were gone and out of sight by the time the A1s and A2s closed to the limit bunch in the handicapped event.

Yesterday’s race in Enniskillen saw the A3s being awarded a generous four-minute handicap. However, with an undulating course in store and the riders competing in windy conditions, it was expected that the A1/A2 scratch group would close down the leaders by the finish.

However, the A3s knuckled down from the gun and worked well together, and when the riders had completed the first of two 25-mile laps, the gap was still largely intact having been reduced by just 30 seconds.

Coming off the climb after the second passage, McAteer (Bann Valley) and Montgomery (XMTB-McConvey Cycles) made their move off the front of the A3 bunch. With plenty of firepower in the legs of those two emerging young riders, they worked well to almost immediately open what looked like a race winning advantage.

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Their work rate was aided by the A3 bunch behind stalling, allowing the gap to continue growing significantly all the way to the finish. Indeed the effort in that bunch collapsed to such an extent that the A1/A2 riders would overhaul them by the finish.

Up front, McAteer and Montgomery ploughed on to the finish where McAteer came out best in the two-up sprint for victory. Almost two minutes would elapse before the next riders crossed the line, with the in-form A1 man Gary Jeffers (East Tyrone) coming home for third just a few seconds ahead of John Heverin (Clann Eireann) in third and Marc Potts (Omagh Wheelers) in fourth.

Lakeland GP 2013 Results

A Race Handicapped A1-A3 Riders 110km

1. Conor McAteer (Bann Valley RC)
2. David Montgomery (Xmtb/McConvey Cycles)
3. Gary Jeffers (East Tyrone CC)
4. John Heverin (Clann Eireann)
5. Marc Potts (Omagh Wheelers)
6. Noel Collins (Caldwell Cycles)
7. Declan Reid (Newry Wheelers)
8. Andrew Stewart (Orcharcd Shelbourne)
9. Ivan Reid (Omagh Wheelers)
10. Rory Farrell (Newry Wheelers)

 (Results and homepage photo courtesy Marian Lamb, Cycling Ulster)