Conor Murphy kicks off 2014 campaign with Phoenix GP win from Marc Buchanan

Conor Murphy's move from Eurocycles to Caldwell Cycles-Omagh began yesterday with victory at the Phoenix GP (Photo: Marian Lamb, Cycling Ulster)

Conor Murphy has gotten his 2014 campaign off to a winning start, with last year’s Shay Elliott Memorial victor taking the main event at the Phoenix GP yesterday, Sunday.

Having joined Caldwell Cycles-Omagh in the off season from the now defunct Eurocycles, Murphy came out the winner yesterday after 80kms over six laps of a demanding course at Nutts Corner, Co Antrim.

The event was for A1s and A2s and was run off in a handicapped format, with the strongest of the scratch men getting on terms with the limit group after some strong and organised riding that saw the groups splinter early on.

Murphy got clear in a breakaway with fellow strong man Thomas Martin, with whom he made the move from Eurocycles to Caldwell Cycles-Omagh for this year, along with a third member of the team Paul Mulligan.

That trio was joined in the decisive moved by former An Post-Chainreaction rider and new Dig Deep-Inspiration man Ronan McLaughlin, along with Paul Ferguson (North Down), Mark McClure (Four Masters) and Marc Buchanan of North Pole.

Behind them would form a group of chasers that included 62-year-old Mickey Carroll of Ballymena CRC; an amazing performance by the super vet.

He was joined in that chase group by Fergus Rooney of promoting club Phoenix CC, Irish U23 international Conor McIlwaine (Errigal CC), Des Woods (Newry Wheelers) and Rory Devlin (North Pole CC)

However, while those chasers road hard, they failed to close down the firepower of the men up front.

And in the pointy end of the race towards the finish as the lead group broke up, it was Murphy who pulled clear beating Buchanan for the win, with Mulligan just behind the North Pole runner-up to round out the podium.

McClure, Ferguson, McLaughlin and Martin came home in that order to round out places 4^th to 7^th with Madigan’s John Neil the best of the rest, taking 8^th place and the A2 prize.

The A3 race was similarly aggressive, splitting into three main groups under the strain of some strong pulls and hard attacks before a large lead group pulled clear.

Present in that group was Sean McIntyre, the in-form Orchard CC man who had taken the Annaclone GP the previous day with a very strong solo win after attacking early and surviving all the way to the line alone in that A1-A2-A3 handicapped event.

With McIntyre in yesterday’s A3 race lead group were, among others: Ryan Reilly (Foyle CC), Angus Fyffe (Omagh Wheelers), Kevin Houlian (Errigal CC), Evan Donaghue (Four Masters) and John McGlaughlin (Cookstown).

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As was the case in the A1-A2 race, the leading A3s were pressed hard by the chase group but managed to hold on.

Foyle’s junior rider Ryan Reilly surged home for the win ahead of Four Masters’ Donaghue in 2^nd and Omagh’s Fyffe in 3^rd place.

With the podium slots mopped up, Houlihan was 4^th across the line followed by McIntyre, Jude Sands (Newry), Stuart Bennett (Phoenix CC) and Curtis Gilmore (Team Madigan).

In the A4 event, over four laps of the same circuit, Nigel Connolly (Strabane Lifford) and David Donaghy (Caldwell Cycles-Omagh) forged ahead in what was to prove the winning move.

Caldwell Cycles’ Donaghy followed the example of team mate Murphy in the A1-A2 race, taking the win from Connolly with Jody Wright (Phoenix CC) then taking 3^rd and James Mullan (Roe Valley) taking 4th.

He was followed home, in order, by Ryan Jamison (Causeway CC), Mark Millar (Velo Cafe Magasin), Kyle Brown (East Antrim Audi) and Emmet Valley (Square Wheels).