One of the strongest riders at the National Road Championships in Co Meath last month, Matthew Walls was perhaps a surprise omission from the Irish team for the Junior Tour of Ireland. But he has made up for it by winning stage 2, riding for Cycling Leinster.
Walls, who usually competes with Dublin club Lucan CRC, finished in a two-man move just ahead of the bunch today. He was alongside Nathan Levitt (Lee Valley), who claimed 2nd place, after the leading duo just about held off the chasing bunch into Kilkee, Co Clare, after an epic effort.
Caden Freyre (Hot Tubes) won the sprint for 3rd place from Toby Tombs, the Lee Valley man who was 2nd on stage 1. Dylan Haynes (Boulder Junior Cycling) rounded out the top five today.
Walls and Levitt put in a fantastic performance today, never throwing the towel in, even when their lead was slashed right back. However, before they raced into the final trying to hold off the pack of chasers, there was plenty of early action.
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A seven-man group got clear as the halfway point of the 96.5km stage approached. That group was comprised of Desmond Mor (Boulder Junior Cycling), Darragh Byrne (Cycling Leinster), Patrick McRae (Team Rauland), Thomas Sullivan (Team Velosport), Toby Sweetman (Team Ireland), Nathaniel Standley (New England-Cadence Wealth Management) and Caden Freyre (Hot Tubes).
What a win by Walls of Cycling Leinster! #JTI25 pic.twitter.com/LMdeMWdmK2
— Junior Tour Ireland (@JTIreland1) July 9, 2025
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However, though there was a degree of cooperation in that group, and the size of the breakaway looked ideal, they got the gap out to about 20 seconds before being caught by the bunch. And not long after they were recaptured, what proved to be the winning breakaway went clear.
Around the halfway point of the race, Walls escaped the bunch in a three-man move with Freddie Ausberger (Lee Valley Youth CC Team 1) and Nathan Riemer (Boulder Junior Cycling) and quickly knuckled down to the task at hand to pull out a gap.
Their advantage got to just over one minute, with Fionn Killeen (Cycling Leinster) putting in a very strong effort off the front of the bunch in a bid to bridge to the three leaders, though that proved unsuccessful.
With about 20km to go, the advantage of the leading trio had been reduced by about 20 seconds and it began to look like the bunch might reel them in. When that gap came down further, to just 30 seconds, Riemer appeared to sit up and go back to the bunch with about 15km remaining.
That left Cycling Leinster's Walls and Lee Valley's Ausberger still up front and they were soon joined by a second Lee Valley rider, Nathan Levitt. Not long after Levitt got across, Ausberger was distanced. And that meant Walls was the only one of the original trio still off the front, with the much fresher Levitt for company.
Though the bunch continued to inch closer to Walls and Levitt all the way to the line, the duo made it by a matter of just three seconds. Walls comfortably won the two-up sprint for the stage victory and took the yellow jersey in the process.
The race leader - holder of the Quanta Capital yellow jersey - also holds the lead in the climbers' competition, sponsored by the Wicklow 200 sportive. The Esmark Finch first-year junior classification is led by Tombs of Tombs of Lee Valley, who also leads the Cross Insurance points classification.
The race continues tomorrow with a tough 115km stage around east Clare. More to come.
