O'Mahony beats Feeley and Dowling in battle of big guns in Limerick | Sticky Bottle

*Darragh O'Mahony (left) just gets the verdict over Daire Feeley, whose team mate Mark Dowling is in the background coming in for 3rd place (Photo by Toby Watson, homepage photo by Sean Rowe)*

Darragh O'Mahony has taken victory at the Knockaderry Road Race in Co Limerick after prevailing in a battle of the big guns.

The eventual winner, riding this year for Swift Carbon Pro Cycling, forged clear in a three-man move after earlier being in a larger breakaway.

And while O'Mahony had to contend with two of the form men at present - Daire Feeley and Mark Dowling of Strata 3-VeloRevolution - in the three-rider escape, he had the legs to get the better of them.

Feeley, who has won several times since the re-start of the season, and Dowling tried a number of times to get away from O'Mahony but were unable to and at the finish O'Mahony took the honours.

*The larger group up the road before O'Mahony, Feeley and Dowling got clear in a three-man move that went on to take the podium positions (Photo: Toby Watson)*

*Feeley attacks in a bid to shake off O'Mahony, who tracked closely behind covering the move (Photo: Toby Watson)*

A nine-man breakaway dominated the race and it including the eventual top three – O’Mahony, Feeley and Dowling – along with national junior road race champion Tom Moriarty (O’Leary Stone Kanturk).

A strong trio of Spellman-Dublin Port riders were also on
the breakaway; Cian Keogh, Darragh McCarter and Andy Maguire.

With them was former Worlds and Europeans track
championships medalist JB Murphy (Arabay) and road and track international Marc
Potts (Caldwell Cycles).

Dowling began the breakaway with an attack at the end of
the opening lap and was joined by McCarter before the others all got across in
counter attacks, with eventual winner O’Mahony last man across.

That group had pulled clear by the second lap of eight on
the 17.2km course and from that point they initially worked to establish a gap
on the main field.

At about the halfway point of the race the front group began to split and on the third last lap the winning trio forged clear.

*Jordan Luke takes the A3-Junior win after a solo escape (Photo: Sean Rowe)*

*Vinny O'Leary (Tralee Manor West BC) takes the A4 race from Declan O'Carroll (Chain Gang Cycling Club) with the group just behind (Photo: Sean Rowe)*

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However, the situation behind them changed with a chase
group consisting of Keogh, Cyrus Monk (EvoPro Racing), Potts, Ben Walsh (EvoPro Racing) and Davoren Fallon (Bottecchia Racing Club) forming and chasing down the leading three.

Going out onto
the final lap the three leaders had almost 1:30 on the chasing group, with
Dowling and Feeley doing their best up front to get clear of O’Mahony.

Behind them, Monk
and Keogh set off in pursuit of the leaders and while they closed right up to
them they couldn’t make the catch, finishing about 20 seconds behind; Monk
taking 4th from Keogh.

After those two, Potts came in for 6th place just ahead of Walsh and then there was a gap back to the rest of the top 10, filled by Fallon in 8th, McCarter 9th and Richard Meaney (Westport Covey Wheelers) in 10th.

In the A3-Junior race Jordan Luke took an impressive solo win with a long range attack for the host club Newcastle West CC.

He won it comfortably ahead of Tom Shanahan (Limerick CC), Alan Lyons Bikeworx (Bikeworx Celbridge) and Brain McMorrow (Yeats Country Cycling Club), all of whom finished alone.

National elite criterium champion Ellen McDermott (Team Boompods) took the women’s category in the A3-Junior race.

In the A4 event Vinny O'Leary (Tralee Manor West BC) and Declan O' Carroll (The Chain Gang Cycling Club) finished 1st and 2nd just ahead of a group.

The sprint for 3rd was won by Eoin Buckley (Nenagh CC) from Matt Moloney (The Chain Gang Cycling Club), Shane Spellman (Killarney CC) and Keith Lyne (Killarney CC).