Fiachra O’Muire (DID Dunboyne) has landed the Meath GP in Navan, Co Meath, after breaking clear with Conor Murphy (Eurocycles) and making it all the way to the finish to fight it out for victory.
On the second of three laps the daring duo took flight from the bunch, but despite committing to the workload in their efforts to pull clear, they never managed to pull out a gap of more than 20 seconds for almost one full lap.
Behind them, a number of strong riders in the bunch were determined not to let the win simply ride away up the road; with Ryan Sherlock (Cycleways) and Greg Swinand (IRC Usher) most active in the chase.
However, the teams of the two leaders had plenty of representation in the bunch and they swarmed at the front doing their best to ensure that an organised chase could never really get going.
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In the end, Sherlock went for a late flier just 3km from the finish. The gap to the two leaders, which had been up to 50 seconds, came down rapidly to around 15 seconds. However, Sherlock just could not close the last bit to the men up front and he was caught by some counter attacking in the bunch behind.
The two leaders hung on, with O’Muire taking the win from Murphy.
Fresh from his very aggressive riding in the An Post Ras, Robin Kelly (Waterford Racing Club) bagged third place just five seconds back.
In the A3 race, the result was declared a dead heat for first – with even the photo finish camera unable to separate Eoin Morton (UCD CC) and Barry Griffin (Comeragh CC).
They were part of a nine man group that opened a two minute lead on the bunch, before being whittled down to six riders by the finishing sprint.
Full report later.
A1/A2 Race 75 miles
1st Fiachra O Muire Did Dunboyne 2:53:27
2nd Conor Murphy Eurocycles @st
3rd Robin Kelly aterford Racing @ 5 secs
4th David Walsh Slaney CC @st
5th Colm Bracken Murphy Surveys
6th Brendan Whelan Cycling Pursuits
7th Derek Finnegan Liverpool Century
8th Daniel Clifford DID Dunboyne
9th Javan Nulty DID Dunboyne
10th John Horgan Dan Morrissey Speedy Spokes
(There were 61 starters)
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Unplaced A2
1st Paul Flynn Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers
2nd John Mason DID Dunboyne
3rd Declan Byrne Navan Avonmore
A3 Race 84km
(Photo Finish could not split 1st and 2nd so a dead heat was declared)
1st Eoin Morton UCD & Barry Griffin Comeragh CC
3rd Ciaran McKenna Emerald CC
4th John Maguire S.E.R.C
5th Shane O Donoghue W.R.C
6th Rory Farrell Staggs Lucan
(There were 85 starters)
Unplaced Juniors
1st Craig Aarrigan DTC Orwell Wheelers
2nd Ciaran Campbell Drogheda Wheelers
3rd Aidan Wall Navan Avonmore
A4 Race 84Km
1st Jim O Rourke Western Lakes
2nd Ray Coogan Stamullen Fast Lane
3rd Karol Lynskey Bohermeen CC
4th Patrick Smith Dublin University
5th Ben Delaney Wexford Wheelers
6th Kenneth Berry Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar
(There were 44 starters)
Women’s “Stickybottle.com National League” 84km
1st Sara Ortiz Black Rose Racing
2nd Melanie Spath Cycleways
3rd Amy Brice Phoenix CC
4th Eve McCrystal Garda CC
5th Francine Meehan Tullamore CC
6th Anne Dalton DTC Orwell Wheelers
(There were 23 starters)
