Ryan Mullen was one of only two Irish finishers in La Côte Picarde U23 Nations Cup, though he crashed with 20km remaining
By Brian Canty
Ryan Mullen and Jack Wilson were the only Irish finishers in today’s La Côte Picarde U23 Nations Cup race in France.
Eoin McCarthy, Conor McIlwaine and Cormac Clarke were all listed as non-finishers in what is proving to be a trying week for the young Irish riders on the national team.
But to give them their dues, today’s 172 kilometre trek was punctuated by many sharp hills and once again the Irish were dogged by some cruel luck.
Firstly, one of their strongest men Conor Dunne became ill overnight, forcing him out. It was the third time in as many years illness has plagued him in this busy week featuring three Nations Cups events.
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During today’s race, protected riders Eoin McCarthy and Ryan Mullen both crashed; the former after only five kilometres which ended his race.
Mullen’s chances of a result were dashed when he went down on the finishing circuit and he eventually came over the line more than five minutes down in 96th. The IG Sigma Sport man was part of the last group on the road.
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Wilson was slightly better placed in 72nd, with the An Post-Chainreaction man coming over the line in a six-man group over four minutes back on the talented Caleb Ewan of Australia, who won the race in a sprint from a five-man group.
But Ireland head coach Brian Nugent put forward a brave front and focused on the positives.
“It was a difficult day from the start with Conor coming down ill and having to pull out, so we had to reshuffle our plans. We put Eoin and Ryan as protected riders but Eoin crashed out of the race after five kilometres. He wasn’t badly injured but he couldn’t continue the race. So we were down to four and then Ryan punctured but got back on straight away.”
“Then Cormac (Clarke) punctured around the midway point and he didn’t get back on. But we still had a chance to do well. We had a clear goal of keeping Ryan fresh for the circuit, and Conor (McIlwaine) was looking after him. Jack (Wilson) had more of a free role because I didn’t know how he was going to be after having some time off with illness. Ryan (Mullen) was up and Jack was there too; Conor eventually got tailed off because he did so much for the boys.”
"But then Ryan crashed on a descent, so he was out and once he crashed that was our chance of a good result gone. So it was a good day of learning, the plan didn’t go as we’d have liked for a few different reasons, but they kept battling and we got a lot out of it.”
“We’ll head for Holland in the morning and on Friday we’ll look over the course for the ZLM Tour. Hopefully all the injuries will heal up.”
Dunne picked up the stomach illness last night but should be okay to race on Saturday, while McCarthy should also be healed up. Nugent will announce his ZLM Tour team on Friday morning and any result Ireland could get in Holland the next day would be vital. Points scored in the Nations Cup count towards qualifying U23 riders for the World Road Race Championships in Florence in September.
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