Eoin Morton big winner in Tour of Ulster two-man show
Eoin Morton has taken his biggest win of the season after a long-range two-man escape. He is the new leader of the Tour of Ulster as a result (File photo by Sean Rowe)
Eoin Morton has won stage 2 of the AmberGreen Tour of Ulster and is the new race leader.
The UCD-FitzCycles.ie man beat Robert Jon McCarthy at the end of the stage into Moy.
The duo had pulled clear in a breakaway earlier in the stage but forged ahead on the descent Spelga.
With 40 miles covered at that point, the pair were not about to wait on the escapee they had broken clear from.
The group they left contained Cian O'Reilly (UCD-FitzCycles.ie), Lindsay Watson (Cycling Ulster) and Chris McGlinchey (Cycling Ulster), among others.
Advertisement
Indeed it was O’Reilly, who had been on the attack yesterday, who took maximum points on the climb from Watson.
Related News
But once over the top Morton and McCarthy hit out for home.
Working together they built a gap of well over two minutes on the chasing bunch containing yellow jersey Darragh O’Mahony (Waterford Racing).
And though a 19-man chase group would eventual form behind them the pair survived all the way.
In the second group were: Ronan McLaughlin, Seán Lacey, Mark O'Callaghan (all Aqua Blue Sport Academy).
The Caldwell Cycles trio of Darnell Moore, Conor McCann and Craig McAuley were also present.
They were joined by: Kevin McKinney (CCT), Liam Dolan (Cuchulainn CC), Chris McGlinchey (Cycling Ulster), Des Woods (Newry Wheelers CC), Ben Joughin (Newry Wheelers CC), Gary Donaldson (Omagh Wheelers Cycling Club), Craig Rea (Phoenix CC), Dermot Trulock (Stagg Cycles Lucan Cycling Road Club), Mark Dowling (Strata3-Velorev), Adam Stenson (Team Bikeworx), Keith Finn (Team Planet X Carnac), Cian O'Reilly (UCD Cycling Club) and Louis Carnec (UCD Cycling Club).
Morton, who was 4th overall this morning, suffered a later scare with about six miles remaining when he punctured a rear wheel.
However, JLT Condor’s McCarthy waited for him and the pair got going again. When they reached the finish they still had well over one minute in hand.
More later.
Topics
