"Paddy Clarke, Ha Ha Ha": Race winner and new Connacht Crit Series yellow jersey, Paddy Clarke enjoys his win at round 2 in Galway last night (Photo: George Reid)
Paddy Clarke was back in the winner’s enclosure last night after romping to victory in the second round of the Connacht Cycling Crit Series in Galway.
The Fitscience-Liquidworx man was a clear winner, coming home alone around a dozen seconds ahead of the remnants of the main group which was led in by Castlebar’s David Brennan.
Courtesy of his fourth-place finish a night previously in the crit series opener in Claremorris, Clarke took the yellow jersey with three rounds remaining.
He said it was great to be back in a yellow jersey again after taking the lead in Rás Mumhan at Easter only to lose it on the final stage.
Advertisement
“It was brilliant to get a win,” he said of his ride around the 900 metre circuit, with racing for 45 minutes plus three laps.
Having started in the scratch group, he and team mate Jason Prendergast rode hard to catch the limit men in bid to try and win on the night and shore up their overall positions after Prendergast had won the opening round and taken the yellow jersey.
Paddy Clarke at the end of the final stage of Rás Mumhan at Easter, when he lost his yellow jersey to Mark Dowling of DID Dunboyne (Photo: pat Doherty)
“We rode well at the start; the Castlebar lads, John Murray from Navan and Barry Meade (Unattached) all rode hard. We had a plan to keep Jason in yellow. Or if that failed we wanted to get me into it.
“We weren’t sure how Jason would be after the night before, he put in a huge effort there. But we slowly started to bring back the groups and it was all together soon enough. I was trying to get away as much as I could but was being marked, though Jason was always there to counter.
“He eventually got away with Chris Troy (Castlebar CC) but when that got pulled back I went as hard as I could and Jason came with me again. He started to die a bit so he roared at me to keep going, I was in danger of being caught, I almost gave in but managed to hold it to the line.
Related News
“I’m in the yellow jersey now, Jason is second and David Brennan is third so we’re in a good position. We have Sligo next weekend. I’ve won that the last two years so will hopefully get a good result there again.”
Away from the new series, Clarke said his goals for the next part of the season are the National Road Race Championships in Mullingar in two weeks and the Suir Valley Three Day in August.
Eventual winner Clarke drives on the front of the scratch group last night, with round 1 winner and yellow jersey Jason Prendergast on the far left. Both ride for Fitscience-Liquidworx (Photo: George Reid)
“I’m in okay shape, I took a bit of a break to recover after the Rás,” he said.
“I just needed to rest so I was just doing a few recovery rides. You need to be careful after the Rás I think because you can be racing fatigued and take that into the second half of the season.
“So I think the legs have recovered now, and the nationals are next. I was ninth in Carlingford last year so I’d like to do a ride like that or maybe higher and then obviously the Suir Valley is a big goal.
“With the nationals, most of the pro riders are coming so it’s kind of the luck of the draw. You need to be there when the splits happen; if you’re not there you’ve no chance so you need to be really alert always.
“The Suir Valley then is something I’ve always wanted to win; I’ve come so close and failed a few times. I think last year I was just happy with the Nationals result and didn’t commit but this year I want to get the best result I can.
“But if Rapha and An Post come again it’s going to be challenging. Saying that, I still think I can win it overall. And with Chris Reilly (teammate); he’s capable of anything if he has the form he had at the Rás so we should do well there.”
Topics
