Irish internationals Conor Dunne and Eoin McCarthy took the battle to some of the biggest teams in the world at the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise. Above, Pim Ligthart (Lotto Soudal) wins the day from Kenneth Vanbilsen (Cofidis) and Antoine Demoitié of Wallonie-Bruxelles (Photo: Sirotti)
By Brian Canty
The An Post-Chainreaction team has enjoyed a very solid start to its 2015 campaign – particularly from an Irish point of view.
Conor Dunne was in the five-man move in today’s season opener, the Grand Prix Cycliste la Marseillaise (UCI 1.1); with team mate Eoin McCarthy also spending a long period off the front.
Dunne, a former An Post Rás yellow jersey wearer, was in the break that went clear after around an hour of flat-out racing.
He was joined by Steven Tronet (Auber 93), Frederik Veuchelen (Wanty-Groupe Gobert), Thomas Vaubourzeix (Veranclassic-Ekoi) and Julien Duval (Armée de Terre).
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Conor Dunne, on the right in green, riding in the breakaway that built a lead of nine minutes before being caught; a great start for the big man (Photo: Elsa Bénard)
McCarthy – in his first race with the Irish Continental team – made a gallant attempt to bridge across before being reeled back in.
He was unaware his teammate was up the road but his ambition will no doubt be welcomed by the team.
He blew up on the final climb and was listed as a non-finisher.
Up front, Dunne and the four other breakaway men managed to put a massive nine minutes into the bunch behind, which featured some of the biggest teams in the world including Cofidis, Ag2r-La Mondiale, FDJ.fr and Lotto-Soudal.
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Eoin McCarthy before the start today; the Corkman looked relaxed ahead of his first outing in the colours of An Post-Chainreaction (Photo: Elsa Bénard)
The race featured five climbs and the break crested each one with daylight on the chasers, led by the bigger teams who had missed it.
Cofidis, along with FDJ, Ag2r and Bretagne-Séché Environnement set a steady tempo at the front to bring the move back.
And the capture would be made on a long drag with a block headwind inside the final 20 kilometres before the descent into Marseille.
Dunne managed to stay in that front group which was now down to around 75 riders.
Ryan Mullen looking good today in his national champion's gear. His goal for now is the World Track Championships so the road season won't see the best of him for some weeks yet (Photo: Elsa Bénard)
The catch paved the way for a bunch sprint which Pim Ligthart (Lotto Soudal) won from last year’s victor Kenneth Vanbilsen (Cofidis) and Antoine Demoitié (Wallonie-Bruxelles).
The only other Irishman in the race, Ryan Mullen (An Post-Chainreaction), stayed with the bunch for as long as he could but would become distanced.
He crossed the line with 24 others 11:53 down, but with few long miles in his legs given his recent track commitments, perhaps it was no surprise.
All three Irishman will start l'Étoile de Bessèges on Wednesday; a race that features four road stages and a time trial of 12 kilometres.
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