John Buller and Mark McGarry let rip with big finishes in Duleek

*John Buller gets his hands up in the air after powering his way to the finish line in Co Meath today; a great re-start to the season for the Banbridge CC man (Photo: Sean Meade)*

One of the fastest men in the country, John Buller put his big finish to good use in Co Meath today for victory at the Brendan Campbell Memorial main event.

The A2 Kitty Campbell also went the way of a bunch finish, with up and coming junior Mark McGarry galloping in for victory for Dungarvan Cycling Club.

Buller (21) has clearly kept his focus during the Covid19 lock-down period as he had won the Annaclone GP way back in early March just before racing was suspended.

His latest win came at the end of the 86km, six-lap, race during which plenty of attacking failed to split the field before the finish.

Buller told stickybottle he was delighted to get back
into action and was hoping for a run of form during the next few months.

“The race panned out well; knowing the
wind direction and speed prior to it, I knew it was going to be such a fast
finish,” he said.

“The circuit didn’t allow for any big
moves to go. In the early half of the race I put in a few digs in the hope of
whittling down some sort of group but everything was easily swamped up.

“In the back of my mind a bunch gallop
is always ideal for me so I played my cards right and recovered where and when
I could, still following the flow of the race in case anything did escape.”

And while he took the bunch sprint at
the finish for victory, he said it was far from a perfect gallop for him.

“I kicked really early, misjudging the finish straight completely. It was perhaps too early in most circumstances, probably around the 400m to go marl. Fortunately my gap was made then and it was a case of holding it to the line.”

*That'll do nicely: Mark McGarry looks thrilled with his win, the Dungarvan CC man proving too fast for the opposition (Photo: Sean Meade)*

Buller stormed home for a clear win and had time to celebrate his victory, though Richard Maes (Strata 3-VeloRevolution) and, Mondello Series winner and runner-up since the restart, Conor Murnane (UCD Cycling Club) were just behind in 2nd and 3rd.

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Irish track international Fintan Ryan (Kingspan-TrackProject.ie), after his win in Mondello last Tuesday night, had to settle for 4th with Adam Stenson (UC Monaco) in 6th and Andy Maguire (Spellman-Dublin Port) 6th.

When the A3-Junior Kitty Campbell Memorial also came down
to a bunch finish Mark McGarry, a junior rider who has already represented
Ireland at youth level, was first to the line.

Like Buller, Dungarvan's McGarry had time for a victory celebration as he got the better of the evergreen John Priest (Lucan CRC) and John Mason (Strata 3-VeloRevolution).

Maura Claffey (UCD Cycling Club) was best woman in that race and looks like she has come out of the lock-down in good shape.

Claffey has made very significant progress in recent seasons and at the end of last year scored a very strong win in the Laragh Classic when she out-climbed some of the best riders in the country.

The A4 event in Duleek also came down to a sprint from a large group with Ballymena Road Club’s Robert Kennedy winning from Sean Mullen (Unattached) and Andy Ross (VC Glendale).

Caoimhe O’Brien (Weston Homes-Torelli-Assure) took the
women’s category in the A4 contest.