Conor Murphy (Caldwell Cycles), the Irish junior TT champion, has set a blistering time of 17:42 in a 10 mile TT; his personal best and a time that no Irish rider, senior or junior, has gone faster than.
The second-year junior - who competes for U19 Academy Région Sud powered by Giant when racing abroad - set the new marker at the opening round of the Ernie Magwood Series on Thursday night.
The series, and club 10 mile TT, event was promoted by Island Wheelers and was won by Murphy just days after he claimed victory on the TT stage at the UCI Junior Nations Cup stage race in Czech Republic, Course de la Paix Juniors (2.Ncup).
At that race, which he rode for the national team, Murphy won the 8.8km stage 2 test by just one second from Michiel Mouris, who is the reigning Dutch and European junior TT champion, and winner of the recent junior Paris-Roubaix.
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Last night's victory for Murphy was secured by a lot more than one second as he recorded a time of 17:42, some 1:01 faster than last night's runner-up, Marcus Christie.
After Christie's time of 18:43 - a fantastic ride in itself - Ian Inglis rounded out the podium on the night with 18:48. Eileen Burns (Ballymena RC) was fastest woman, with a time of 21:47; the former Irish road and track international clearly in good form.
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Aliyah Rafferty (Tofauti Everyone Active Majoco) was fastest junior woman on the night; the 17-year-old clocking a time of 22:01. She set the Irish junior record last August with a 21:22 ride.
Murphy's provisional time last night was 17:41. However, it was a fraction of a second over that time and when the commissaires on the night consulted with the college of commissaires, the time was rounded up to 17:42 for his official time on the night.
That meant he equaled the Irish senior record for the 10 mile distance, set by Ryan Mullen way back in 2014.
Mullen, now a World Tour pro and one of the best lead-out men in the business with Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe, set the senior Irish record of 17:42 as a 20-year-old riding for the UCI Continental team An Post-Sean Kelly.
He broke the record not long after winning the senior road race, and proving fastest in the TT, at the National Road Championships. And just a few weeks later he went to the UCI World Road Championships in Ponferrada, Spain, and took the silver medal in the U23 TT. He was beaten to gold by Australia's Campbell Flakemore by just a fraction of one second.
Before his ride in Ballymena, Co Antrim, on Thursday night, Murphy's previous best in a 10 mile TT was that time of 17:59, set last July, also in the Ernie Magwood Series. Last year in the series he recorded times of 18:37, 18:20 and then 17:59.
Having lowered his time again, this time to 17:42, it suggests he is continuing to make rapid progress, under coach Bryan McCrystal.
- This story has been amended since it was published to reflect the fact Murphy's provisional time of 17:41 was later rounded up to 17:42.
