Liam O'Brien has gotten his Junior Tour of Wales campaign off to a brilliant start with 3rd place in the opening hilly TT. The 17-year-old Fermoy CC rider is competing in the colours of O'Leary Stone Kanturk club in Wales and took the lead in the climbers' classification for his efforts today.
O'Brien set a time of 13:56 for the 7.5km test from Brynmawr to Tumble today. His marker was quickest for a long period as rider after rider finished but failed to dislodge the young Irish rider from the hotseat.
However, in the end two members of the Wales team - Josh Tarling and Tomos Pattinson - went faster. Tarling recorded a time of 13:29, offering a glimpse at the firepower that has secured him a three-year contract with Ineos Grenadiers, which will see him jump straight from the junior ranks into the World Tour next year.
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He was European junior champion in the omnium and team pursuit last year and took three bronze medals at the Europeans this year and gained selection for the elite Welsh team for the Commonwealth Games. Tarling was 19 seconds faster than Pattinson today, with O'Brien at 27 seconds.
That was a great result for O'Brien, who has already represented Ireland as a first-year junior this season in cyclocross at the Europeans and Worlds and rode the TT and road race at the Europeans last month. He was also selected onto the Irish team for the Junior Tour of Ireland and also claimed the national cyclocross title this season as well as winning the Kanturk Three Day.
Fellow top Irish junior Conal Scully, who is riding for a Leinster selection in Wales, also put in a very good performance today, taking 15th place at 57 seconds. Scully, also a junior international on the road, won the TT stage at the Tour Centre Alsace Junior stage race in France last month.
Stage 1 : Junior Tour of Wales
Brynmawr to Tumble TT (7.5km)
01 TARLING Joshua Wales 13:29
02 PATTINSON Tomos Wales + 19
03 O´BRIEN Liam O’Leary Stone Munster + 27
04 HOBBS Noah Tekkerz CC + 28
05 WALKER Zachary Team Utmost IOM + 30
06 FRANKS Alex V.C.Londres + 32
07 GOLLIKER Joshua trainSharp Development team + 35
08 BUSH Jacob Fensham Howes – MAS Design + 39
09 STONEHAM Angus Beaconsfield Cycling Club + 43
10 COLE Matthew Beeston Cycling Club Juniors + 53
11 SMITHSON Jed Fensham Howes – MAS Design + 56
12 NISBET Cormac High Wycombe CC + 56
13 MEREDITH Fred Holohan Coaching Race Team + 57
14 PEACE Oliver Tofauti Everyone Active + 57
15 SCULLY Conal Cycling Leinster + 57
31 DONNELLY Quillan Cycling Leinster + 01:24
33 NEILL Curtis Cero-Cycling Dision Racing + 01:24
37 BYRNE Ruairi Cycling Leinster + 01:29
44 MCHENRY Finn The Cycling Academy U19 + 01:36
53 MCNALLY Tony Cycling Leinster + 01:48
67 MOLONEY Samuel O’Leary Stone Munster + 01:57
89 TARRANT Sean O’Leary Stone Munster + 02:39
90 MCGEE Darragh O’Leary Stone Munster + 02:40
