Masterful McCrystal's engine and aggression overpowers all comers in Des Hanlon

The Aqua Blue team car shouts some encouragement at Bryan McCrystal after he had dropped Paddy Clarke on his way to victory in the Des Hanlon Memorial main event (Photo: Brendan Slattery)

By Brian Canty

Bryan McCrystal has taken a stunning win in the Des Hanlon Memorial Classic in Carlow this afternoon, staying at the head of the race for the day in very much the same way as team mate Sean Lacey did to win 12 months ago.

McCrystal, who is on the Irish Paralympic squad and heads to Mexico on Wednesday as a sighted pilot for James Browne in the individual pursuit, showed he is in mint condition; making the day’s breakaway in the opening five kilometres and never faltering.

Among those who pushed him closest was Paddy Clarke. The Liquidworx-Fitscience rider was, along with McCrystal, one of 1o riders to pull clear in the early exchanges.

But Clarke perhaps paid for his enthusiasm, and though he shook off the other breakaway men on the day’s climbs, he was empty with 25 kilometres to go when the race went up the final climb of the Butts.

There were no such problems for McCrystal, who stepped on the accelerator and went into time-trial mode; pulling out a minute on the descent and the flat run-in for home.

Clarke was passed by two men from behind; Paidi O’Brien (Osbourne Meats-Edge Sports Shop) and Ryan Sherlock (Unattached). He eventually came in 4^th after O’Brien had beaten Sherlock in the two-up sprint that settled 2^nd and 3^rd places.

A whopping 400+ riders signed on for all events this afternoon, with the A3s the biggest category represented.

The feature A1-A2 event attracted a star-studded field that included the likes of Peter Hawkins (Madison Genesis), Connor McConvey (Synergy Baku), all the top domestic riders and an Ulster selection headed by former An Post-Chainreaction rider Ronan McLaughlin.

The race saw a furious pace set from the gun, helped by the prime after just five kilometres which Clarke scooped.

And around the time he had claimed that, the 10-man break was formed with Aquablue having three men in it; McCrystal, Olan Barrett and Keith Gater. However, Barrett was to suffer cruel luck when he punctured inside 10 kilometres and took refuge in the team car.

UCD had three men in there too; with the country’s number one ranked rider Anthony Walsh present. He had the help of Colm Cassidy and Sean McKenna.

Emerging rider Andrew Stanley (Dublin University, Trinity) was also in the move as were Mark Buchanan and Marc Potts of Ulster as well as Tim O'Regan (DID Dunboyne) and it quickly pulled out one minute, with all riders doing long honest turns at the front.

Paddy Clarke leads the early action from Marc Potts of Ulster, with eventual winner McCrystal in blue, third in line (Photo: Andy Goss Photography)

Many of the pre-race favourites seemed content so early on to watch as the race disappeared from view. After a time, McConvey threw in some enormous digs in an attempt to bridge and Javan Nulty (DID Dunboyne) likewise.

Ulster’s McLaughlin, Connor Murphy (Caldwell Cycles, Omagh), Fraser Duncan (Ulster), Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne), Sherlock (Unattached) and O’Brien (Osbourne Meats-Edge Sports) were just some of the other big names to miss the boat.

But that was to all change on the second time up Castlecomer, where the road kicks down a left-hander at 90 degrees and then shoots up, and up.

It was there that most of the damage was done, and though the main peloton stayed mainly in tact by the time that incline was crested, the long draggy roads took their toll.

A large group of 20 or so riders got away, with many of the above present. Others to make the junction included Liquidworx-Fitscience pair Eddie Barry and Chris Reilly, VeloRevolution rider Mick Fitzgerald, Cunga CC man Charlie Prendergast, Aquablue duo Sean Lacey and Dylan Foley, Bryan Long (St Finbarr’s), and Greg Swinand (UCD), amongst others.

They were given time gaps that went between two and four minutes to the front group. The peloton was by now dwindling in number with every lap, some six minutes behind the break.

With many in the chase group having men up the road – Aquablue and UCD in particular – the cohesion in the chase wasn’t what it might have been. That gave way to plenty jumping in the final 50 kilometres, all the while the break up front drove on at a relentless pace.

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Sensing danger from behind in the rapidly approaching closing stages, McCrystal took flight and with him went Clarke and Walsh. Before long they had a minute on the six other men in the original break.

The large second chase group was now a further two minutes back, though Sherlock and O’Brien managed to get away from it and went in pursuit of the two groups up ahead.

Clarke was first to light the touch paper up front and Walsh was distanced as a result. Under the advice of his team car he dropped back to Sherlock and O’Brien who had caught and passed the men that had earlier been in the initial move.

McCrystal and Clarke did turn for turn on the last lap before the Mayo man began to suffer on the final climb.

That gave McCrystal the impetus to nail down the win, which he did. He powered away alone to take the biggest victory of his career, while Clarke was unlucky to be caught and passed by Sherlock and O’Brien in the run for home.

O’Brien took that sprint for 2nd – leaving Sherlock to rue yet another near miss, with Clarke next and Anthony Walsh rounding out the top five.

Ulster's Buchanan, who had been in the thick of the action with the early escape group, spent the whole race out front. In the closing stages he was joined by Mark Dowling from behind and they pressed on, chasing UCD's Walsh who was 5th on the road.

However, just as Buchanan looked like he would make it to the finish with Dowling and they would mop up 6th and 7th place, they were caught with 2km remaining by what was left of the peloton; an especially disappointing turn of events for Buchanan after he had ridden so strongly all day.

The A3 race was another Tour de Force from the irrepressible Eddie Dunbar who won on his own by minutes from Michael O’Loughlin (Nicolas Roche Performance Team) and Limerick CC’s Stephen Shanahan.

The A4 race, run over one lap, but still a tough 80 kilometres went to the evergreen Slaney CC rider Paul Bolger.

The women’s race went to Fran Meehan who won by over three minutes from promising O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk rider Josie Knight who is just 16 years of age.

We have plenty more reaction to follow.