Conn McDunphy (Lucan CRC) may have endured a difficult crash during Rás Tailteann, suffering injuries to his mouth and face, but the former elite national TT champion has bounced back in great style today to secure his second big win of the season.
The victor at the Shay Elliott Memorial last month, McDunphy added the Sean Nolan Meath Grand Prix to his palmares today; the latest round of the Cycling Ireland National Road Series. McDunphy (26) secured his latest win ahead of some very strong men who remained in contention until the end of the 145km race after a 12-man original breakaway dominated proceedings.
One of the top men on the Rás, Aaron Wade (Equipo Cortizo), was runner-up today, crossing the line just seconds after McDunphy, who got away from the three-man lead group about 3km from the finish. A few seconds after Wade finished came Gareth O'Neill, the PB Performance rider who won Ballymena RC's Blair International Red Hand Trophy yesterday.
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That top tier trio made for a quality final podium at the Navan Road Club promotion on a day when the women's race also saw big hitters fill the podium; Caoimhe O’Brien (Cyclingteam Belco-Van Eyck) winning from Imogen Cotter (Fenix-Deceuninck Continental) and Linda Kelly (Spin the Bean Power by Coffee).
In the men's race, while a seven-man group gave chase on the last lap behind the three leaders today, the strongest men were up front and combined to pull out a very large gap. And though the likes of Conor Halvey (Four Masters CC) - a winner already this year at the National Road Series - and powerhouse Jason Kenny (UCD Cycling Club) were especially keen in the chase group, they had almost one minute to make up on the three leaders deep into the final 10km.
The three-man group that went into the finale at the head of the race had pulled clear of the 12-man breakaway on the climb on the final lap. The pace injected by their move saw the large front group split to pieces, with riders spat out one by one as the road kicked up.
The breakaway of the day pulled clear about 45km into the contest and in that group were: Liam Crowley (UCD CC). Conn McDunphy (Lucan CRC), Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles), Peter Kirwan (Lucan CRC), Aaron Wade (Equipo Cortizo), Charlie Holt (Road Man CC), Aaron Rafferty (Spin11-Chain Reaction RT), Jason Kenny (UCD CC), JB Murphy (Kildare Murphy Geospatial), Adam Gilsenan (SC Valle Seriana-Cene ASD), Conor Halvey (Four Masters) and Gareth O’Neill (PB Performance).
On the run-in to the finish, UCD's Jason Kenny and Liam Crowley began attacking, with Kenny pulling clear solo and taking 4th place. Shortly after Kenny got away, JB Murphy went after him and Crowley responded. They went to the line together, with Crowley getting the verdict over Murphy for 5th and 6th respectively.
More to come.
