McGlinchey too good in Kerry on day for young guns

Chris McGlinchey takes the opening stage in Kerry from Daire Feeley and Mark Dowling (Photo: Marian Lamb - Ulster Cycling News)

By Brian Canty

Christopher McGlinchey has taken the biggest road win of his career with victory on the opening stage of the Kerry Group Ras Mumhan on Friday.

The 21-year old Belfast man, riding for the Irish Development Team, has been close in recent weeks but he saved his best legs for this afternoon with a brilliant finishing surge up to the line in Killorglin.

The former international downhill rider turned road ace took victory from a nine-man breakaway, a move that contained three of his teammates, Ian Richardson, Darragh O’Mahony and Craig McCauley.

And capping an incredible day for the young guns was Fintan Ryan taking the bunch sprint for 10^th.

It means McGlinchey is in yellow – as well as leading the U23 and points classifications.

In that U23 classification, five of the top six are from the Irish Development Team, with Daire Feeley second after a brilliant second place on the stage.

That front group of nine managed to escape after the first KOH at Kilcummin and they had to work extremely hard to establish any kind of a gap on the chasers behind.

However, with McGlinchey, Richardson, Darragh O’Mahony and Craig Macauley and 2011 winner Sean Lacey (Aqua Blue) in the escape as well as rising star Daire Feeley (iTap), Henry Cooke (Limerick CC), Ali MacAulay and Mark Dowling (both ASEA-Wheelworx) they had some serious firepower.

The peloton, it must be said, was vastly reduced before the midway point when the break was gone, due to some serious speed on the climbs.

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Indeed, a bunch of 167 starters was thinned down to around 60 chasing that front nine in the latter half of the race.

One of the biggest losers today were the West Frisia team from the Netherlands.

They had no man in the breakaway – despite winning the first KOH through Ruben Dorren and though they chased frantically, their efforts came to nought.

The opening 50 kilometres was run off at 42kmph but thereafter, matters calmed down considerably as West Frisia made no inroads on the escapees.

Approaching Castleisland, the gap was over a minute and a half and it stayed around that until the 20k to-go mark when it began to reduce and dipped under one minute.

At 10km to go it was still holding and after the final KOH of the day at Milltown (cat 4) the chasing bunch still hadn’t made any further inroads.

And that’s how it would stay to the line; McGlinchey taking it strongly from the fancied Feeley.

Tomorrow’s stage takes the riders 135 kilometres from Kenmare, over the Healy Pass into Adrigole, Castletownbere, Glengarriff, Ballingeary, Ballyvourney, the County Bounds before returning to Kenmare via Kilgarvan around 3pm.