When Hugh Óg Mulhearne (16) was named on the Irish team for the Quanta Capital Junior Tour of Ireland, he had his eye on the general classification. Though it didn't work out, he enjoyed a very strong final two days on the attack.
That included being the only Irish rider to make the final stage breakaway, finishing 3rd on the day after the move stayed clear to fight for the honours.
But Mulhearne - from Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford - told stickybottle, as much as he wanted to win that last stage, he stopped working in the breakaway once he realised US rider Jack Ray (Hot Tubes) was virtual yellow jersey at the expense of Irish rider, and eventual winner, Matthew Walls (Cycling Leinster).
"When we heard the gap was 45 seconds, he (3rd on GC Ray) said 'oh, I'm in the jersey now'. Once I heard that, I thought 'I'll stop riding now, I'd rather an Irish guy win the race than an American'. So I said to (Ray): 'I'm not riding now, I'd rather Matthew win it than you'. I sat back then for the last 1½ laps."
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In the six-man group with Mulhearne was also US rider Garrett Beshore (Boulder Cycling) who was hoping to go from 7th overall to 3rd on the final GC. Because Ray and Beshore had so much to gain, they drove the breakaway along.
However, after Mulhearne decided to sit on, he said the others in the move were annoyed and worked him over in the final, taking turns to attack him.
"I was feeling so strong on that stage, and I had it in my head that I wanted to win," Mulhearne said. "But then the boys were getting a bit annoyed. The five of them got together and they started oneing and twoing
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"So the last 2km was horrible. I had to close down every attack. But I had the legs, I was strong enough that I could close them. I was saying to myself 'I really need to get something out of this week'. So I didn't mind closing them down."
At the finish, he said he perhaps got boxed in a little and had to be content with 3rd place, behind Seth Jackson (FH MAS Cams) and Ryan Oldfield (Halesowen Academy-Mapei).
Mulhearne had also been away solo for about 25km the previous day, gaining a gap of over one minute before being caught. He had missed the key general classification move on stage 4, up and over Castle Hill. A mechanical ensured he started the climb last man and was far too far back to be in contention when a group of 17 emerged at the front after the ascent.
Overall, he said he took a lot of encouragement from the fact he appeared to get stronger through the race, especially on the last two days. And he was also full of praise for Irish team manager Frankie Campbell and the personnel who looked after the Irish team for the week.
He was on that team alongside Toby Sweetman - a stage winner and 6th overall - as well as Jack Woods, Curtis McKee and Peter Quigley.
"The set-up was class, it was run like a professional team," said Mulhearne. "We didn't have to do a tap. All we had to do was ride our bikes. We were so well looked after. Everyone put their egos aside and we all rode as a team."
Already this year Mulhearne has raced in Europe a little, with his French team AS Villemur Cyclisme. In the spring - and working around school - he rode one-day races in France and Spain and lined out in the junior Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And he wants more of that in the weeks ahead.
"The plan for the summer is the head back to France and do some regional races and some UCI races up until the Europeans in October, that would be my main goal. Hopefully I'll get selected."
