Mark Dowling clear with promising junior rider Michael O'Loughlin before pushing on alone to win by a huge margin (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Mark Dowling has brought the domestic season to a close by winning the Laragh Classic in emphatic fashion in a wet Co Wicklow.
The DID Dunboyne man was part of the day’s breakaway that went clear on the first of five 24-kilometre laps in the main event that also doubled as the Leinster Road Race Championships.
He took with him eventual runner-up Michael O’Loughlin and Jake Gray (both NRPT-Magnet.ie), Simon Tuomey (Cork Giant), Sean McKenna (Aquablue) and Ian Richardson (UCD CC).
That group worked well to establish a gap initially but feeling strong and keen to test out those with him, Dowling launched a stinging acceleration up the climb on the second lap and only O’Loughlin could respond.
Advertisement
Sean McKenna, who would finish in 3rd place, leads eventual winner and new Leinster road race champion Dowling (Photo: Sean Rowe)
They worked hard to go clear of the chasers but on a biblical day for racing and on an extremely challenging course they were out of sight by the midway point.
Indeed, only 20 riders signed on for the feature event of the day, some of those being given dispensations by Cycling Ireland to do so.
Some were hopefully preparing for the World Junior Road Race Championships in the US in a fortnight.
And credit to those juniors present today, with O’Loughlin, Tuomey, Gray as well as Adam Stenson all impressing.
Related News
Robin Kelly leads one of the country's strongest juniors Simon Tuomey on what was a rotten day for racing (Photo: Sean Rowe)
The race-winning move from Dowling came with two laps to go when he distanced O’Loughlin and time-trialled his way to the finish.
He crossed the line with over seven minutes to spare on the reigning junior national TT and road race champion.
It’s another fine win from Dowling who only returned from a training block in Lanzarote on Friday.
He’ll now turn his attention to his major goal of the season, the Taiwan KOM Challenge at the end of October.
To prepare for that he’ll do a stage race in Spain during the week - Volta A Galicia - before returning to Ireland for another training block.
A1-A2 Friends First Laragh Classic
Sun, Sept 13th: Laragh, Co Wicklow
Leinster Road Race Champs
- Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne)
- Michael O’Loughlin (NRPT-Magnet.ie)
- Sean McKenna (Team Aquablue)
- Ian Richardson (UCD CC)
- Cian Delaney (Stamullen M Donnelly)
- Jake Gray (NRPT-Magnet.ie)
- Adam Stenson (NRPT-Magnet.ie)
- Robin Kelly (Waterford Racing Team)
- Ian Cassidy (UCD CC)
- Dermot Kavanagh (Bray Wheelers)
- Climbers’ Competition: Dowling
Topics
