Irish road cyclists - pros, U23s and juniors - were in action for their trade teams in Spain, Belgium and France this weekend. Most of the Irish riders were making their debuts for new teams, as was the case with junior Seth Dunwoody who put in a fine performance at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Juniors (1.1) for Cannibal-Victorious U19 Development Team on Sunday.
On Saturday, Megan Armitage got her tenure with Arkéa Pro Cycling Team underway in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (1.WWT) in Belgium; a big step up for the Irishwoman as she was competing in the biggest race of her career.
The 26-year-old finished in 74th position, in a small group some 4:04 behind Belgian champion Lotte Kopecky, the Team SD Worx woman who held off a near 30-rider chase group by 11 seconds to win. Lorena Wiebes won the sprint for 2nd place, making it a 1-2 for Team SD Worx, while Marta Bastianelli (UAE Team ADQ) placed 3rd.
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In Spain, Jamie Meehan, who rode for Spellman Dublin Port last year, and Ewan Warren, who won a stage of the Gorey Three Day last year and has now declared for Ireland, have been in action for their new Spanish team Brocar-Ale.
Yesterday, Meehan (19) placed 58th in the 171km Guadiana Circuit while compatriot Aaron Wade (Cortizo Team) was in the same race and finished 66th. It came down to a bunch sprint of 80 riders - from 196 starters - and was won by 20-year-old Russian Ilia Schegolkov (Controlpack-Badia). Meehan and Wade finished on the same time as the winner while Warren was among a large group of non-finishers.
Wade was in the breakaway in yesterday's race, which was part of the Spanish Cup. His group was up the road for about 100km and he took home the sprinters classification, as he had done the week before in the Memorial Manuel Sanrom two-day stage race. After his breakaway was caught yesterday, Wade went on the attack again with about 5km to go but was caught after a couple of kilometres, finishing in the bunch.
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Last Saturday week, Warren (19) put in a very strong ride in his first race of the season, the Memorial Jesus Pereda - some 135km with 2,600m of climbing. Warren placed 15th after he attacked from the lead group of 18 riders with about 2km to go and being reeled in deep inside the final kilometre. Meehan was 33rd in that race, finishing in a group 4:28. He suffered a frustrating day as he was in the lead group with Warren but a crash and puncture, in the same incident, resulted in him losing his place in that group.
Yesterday week, both riders lined out in the Memorial Juan Manuel Santisteban, some 148km with 2,850m elevation again. Unfortunately, Ewan's chain snapped very early in the race which ended his day out. After his crash a day earlier, Meehan was soon back in the mix again and riding well on the first climb.
The pace on that ascent saw the main field whittled down from almost 200 starters to a front group of about 30, with Meehan among them. As the race progressed, the climbs and attacks took their toll with the front group losing riders and being cut back.
However, when a breakaway of seven got clear from that group, Meehan missed the boat. And though he made efforts to get clear, their were initially cancelled out. It wasn't until after another two riders got up the road that Meehan managed to get out of the remains of the group, with two others. He went to the finish line with them, beating them in the sprint to take 10th place.
Yesterday in France, junior riders Adam Rafferty and Sam Coleman were in action for their team, Team 31 Jolly Cycles U19. They were in action in France in the Mapei Classic on Saturday followed by the 84km Ronde Bessieraine yesterday. Rafferty was 48th on Saturday, in a small group some 4:25 down on his team mate, Dario Giuliano, who won the event solo by almost two minutes.
The Co Tyrone teenager was then 29th yesterday, some 2:32 down on winner Matthias Schwarzbacher (CPS Professional Team), who won in a sprint from a 10-rider breakaway. We had no word on Coleman at the time of writing but we will bring you news of him when we get it.
