Caoimhe O’Brien has taken her
second victory of the Cycling Ireland National Road Series 2021; winning the
Des Hanlon Memorial in a sprint from a three-rider breakaway.
O’Brien (19) of Torelli-Assure-Cayman
Islands-Scimitar came to the line today with Becky Woods (All
human-VeloRevolution) and Lydia Boylan (Unattached).
Having won the John Beggs
Memorial in Banbridge last month – in a gallop from a small group – O’Brien
made no mistake today; hitting it hard in the finishing straight and seeing off
Boylan to win. Woods placed 3rd.
The top three broke away from
what remained of the peloton on the final climb and held a slender lead coming
in the road; the sprint for 4th from the chasing group unfolding just
seconds after O’Brien celebrated her victory.
At the head of that chasing group, winning the sprint for 4th place, was Fiona Mangan (Greenmount CA). And that result meant she wrapped up overall victory in the series; a fantastic achievement in what is her first full season of racing.
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However, the day belonged to
teenager O’Brien and it will be very interesting to see what she can do against
older and more established opposition at the National Road Championships in
Wicklow next weekend.
“I was delighted, it was a good circuit and it really suited me,” O’Brien said today after her victory. “There was three of us away, we got away on the climb. And coming in the road I was confident in my sprint. And then I saw Lydia go with maybe 100 to 150 metres to go and I just jumped and my legs got it for me.”
O’Brien said she had no absolutely clear plan for the race, adding she planned to see how it unfolded.
“I wasn’t really sure, but I
knew it was going to split a good bit on the climbs. We were on the main road
for a good bit but once we came onto the circuit we were on draggy roads the
whole way.
“And once we got to the last section of it, I just put in a dig on the climb and Lydia and Becky came with me. Then the three of us were away and we pushed on on the downhill and held it.”
O’Brien explained that at about 2km to go she knew the road was too flat for any of the leading trio to break clear, and so a sprint was on the cards.
“I was confident of my sprint coming into it and I just pushed at the end and I got the win, I was delighted,” she said, adding she was hopeful her form would hold for next weekend’s National Road Championships.
More to come.
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