John O’Regan took off from the bunch with 50 kilometres remaining on stage three of the SPAR Tour of Omagh at the weekend. The St Tiernan's CC rider put the head down and crossed the line 22 seconds ahead of the bunch which was enough to catapult him into the yellow jersey.
By Brian Canty
John O’Regan claimed his biggest ever win at the weekend when he won the A4 event at the SPAR Tour of Omagh courtesy of a marvellous solo attack on stage three.
After some early skirmishes from a few riders including John McDermott (Omagh Wheelers CC), Damien Heffernan (St Tiernan’s CC) and John Mortin (Harps CC), O’Regan (St Tiernan’s CC) took flight with over 50 kilometres to go.
After 15 kilometres out front he had built a one-minute lead and with less than 25 kilometres to go he still clung to a one and a half minute advantage.
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During his time spent out front he mopped up valuable sprint points to end the day as leader of that classification while he also claimed the award for being the most combative rider.
A strong wind made life difficult for him but he ploughed on, hitting the 5k to go sign with 30 seconds of a lead on the bunch.
Though the bunch began to wind up for the sprint, O’Regan just about managed to hold on, taking the tape with 22 seconds to spare.
For his efforts he also took the yellow jersey with David Spalding (North Down CC) securing the KOH jersey entering the last day and he would hold it all the way to the finish.
Colm O'Brien (Ratoath Wheelers) started Saturday's split stage in yellow courtesy of his opening stage win on Friday evening from Mark Gordon (Newry Wheelers) and Michael Anderson (Northwest CC).
But he relinquished it to David Wright of Phoenix CC following the stage two time-trial on Saturday morning.
Daniel Daly (Phoenix CC) set the quickest time for the four kilometre course, stopping the clock at 4'43".
O'Regan then went on to win stage 3 and take the overall lead and though Michael Anderson (Northwest CC) took a very strong win on the final stage, it wasn't enough to dislodge O’Regan from the yellow jersey.
Declan O’Brien from Longford CC won the sprinters' Jersey while Francis Cassidy (Donegal Bay CC) claimed the combativity jersey.
SPAR Tour of Omagh
Stage 1 Result
1 Colm O’Brien (Ratoath Wheelers)
2 Mark Gordon (Newry Wheelers)
3 Michael Anderson (Northwest CC)
4 Paul Harvey (Emyvale CC)
5 Declan O’Brien (Longford CRC)
6 Aidan Brady (Longford CRC)
Stage 2 Result:
1 Daniel Daly (Phoenix CC) 04'53.39"
2 Stephen Dreydin (Bann Wheelers) @02.00"
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3 Martin Connolly (Emyvale CC) @07.37"
4 Dean Lockhart (Carn Wheelers) @11.36"
5 David Wright (Phoenix CC) @11.45"
6 Roger Brown (Bann Wheelers) @12.29"
Stage 3 Result
1 John O’Regan (St Tiernan’s)
2 Conor Dowler (Scott Orwell Wheelers) @22"
3 Garry Rainey (East Tyrone CC) @24"
4 Gerard Craig (VC Glendale) @28"
5 John Morton (Harps CC) @ s/t
6 Colm O’Brien (Ratoath Wheelers) @ s/t
Stage 4 Result
1 Michael Anderson (Northwest CC)
2 Enda Farrell (Longford CC) @4"
3 Colin Fox (Harps CC) @s/t
4 John Morton (Harps CC) @09"
5 Ronan Kernan (VC Glendale) @10"
6 Garry Rainey (East Tyrone CC) @s/t
Final General Classification
1 John O’Regan(St Tiernans CC)
2 David Wright (Phoenix CC) @11"
3 Michael Anderson (North West CC) @19"
4 Enda Farrell (Longford CC) @21"
5 John Morton (Harps CC) @22"
6 Ronan Kernan (VC Glendale) @23"
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