Paidi O’Brien takes lone victory at Stamullen GP; sees off six-man escape

Paidi O'Brien had plenty of time to celebrate in Stamullen today (Photo: www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)

By Gerard Cromwell

Eleven years after last venturing to Stamullen, Co Meath, for a bike race, Paidi O’Brien of Planet Tri returned today to win the Stamullen Grand Prix in fine style, soloing clear of a six-strong lead group on the final lap.

“I won the Patrick Kennedy Trophy in 2002 as a first year senior and I haven’t raced here since,” said a delighted O’Brien afterwards.

“Stamullen is a massive place for cycling. I remember watching Mark Scanlon win the national championships here in the rain and that circuit is just a mega circuit. Even if you took the hill out of it, it’s still a really hard circuit, kind of a Belgian-style race. And there’s always a great atmosphere here. I wanted to win this one today. I rang (race promoter) Gabriel (Howard) during the week and said we’d be up. Myself and two of my teammates came up and I’m delighted to win it.”

O’Brien followed a move by the promoting club’s Colm Robinson on the final climb of Snowtown with around 15km to go and with the Stamullen man tiring after a tough day in the blustery conditions, O’Brien soon found himself out front alone for most of the final lap.

“The wind was so strong today that I tried to conserve as much energy as I could, because I knew that on the last lap it would be a strong man’s finish,” said O’Brien.

“Whoever had something left would win it and having a sprint would mean nothing if you were tired. I tried to eat and drink as much as I could and tried to mind myself. We went up the hill the last lap and I was kind of waiting for guys who I thought would attack. Colm Robinson attacked and I said I’d go across to him because he’s a good strong rider but I didn’t go until the last 300m of the climb. I caught Robbo but he didn’t have the legs.”

Although he had a strong tailwind towards Balscadden, O’Brien knew the final 3.5km from Gormanston College would be into a stiff headwind.

“I was committed then,” he said.

“It was a long way to go but I knew if I rode close to maximum, but not maximum, then if a group came up I’d still have a small chance in the sprint. Whoever came up wasn’t going to be fresh, so I rode as smart as I could and thought if I turned at Gormanston into the wind with 200m I’d have it. When I turned I had a good gap so I was able to hold them off.”

O’Brien finished around half a minute clear of Visit Nenagh’s Richard Hooton, who outsprinted Greg Swinand (Usher IRC) and Ras Mumhan winner Damien Shaw (Aquablue) for second.

Patrick Clarke of Castlebar took the sprint for fifth ahead of UCD’s Con Collis and last year’s winner Mark Dowling (Polygon Sweet Nice).

“I’m going to ride the Nenagh Classic next week and then the Tour of Ulster,” said O’Brien afterwards.

“I’m going to stop for a month then because all my exams take the Rás out of the equation so there’s no hope of doing that. I’ve six exams then and I’ll be back in the end of May and I’ll ride the summer in Ireland.”

Having previously ridden in France with VC La Pomme and then in Belgium with An Post, O’Brien is one of the few riders to continue racing upon quitting their search for a pro contract and it’s a decision he’s glad he made.

“I’m glad that I could come home and ride the bike. I think the level in Ireland is very, very good now. You have to be as dedicated as you would abroad. I think it’s good for cycling to see a lot of young guys like Javan Nulty winning races. Damien Shaw is an unbelievable rider. I’m enjoying it.”

“We have a good group where I live in Kanturk to go training and then of course you have Dan Curtin with the young lads coming up. Richard Hooton was second today and I trained with him all winter and Barry Meade, who was second yesterday. We all train together and it’s nice to be able to pass on the experience I have from racing abroad and I’ll help anyone I can along the way.”

Photos to follow.

SENIOR A1-A2 RACE – Winning Time 2hrs:57mins:26sec.

1 Paudi O’Brien, Planet-Tri (Winner of Joey Whyte Memorial Cup)

2 Richard Hooten, Visit Nenagh

3 Greg Swinand, Usher IRC