Paidi O'Brien taking his first ever national senior title at this evening's National Criterium Championships in Cork city, just two weeks before he is set to get married (Photo: Michael Meade)
Paidi O’Brien has used his finishing sprint to great effect in Cork City this evening, Saturday, taking gold in the National Criterium Championships from a three-man breakaway.
A decisive escape featuring O’Brien (Planet Tri), Mark Dowling (Polygon Sweet Nice) and Martyn Irvine (Unitedhealthcare) moved clear of a group of around 20 riders after the field had split in two in the first furious portion of the race.
That trio made their move with just over half the race completed, with the event taking the form of 50 minutes, followed by three laps.
Within a couple of laps of the 1.3km circuit on the Mardyke Walk and Western Road, the trio had pulled out a gap of 15 seconds and never looked like being caught.
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Those behind never got back on terms and while the racing up front was a little more cagey as the riders completed the 50 minutes and moved into the final three laps of the event, they stayed clear as expected to fight for the national title.
That battle was won by O’Brien who out-sprinted Irvine in second and Dowling, who took bronze. Simon Ryan from DMG Visit Nenagh won the sprint for 4th, around 15 seconds after the leading trio.
The win was even more impressive from O’Brien’s perspective as he crashed in the early part of the race – a light shower of rain before the race making conditions treacherous. The Banteer man remounted, re-joined the field, and made the split soon after doing so.
Irvine started the key move, with Dowling following him and though Simon Ryan tried to bridge, he didn’t have the horse-power. But O’Brien tracked his surge and darted across the gap to form the escape of the day.
For O’Brien, it was his first ever senior national title and coming just two weeks before his wedding he was naturally delighted, but modest in accepting the trophy.
“I’ve won a lot of national underage titles but this is the first senior national title I have ever won,” he beamed afterwards.
“I’ve been on the podium in the road race and I was third in the crit champs in Mullingar last year so it’s great to finally get a senior national win,” he added.
He said he saw the decisive split go after about 25 minutes and knew it was now or never.
“It was tough to get across but when the three of us got away we all rode hard. That can be good when you have three because everyone knows they’re getting a medal and the worst you’re getting is a bronze.”
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“I thought Martyn was probably the strongest and once we pulled out the gap we were able to work together. Mark probably had the lesser of the sprint between the three of us so he tried to get away a few times in the last few laps and he was unlucky not to.”
“He really pushed myself and Martyn hard to hang on and I was lucky that Martyn was only half-fit because he has been injured for a lot of the year and if he was fit it is him you would be talking to,” said O’Brien.
Irvine said afterwards that he wouldn’t have backed himself for the win this evening because he hadn’t done much top-end training or racing in the last month. But he said was delighted to be back racing and he stayed around chatting long after the hoarding had been taken down.
Of the race he said: “I was half in training mode to be honest, just going as hard as I could because I didn’t feel so good.”
“I felt kind of ‘knock-ish’ because I haven’t done that much kind of intense stuff so that was kind of a lung opener. So I just rode into the headwind section, then rested on the home straight. I did that for about 10-15 minutes and was wrecked.”
“I’ve only done a 1,200 watt sprint here today, when I’m fresh I’d be over 1,500 but that’s the hardest bit to get back. I haven’t done any sprint-work really the last month or two. I’ve been just trying to get fit for the Tour Portugal and today was just eyeballs out, a real hard day.”
“I tried a few times to get away but I didn’t have the fitness to carry it on; so it was Mickey Mouse for a while and then the best man won. Paidi is good at those snappy finishes. I knew the field was good here coming down today. I know the lads are racing well so I wouldn’t have put money on myself today.”
The Newtownards man switches his attention to next week’s National Track Championships and then a two-day track meet in Belgium where he’s likely to rub shoulders with Mark Cavendish.
