Prendergast overwhelms breakaway for another strong solo win in Mayo

Charles Prendergast (Cunga) takes the flag in Westport after another strong ride

Charles Prendergast has put on an impressive repeat performance of his win in Loughrea last weekend, imposing himself at the centre of the action in Westport today before putting on the afterburners to romp home alone.

The Cunga Bikes rider was part of an initial eleven-man main escape in the 82km Covey Wheelers-promoted Ras Maigh Eo in Westport.

He left his breakaway companions behind with two attacks inside the last 20kms and opened a 40 second gap that he managed to maintain to the line.

It was Prendergast’s second win in as many weekends, following his victory at the SCOTT Loughrea GP last Sunday, with today’s win a repeat of his triumph in the same race back in 2009.

Prendergast told stickybottle when the A1s caught the limit group today there was a lot of attacking but nothing managed to get clear until he escaped in a group of eleven riders around 30kms from the finish.

Both senior races today were run over the same 82km one-loop course that included Louisburgh, Ashleigh Falls, Aughagower, Mace and the Westport start/finish.

“We worked hard together for a good while but the roads were pretty dead and it was hard to do long turns so the group behind us were never that far back,” Prendergast said of the main breakaway.

With around 20km remaining he pulled clear from that group with Ciaran Clarke of Castlebar CC. While the duo shared the workload for a while, Prendergast said he decided to jump hard out of a corner and managed to get away from Clarke, who was then absorbed into the group behind.

“I just put the head down then and rode hard and hoped for the best so thankfully it worked out well. They weren’t that far back but I think in the end I had around 45 seconds or so. It was great to get the win.”

The 21-year-old said while he has felt strong in the past few weeks, he has found it hard to remain consistent in recent years because of the workload that goes with his Biomedical Science degree course in NUI Galway.

“I would definitely love to ride the Ras this year; I’d need to have a look at the exam timetable and see if the dates work out because the exams will be happening around that time of year. I’m in third year now and you do four years. I’ll see how it all goes, but yes the Ras is definitely something I would love to have a go at if I was able to.”

Behind him today the breakaway he left sprinted it out for the minor placings, with Michael Brady (Westport CC) taking second from, winner in Galway three weeks ago, David Brennan (Castlebar CC).

Ciaran Clarke managed to stay in with the group despite his efforts up the road with Prendergast at a little earlier, with the Castlebar CC man taking fourth just ahead of Padraig Marrey (Western Lakes).

In the separate A4 race Paul McCarter (Donegal) prevailed over Anthony Murray (Westport CC) and Janos Koher (Bray Wheelers).

A1/A2/A3 Results:

1. Charles Prendergast – Cunga
2. Michael Brady – Westport CC
3. David Brennan – Castlebar CC
4. Ciaran Clarke – Castlebar CC
5. Padraig Marrey – Western Lakes
6. Mike Storan – West Clare
7. John James Flathery – Western Lakes
8. David Nugent
9. Aidan Reid – Black Rose
10.Donal Harrington – Western Lakes

A4 Results:

1. Paul McCarter – Donegal
2. Anthony Murray – Westport CC
3. Janos Koher – Bray Wheelers
4. Robert Kelly – St Tiernans

First Lady: Susan Hastings – Westport CC
First Junior: Jason Prendergast – Cunga