Robbie McElderry takes control at North West Three-Day
The man of the moment at the North West Three Day in Derry; Robbie McElderry piles it on (Photo with thanks Davy Torrens)
By Brian Canty
Robbie McElderry is the man to beat going into the final stage of the North West Three-Day today, Sunday.
The Bann Wheelers man is 20 seconds clear of Rodger Brown of Row Valley CC. Ryan Lyttle of Maryland Wheelers is a further 13 seconds back.
It promises to be a cracking final day as there are a total of 13 riders separated by one minute.
And with a hard and hilly 87km stage remaining it’s very much all to play for.
McElderry is in the race leader’s yellow jersey courtesy of winning yesterday afternoon's third stage by a margin of three seconds.
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He trailed overnight leader Brendan Connor by six seconds starting the TT yesterday morning. But he managed to do enough to overhaul that deficit on the 72-kilometre afternoon stage.
Connor (SBR CC 1) lost 38 seconds and he is now 9th at 48 seconds starting today's final stage.
Stephen Breydin (Bann Wheelers) set the fastest time in the morning time-trial yesterday.
He clocked 3:32:61, with teammate McElderry a second slower and Connor a further second behind him.
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The latter has already had a good weekend as he won the opening stage in a bunch sprint on Friday evening and has been prominent throughout.
He knows he has his work cut out to claw back the time he needs to retake the jersey from a seemingly flying McElderry.
The race leader also holds the climbers’ jersey after taking all the five primes thus far.
He has amassed a huge total of 26 points, with his nearest challenger on seven.
He’s also well clear in the points classification but it’s Maryland Wheelers who lead the way in the team classification.
The women’s race only has four riders taking part but leading the way there is Sharon Bird of Edinburgh Road Club with a lead of almost eight minutes going into the final stage today.
Race Leaders After Stage 3
- Men's GC - Robbie McElderry (Yellow)
- Women's GC - Sharon Bird (Pink)
- Points - Robbie McElderry (Green to be worn by Ryan Lyttle)
- KOH - Robbie McElderry (Red to be worn by Brendan Doherty)
- Junior - Oran McCormick (White)
- Combativity - Gareth Kerrigan
Sat AM: Stage 2 TT (1.8 miles)
1. Stephen Breydin Bann Wheelers CC 0:03:32,61
2. Robbie Mcelderry Bann Wheelers CC +0:01
3. Brendan Connor SBR CC +0:02
4. Rodger Brown Roe Valley CC +0:02
5. David Heaney Maryland Wheelers CC +0:03
6. Barry Mckenna Newry Wheelers CC +0:09
7. Brendan Doherty Saddlerock CC +0:10
8. Fergus Mccarry Fourmasters CC +0:11
9. Graeme Evans Spires CC +0:11
10. Paul Slavin SBR CC +0:10
11. Paul Keys Strabane Lifford CC +0:12
12. Oliver Sloan Newry Wheelers CC +0:12
13. Conor Mulkerns Saddlerock CC +0:13
14. Odhran Mckane SBR CC +0:13
15. Jack Quigley Foyle CC 2 +0:13
16. Ryan Lyttle Maryland Wheelers CC +0:14
17. Gary Owens Cadwell/Termon +0:14
18. Darren Murray Cadwell/Termon +0:15
19. Mark Murray SBR CC +0:16
20. Aaron Dickie North West CC +0:16
Sat PM: Stage 3 RR (72km)
1. Robbie Mcelderry 02:01:30,20
2. Kevin Doherty 02:01:33,78
3. Rodger Brown 02:01:34,20
4. Ryan Lyttle 02:01:34,51
5. Darren Murray 02:01:35,59
6. Josh Murray 02:01:35,72
7. Robert Curry 02:01:36,83
8. Mark Lyttle 02:01:38,38
9. Brendan Doherty 02:01:44,31
10. John Mcgowan 02:01:45,08
11. Gary Mullan 02:01:49,47
12. Sharon Bird 02:01:51,48
13. Rory Loughran 02:01:52,64
14. Barry Mckenna 02:01:53,03
15. Andrew Mcclintock 02:01:53,77
16. Brian Walsh 02:01:54,36
17. Seamus Mcgovern 02:01:55,33
18. Paul Slavin 02:01:55,76
19. Thomas Mccaul 02:01:58,54
20. Oliver Sloan 02:01:59,90
General Classification After Stage 3
1 Robbie Mcelderry Bann Wheelers 03:37:11
2 Rodger Brown Roe Valley CC 00:00:20
3 Ryan Lyttle Maryland Wheelers 00:00:33
4 Kevin Doherty Four Masters CC 00:00:36
5 Darren Murray Termon CC 00:00:38
6 Robert Curry Foyle CC 00:00:42
7 Brendan Doherty Saddlerock CC 00:00:43
8 Josh Murray Maryland Wheelers 00:00:44
9 Brendan Connor SBR CC 1 00:00:48
10 Barry Mckenna Newry Wheelers s/t
11 Mark Lyttle Maryland Wheelers 00:00:49
12 John Mcgowan Foyle CC 00:00:51
13 Graeme Evans Spires CC 00:01:00
14 Oliver Sloan Newry Wheelers s/t
15 Gary Mullan North West CC 00:01:03
16 Seamus Mcgovern Lakeland CC 1 00:01:05
17 Odhran Mckane SBR CC 1 00:01:08
18 Rory Loughran Newry Wheelers 00:01:09
19 John Quigley Saddlerock CC 00:01:15
20 Andrew Meek Velo Café Magasin 00:01:16
21 Thomas Mccaul Newry Wheelers 00:01:16
22 Cameron Mcfarland Lakeland CC 2 00:01:24
23 Maurice Sunderland Foyle CC 00:01:25
24 Paul Slavin SBR CC 1 00:01:27
25 Mark Murray SBR CC 1 00:01:29
26 Gareth Kerrigan Four Masters CC 00:01:34
27 Brian Walsh Newry Wheelers 00:01:39
28 Fergus Mccarry Four Masters CC 00:01:43
29 Andrew Mcclintock Foyle CC 00:01:45
30 Gerald Mceleney Saddlerock CC 00:01:54
31 Martin Mcbride Lakeland CC 2 00:01:56
32 Daniel Mullan Roe Valley CC s/t
33 Sharon Bird Edinburgh Road Club 00:01:59
34 Paul Keys Strabane Lifford CC 00:02:07
35 Stephen Breydin Bann Wheelers s/t
36 Eddie Molloy Lakeland CC 1 00:02:24
37 Gerald Mckinney SBR CC 2 00:02:25
38 Brian Lowry Roe Valley CC 00:02:27
39 Conor Mckenna Clougher Valley CC 00:02:32
40 Kenny Boylan Lakeland CC 1 00:02:47
41 Gary Owens Termon CC 00:02:54
42 Russell Callaghan Bann Wheelers 00:02:55
43 Stephen Mulbery SBR CC 1 00:03:02
44 Attila Toth Clougher Valley CC 00:03:03
45 Stephen Mccay Strabane Lifford CC 00:03:05
46 John Ohagan North West CC 00:03:07
47 Henry Donaghy Saddlerock CC 00:03:20
48 Damien Bone Velo Café Magasin 00:03:26
49 Jay Mccauley Strabane Lifford CC 00:03:33
50 Aaron Dickie North West CC 00:03:57
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