Ronan McLaughlin (An Post-Chainreaction) has taken an impressive top ten result in Kattekoers (Deinze-Ieper); the UCI 1.2 ranked pro road race in Belgium yesterday, Sunday.
The Irishman was one of the strongest throughout the 174km of racing on a biting cold day. Coming towards the end after two ascents of the infamous Kemmelberg climb, it had whittled down from a 31-strong original selection to just eight up front, and both McLaughlin and his new Belgian team mate Alphonese Vermote were in that lead group
In the jumping during the final stages of the race Jerome Baugnies got clear of the others to take a solo victory. With the An Post-Chainreaction duo behind having lost their chance of taking a win for the team, they combined very well to make sure of second place. McLaughlin worked selflessly in the finale for Vermote to help him take that runner-up slot, with the Donegal man eventually coming home in 8th place, a very strong result.
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The race featured a 70km stretch littered with bergs – or short steep climbs - including two passages of the Kemmelberg. After the first proper climb of the day, some 31 riders were clear. A combination of cobbles, climbs and the sheer speed meant that group reduced in number very regularly until the final eight remained.
After the last climb of the Kemmelberg where the final eight riders pulled clear, they combined well to pull out the gap the whole way to the finish. Inside the last 10kms as the leaders became increasingly twitchy at the prospect of landing victory in a UCI 1.2, the attacking came thick and fast.
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Both McLaughlin and Vermote put in some quality digs but they were brought back each time. It was a move by eventual winner Baugnies just past the 3km to go mark that finally stuck. He quickly built a gap of 20 seconds and held that to the line.
McLaughlin went flat out in the final 1km to position Vermote for the sprint for second place. The Irishman had been cramping as the race neared to a close and said that had hampered his ability to close down Baugnies when the Belgian made his move. The An Post-Chainreaction team rounded out a great day when Nicolas Vereecken took the sprint for ninth.
Kattekoers (Deinze-Ieper) 174km, Belgium (UCI 1.2)
1. Jérôme Baugnies 04:13:14
2. Alphonse Vermote @18secs
3. Tom Dernies
4. Thomas Vanhaecke
5. Boris Dron
6. Dieter Bouvry
7. Mike Terpstra @25 secs
8. Ronan McLaughlin @31 secs
9. Nicolas Vereecken @1:32
10. Florent Mottet
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