Sam Coleman (AS Villemur U19) hit the afterburners in the final of the B9 Energy Storage Tour of Ards on Saturday to win the day and scalp some big names in the process.
The second-year junior rider, who has just turned 18 years, has begun the season with a real bang, with his win in the Ards Cycling Club promotion the latest in several top results in the last few weeks.
Coleman began with a big win - after a long-distance solo escape - in the 96.5km Mapei Classic in France last month before winning the opening stage at Rás Mhaigh Eo and finishing 2nd in the stage 2 TT last weekend. And though he lost his yellow jersey on the final stage, he put up a very good fight.
His win on Saturday was very impressive, coming as it did in challenging conditions and having ridden hard through the full race in a really high quality breakaway group.
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After an initial breakaway got clear right after the start, Coleman sensed the danger and got across to it, settling down with his fellow escapees to pull out a gap on the chasers.
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In that group with Coleman were: Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing), George Peden and Gareth O'Neill (both PB Performance), Chris Donald (Spellman Dublin Port) and Lindsay Watson (Powerhouse Sport).
While that was a powerful group to be in from the start, the line-up also presented challenges for any of their number with designs on victory as all of the riders up front were capable of winning on the day.
Over seven laps of the course in Portaferry, Co Down - just over 13km per lap, which was mostly flat - the breakaway worked well together as the heavens opened, giving way to grim conditions.
On the final lap, with the leaders headed for the big finish on Windmill Hill just off the circuit, Peden was especially active off the front, attacking repeatedly but being chased down. And while the others in the lead group also had a go, all of those moves were neutralised.
Approaching the finish, Harvey lit it up with about 800m to go, though Coleman was straight onto him and then opened his finishing effort to claim a fine victory. He led the way from O'Neill, Watson, Harvey and Peden, in that order.
Travis Harkness (Spellman-Dublin Port) was best of the rest, taking 6th place. Curtis Neill (Lyon Sprint Evolution FR) was first unplaced A2 and Chris Richardson (Killinchy CC) claimed the A3 prize.
