Smith wins Mountnugent GP after aggressive finale in breakaway

*Luke Smith wins ahead of Darragh McCarter and Daire Feeley at the end of the Mountnugent GP last night (Photo by Feargal Murray-Navan Road Club)*

Luke Smith (Moynalty CC) won last night's Mountnugent GP, seeing off Darragh McCarter (Spellman Dublin Port) and Daire Feeley (All human-VeloRevolution) in what was a very aggressive finale. While both Feeley and McCarter put in efforts from the breakaway group in the bid to win, Smith managed to keep them under control and emerge with the victory.

In very wet conditions, the scratch group had closed down on the groups ahead in the handicapped race by the time they had completed five of the 11 laps.

Once the catch was made, a combination of the speed, wet conditions and the pace saw the front group reduced each lap until it numbered about 15 riders in the Navan Road Club promotion. While there were plenty of attacks from that group, it was not until the penultimate lap that the winning breakaway got clear.

While Feeley, McCarter and Smith made for a very strong trio up front, they didn't fully commit to their effort and instead some tactical and cagey scenes played out. Behind them, a group of chasers formed including Conor Murnane (UCD Cycling Club), Tom Regan (Seven Springs CC), Jamie Meehan (Spellman Dublin Port) and Ryan Geraghty (Spin 11 Chainreaction).

While the leading three looked at each other as much as working to stay clear, they managed to hold a gap on the chasers until deep into the final lap. However, at that stage, with the chasing group closing in, Feely attacked just inside the final kilometre.

Both McCarter and Smith responded and closed him down, with McCarter then going for a flier in a bid to forge a gap. Smith responded to him and managed to pass him before the line to win.