Harry Howlett of Halesowen Academy-Mapei wins the final stage on Spelga Dam, capturing the general classification victory by just two seconds (Photo: Jerome Rafferty)
Paul Kennedy's hopes of taking a second stage race victory this season were dashed today, Sunday, when some of his rivals got away from him in the winning breakaway during the final stage of the Newry Three Day.
In the end, with the race leader from Burren CC on the backfoot - a limping along after an early disaster - Bryan McCrystal (Bear Cycling) looked like he was the man who was going to win overall.
But then yesterday's stage winner, Harry Howlett (Halesowen Academy-Mapei) stepped up with a bazooka on the finish climb of Spelga Dam.
The 21-year-old from Danbury in Essex - riding for a team based in Birmingham, where he is going to college - swept all before him. He claimed the stage victory at the top of the climb by 59 seconds.
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And though stage 1 winner, McCrystal, fought all the way to the line in a bid to win the race overall, he came up short by just two seconds.
Howlett had started the day 57 seconds down on McCrystal, and when Cathir Doyle (Carn Wheelers) and McCrystal finished 2nd and 3rd at 59 seconds, Howlett was the confirmed overall winner.
For his part, yellow jersey Kennedy - so successful this season from the drop of the flag in March - lost 5:44 and slipped from the race lead to 7th in the final general classification.
The Limerick manner suffered a bit of a disaster when he destroyed a wheel in the pothole about 20km into the stage.
With no following team car, he had to count of the generosity of the Carn Wheelers team. Though he was thankful to get a wheel, it was rubbing on the brakes through the stage, ending his hopes.
Aliyah Rafferty (DAS Hutchinson) won the women's classification, finishing 25th overall; a very strong performance in against the men for the first-year U23 rider.
At the finish today, after Howlett, Doyle and McCrystal's 1-2-3, then came the other breakaway men - the final ascent of Spelga Dam to the finish line really stringing out the field, even the strongest riders at the front.
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Howlett's team mate, Luke Mannings, placed 4th at 1:31, and Aaron Parks (Banbridge CC) was just behind him, in 5th at 1:43.
Mark Shannon, the Burren CC man who made a very brave bid for stage victory yesterday only to be caught just before the line, was up there again today; 6th at 1:57.
Dan Ashcroft, one of three Halesowen Academy-Mapei riders in the breakaway today - a very strong showing by the visitors - was 7th at 2:12. He was just five seconds ahead of Kevin Leech, the Drogheda Wheeler putting in a good account of himself.
Then came two of the strong Irish masters riders; Drew McKinley of promoting Newry Newry Wheelers and Neil Delahaye (Bellurgan Wheelers) in 9th and 10th, at 2:52 and 3:14.
Howlett told stickybottle that, though he was 1:14 down starting today's final stage, he had designs on taking the yellow jersey.
His team mate Ashcroft managed to get into the first breakaway, of six, on the flat section of the stage, before the climbing to come. Once he was established in that move, Howlett managed to get clear of the bunch with his other team mate, Mannings.
"We were away without the yellow jersey so we just sent it," Howlett said of drilling it on the front of the breakaway, once he realised Kennedy has missed the boat.
On the way, the British team played their hand cleverly, winning the climbers primes - Ashcroft leading out Mannings for the first cat 2 climbs - and Mannings winning the KOM jersey in the process.
"At the bottom of that last climb, it was a cat 1 to the finish, Luke led it out, riding everyone off the wheel," Howlett said. "And the about halfway up through the hairpins, I just launched it, and rode it has as I could to the finish.
"I managed to win the stage by 59 seconds and the only other guy in the breakaway was 57 seconds ahead of me so I won GC by two seconds, which I was very happy with, a big win for me."
Howlett claimed the final yellow jersey by two seconds from McCrystal, with Mannings in 3rd, at 1:48. Shannon was 4th at 2:02, McKinley 5th at 3:32 and Ronan Killeen (Lucan CRC) 6th at 4:15.
McCrystal won the points classification, Mannings the KOM, Halesowen Academy-Mapei were best team and Gerard Craig (VC Glendale) won the C3 classification.
