Stuart Cox takes the opening stage at the Corkman Three Day in Kanturk from Michael Millar (Phoenix CC) and Sean O'Malley (Western Lakes) (Photo: Brendan Slattery)
By Brian Canty
Stuart Cox (Black Rose) has taken the opening stage of the Corkman Three-Day in Kanturk today after he outsprinted his breakaway companions at the end of the 100 kilometre trek.
Cox played it super cool on the slightly uphill drag to the finish just outside the town, leaving it late to execute his effort but when he did he had the quickest dash and he’ll wear the yellow jersey into tomorrow morning’s eight-kilometre time trial.
It was a perfect day for racing in the north Cork town with blue skies and just a slight breeze for the 126 riders who signed on to contend with.
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The race was three laps of a 33 kilometre loop and the first lap was a cagey affair, with everyone keeping a close eye on the likes of Eddie Dunbar, Barry Meade and Dylan Foley. And though they each tried to get away, they were kept on a very short leash by a very vigilant bunch.
Dunbar has proven his class in recent weeks by attacking from the line and staying away to the finish, so the large bunch kept an even keener eye on him. He did make one stinging acceleration on that opening lap, drilling it at the front and lining the race out but the elastic never snapped.
The remainder of that lap was a rather pedestrian affair with nothing sticking.
But that all changed on the second lap when a small group of four clipped off the front, and with none of the ‘big players’ or teams represented, the gap just opened and before long they were out of sight.
That brought about a flurry of attacks with Russell Treacy (St Finbarr's) pinging off the front as well as Mick Butler (Visit Nenagh), John O'Connell, Kieran Crean and Micky Mahony (Blarney) amongst others.
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They joined the four original escapees and immediately got to work. Several more joined, including Ballymore’s John O’Brien and John Blackwell (Kanturk) and though the break was now established, the sheer size of it made it look like it would never last.
But the exact opposite happened and after they went hard up the first climb, the bunch behind was distanced and the escape suddenly had a real chance.
It was a cohesive effort by all up there, with Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers rider Eoin Green as well as Dungarvan’s Stephen Murray giving it a bit of zip, but amazingly there were no Planet Tri or no Nicolas Roche Performance Team riders present.
By lap three (the final lap) the gap was over a minute and a half and chances of the race coming back together all but disappeared.
But on the approach to the finish, the earlier cohesion in the break began to dissipate as the time gaps tumbled and from 1.45 at one stage, it was down to 45 seconds with still 10kilometres to race.
That was in no small part to Barry Meade driving it at the front. But on the approach to Kanturk, the break still had 35 seconds and with one kilometre to go there was the usual jumping.
Stephen Murray made a very decent dig on the right and Russell Treacy went with him with Blarney’s O’Mahony close behind. Cox bided his time and when the finishing straight appeared he hammered the pedals to take a fine win.
Tomorrow’s TT is expected to shake things up but Cox is more than capable – and the time gap is enough to ensure that even if he has a bad day, he should still have the yellow jersey for tomorrow afternoon’s stage around Banter.
We hope to have results later.
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