Paddy Clarke made the breakaway today but in hindsight felt he did too much and paid the price later, fading badly and seeing his hopes of a county rider prize go up in smoke (Photo: www.blackumbrella.ie)
Paddy Clarke put in a typically gutsy ride today on the queen stage of the An Post Rás from Charleville to Cahirciveen, making the 12-man breakaway before fading on the leg-breaking cat 1 climb of the Coomanaspic after 100 miles.
That final wall reached gradients of 28 per cent in parts and it was there that the break began to fracture as the pace was increased out front by Alessandro Pettiti (Team IDEA Italy) and An Post Chainreaction rider Owain Doull.
Clarke, who came so close to winning the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan last month, had been one of three county riders in the day’s decisive escape and felt after the stage he had done too much work, seeing him fade to 76th place on the day, over three minutes down.
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“I’ve been keeping quiet the first few days because I was sick,” said the Liquidworx-Fitscience Mayo man who is riding for Mayo Centra this week.
“I had a bit of a sore throat from the first night in Dublin, my throat is killing me. But today I got up into the move. I was going to hold back and just take it handy, but on the climb before Castleisland a load of pros were dilly-dallying, jumping and sitting up, so I did a few moves myself to try to get away.”
He said when Eugene Moriarty (Team 39 Spin11) and Ronan McLaughlin (Inishowen Gateway McCafe) went clear he attacked after them with a rider apiece from Velosure Giordana and an NFTO Pro Cycling.
While they struggled initially to get a gap as the escape became 12, they then got a time check of two minutes on the peloton and they were gone.
Despite his ill-health, Clarke felt better and better as the stage progressed.
“I felt good, I was riding strong, so I battled away over the cat 2 climbs but the cat 1 was a different story. A few guys attacked and ramped up the pace.
“I knew myself I was outside my zone so I just let them go and rode my own steady tempo. The climb was very steep and I was very tired and I only had a 25 (sprocket) on the back so I was a bit under-geared. But if you want to race up that you need a 25.”
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Thoughts then went from a high stage placing to a county rider prize.
“I began to count the county riders who passed me and when I got over the top I was probably about fifth or sixth county man.
“Then on the descent we just drove it, five of us, I hit 105kph on the descent to try to get back on terms with the lads up front.;
"When we turned left on the main road, it went straight to a crosswind and we put the hammer down but I was blowing. The yellow jersey was a machine, he was riding maybe a metre from the ditch and three more inside him.
“So the next man out was in the wind and getting crucified. Eventually I couldn’t hold the wheel, I blew the lights completely, and the next group caught me.
"Then a huge group with Bryan McCrystal and Sean Lacey and all those guys came across but at that stage the lights were out and I just wanted to get home.
On reflection, Clarke said he really would have liked the county rider prize today.
“Hindsight is a great thing but if I’d been able to hang onto that yellow jersey I might have recovered and been able to sprint. But it’s easy to be wise now.
“I rode as hard as I could for as long as I could and to be able to give the team a bit of exposure while doing it was great. We’ve been so well supported by Mayo Centra that I felt I owed it to them to put in a performance and after losing Paul Brady earlier in the week it was nice to do something.”
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