“The headwind was unreal but we attacked hard coming off Glenmalure and it worked"

Conor Murphy (left) and team mate Thomas Martin at the finish line of the Shay Elliott Memorial in Co Wicklow taking an impressive 1-2 for Eurocycles (Photo: www.blackumbrellaphotography.com)

Conor Murphy of the Eurocycles team has said he did not feel good in the first half of the Shay Elliott Memorial race in Co Wicklow today, but came around after the climb at Glenmalure and was delighted to have won what is perhaps Ireland’s most prestigious one-day event.

“I’m definitely delighted to have won it but to be honest, with me I’m delighted to win any race,” laughed the Co Monaghan rider.

“I’ve won stages in things like the Tour of the North, Tour of Ulster, Rás Mumhan, but I don’t really differentiate between any of them; it's great to win anything. But, yeah, the Shay Elliott is a good one to get.”

Murphy took today’s victory after escaping with his team mate Thomas Martin from the select group of riders that pulled clear on the Glenmalure climb. Shortly after coming off that climb, Martin attacked and when he got a gap Murphy went after him with around 115km of racing in their legs.

Once they got together and started powering on towards the finish around 25kms away, the race behind would become one for third place with the pair having some three minutes to spare on the line.

“There wasn’t much getting away in the early part, the wind was just too strong; it was a generally hard day because it obviously it rained as well,” said Murphy.

“I didn’t feel good in the early part of the race at all. But when we went up the climb at Glenmalure it split up there.”

Damian Shaw (Aquablue) led the way up the climb, taking the prime at the top at the Shay Elliott memorial and he also took the earlier prime at the Newtown bypass. His team mate Timmy Barry – a former winner of the race – needed a change of wheel at the top. A spectator who had cycled up the climb to watch the riders go by took the wheel out of his own bike and obliged the stricken Aquablue man.

Said Murphy: “I got up the climb with Timmy Barry and Damian Shaw. And then Tommy got up to us with one of the Carrick guys (Martin Mizgajski). Then just after we came down off the climb Tommy had a go and I got across to him, I think that was at Roundwood.”

He said after not feeling he was on a good day early in the race, he and Martin put the hammer down and were determined to drive home their advantage over the 20-25km that they were up the road.

“Tommy has a big engine on him; he’s still only 23 years old and for a guy that age he definitely has as big an engine as any fella in the country his age that I’ve seen. He has had some health problems but he was going really, really well today.”

The duo would survive all the way to the finish, where Murphy said they battled it out for the win.

“It was flat to the mat between the two of us, it was grovel all the way to the line.”

Murphy, who also took the Cycleways Cup in Navan back in March and has enjoyed a string of strong placings, said his season had been derailed by a heavy cold that lasted for almost a month.

He added a course of antibiotics had finally succeeded in clearing up the problem allowing him to slowly build his form again in recent weeks, though he has rarely been out of the top six despite his health problems.

Asked about the Rás and whether a strong county rider like himself could make an impact, he joked: “I’ll leave that for you to decide, I might get a good tan out of it anyway.”

Behind the leading duo today, Eoin Morton of UCD CC continued that club's gradual emergence into the top flight of the domestic scene by taking the final place on the podium in a race once won by his father and former international Peter Morton. Shaw was fourth while Mizgayski was fifth and Art McManusa of South Dublin CC putting in a great ride for sixth.