Video - How three juniors sewed up National Road Race Champs | Sticky Bottle

Freddie Winkley claims the Irish junior title after three strong riders made their move and took charge (Photo: Sean Rowe)

A trio of very strong juniors waited until the closing stages of their road race at the National Road Championships in Co Mayo before making the move that snaffled the three medals.

Once Hugh Og Mulhearne (AS Villemur Cyclisme), James Armstrong (U19 Academy Région Sud powered by Giant) and Freddie Winkley (Harrogate Nova Race Team) made their move, they committed. And they needed to commit.

They dangled off the front of what remained of the peloton on a day when several very promising moves were kept on the shortest of leashes only to be reeled in.

After the decisive breakaway eventually went clear, deep into the final short lap in Cong - with about 12km remaining of the 111.6km race - there was no time for soft pedalling or a cagey final.

Though Armstrong and Mulhearne both tried to get clear solo coming in the road, the trio stayed together. Up the finishing straight, on the slight rise to the line, Winkley led out it and won it well.

Armstrong was next, just a length back, and Mulhearne followed closely; all three finishing on the same time but no photo finish camera needed to separate them.

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And just 23 seconds after a delighted Winkley crossed the line, both arms in the air and roaring in victory, George Sevastopulo (Sundrive) took the sprint for 4th place.

The track specialist from Dublin made that gallop a one-man contest. Despite having been up the road early for about 30km, he was impressively able to produce his track watts at the end of a very lumpy championship race.

That made for a significant day for Sevastopulo, even though he finished outside the medals, because if he can continue to sprint that well at the end of hard races, he will reap the rewards in the years ahead.

Rian McCrystal (Cannibal B Victorious), the Louth teenager whose early season was hit by a broken collarbone, placed 5th; a sure sign he is coming good in his first year as a junior.

Darragh Byrne (AS Villemur Cyclisme) was 6th from James Mackey (Foyle CC), Adam Matthews (Banbridge CC) and John O'Mahony (Newcastle West Cycling Club), with Andrew Connolly (Dungarvan CC) rounding out the top 10.

Byrne, Matthews and O’Mahony all rode very well today, getting up the road for a long period and still being in the shake-up at the finish.

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How the race was won

Armstrong - who today added a road race silver medal to the TT silver he took at these championships on Thursday night - was very aggressive from the start. He, once again, showed his ability to race hard from start to finish of these major races.

He got clear about 15km into the race in a four-man group that also contained John O'Mahony (Newcastle West Cycling Club), Tony Kenneally (Dungarvan CC) and George Sevastopulo (Sundrive Track Team).

They were kept under control by the peloton, which was gradually whittled down over the lumpy course, and were reeled in after about 30km on the attack, and about 45km of the race completed.

Once they were brought back, there was the usual series of attacking, chasing and counter attacking until another small move got away.

This time, the attackers were: Conor Regan (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospatial), Darragh Byrne (AS Villemur Cyclisme), Tom Hughes (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospatial) and Adam Matthews (Banbridge CC).

Theirs was the longest breakaway of the day, with the four riders working away at it for over a hour, hoping the bunch would eventually let them go.

Unfortunately for them, that moment never came, the elastic never snapping. Instead, the four leaders had less than 20 seconds on the bunch.

They were only caught by the remains of the bunch deep into the final small lap, meaning anyone of the 15 riders still had the front at that point was in contention to be champion.

But with about 12km to go, Mulhearne threw in a big dig up a climb into the headwind. Winkley and Armstrong responded and the podium was done and dusted; save for the precise order of the medals.

Sat, June 27th | National Road Championships 2026

Promoted by Cunga Cycling Club

Cong, Co Mayo

Junior Men’s Road Race (111.6km)