Joe Fenlon and his Aquablue team mate defended the yellow jersey on the final stage of the Tour of Ulster (Photo: Marian Lamb - Cycling Ulster)
By Gerard Cromwell
National veteran’s champion Joe Fenlon of Team Aquablue showed a clean pair of wheels to the younger generation to take overall victory at the Tour of Ulster in Maghera today, Monday.
Bryan McCrystal and Roger Aiken made it a stage 1-2 for the ‘Louth County’ team, finishing 26 seconds clear of the 42-year-old Portarlington man at the end of the 144km stage.
However, Fenlon ended the race with a comfortable 56 seconds advantage over stage 1 winner and national cyclo-cross champion Aiken, with Javan Nulty of DID Dunboyne finishing third at 1:08.
Fenlon’s yellow jersey came under attack early on today’s stage but the Aquablue squad’s experience of heading into the final stage of Kerry Group Rás Mumhan earlier in the year with Damien Shaw in yellow paid dividends on the road today.
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“We had a few cards to play going into the race,” said Fenlon of the men in blue who have dominated the domestic scene thus far.
“What we didn’t want to do was to stick the team on the front because everyone just sits there and expects you to do everything. Timmy Barry did everything today on the first three or four laps. He did a great ride and then he couldn’t do any more and went out the back door. Damien Shaw was supposed to be looking after me on the last lap but I told him to follow the move on the second last lap and just mark it.”
When dangermen Greg Swinand (Usher IRC) and Chris Reilly (Bohermeen) got across to the lead group on the penultimate lap, however, Fenlon called Shaw back to the peloton to help with the chase.
“I knew it was dangerous, that there would be four or five strong guys up front to ride hard,” explained Fenlon.
“I told the team car to go up to Damien and he dropped back on the top of the last climb and got on the front of the bunch and started to ride. Javan Nulty (second overall) was losing ground too so he had Andrew Meehan to help him on the front.”
“In fairness to Damien, he did some serious turns and it felt like every time he went to the front we were eating back seconds. Near the end we could see (the break) and it gave the group hope and more people started to ride through. We shut it down fairly quickly in the end.”
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Fenlon admits his biggest win has come in the twilight of his cycling career but is unsure what to put it down to.
“It’s a bit of a combination of things really,” he says.
“I suppose the older lads, like myself, are a bit more eager, knowing you don’t have much time left at this level. Eventually it’s going to catch up with you. There are some good young lads out there but there is maybe a bit of craftiness on our part.”
“You see guys who have a couple of years on me and they’re just fading out. I’ve gone into previous Tours of Ulster a lot fitter than I am this year. I was fourth once but that year David McCann and Paul Griffin were riding and were full-time professionals. They were on top of their game and they gave me a good working over. It’s hard to compete against a lad that’s ten years younger than you and riding full time but I haven’t really done anything different.”
Less pressure from his job as a carpenter has made the Midlands man a bit more relaxed which probably helps, he says.
“The only thing I can think of is that I’m not as stressed out at work. It’s not that I’ve done any more training or anything. I’ve often gone to the Tour of Ulster for a 12 o’clock start and arrived at 11 in a panic. This year we went up the day before, stayed the night, stayed in bed for half the day, went out for a spin. It makes a lot of difference.”
For now, Fenlon and his Aquablue team are on a roll and he has no intentions of stopping just yet, with the Shay Elliott Memorial next week paving the way for another go at the An Post Rás at the end of the month.
“I’m on the Rás team. The aim for the team, I suppose, will be the new county rider jersey. I think a lot of people will be targeting that.”
For a full set of results from today's final stage, and also the final general classification: http://www.stickybottle.com/races-results/bryan-mccrystal-takes-final-stage-at-tour-of-ulster-joe-fenlon-wins-overall/
