David Montgomery on the road after crashing hard on stage 5 of the Rás; his spill coming after a smash the previous day (Photo: Paul Mohan - Sportsfile)
By Brian Canty
David Montgomery said he had a week he’s unlikely to forget at the An Post Rás and is hopeful it’ll stand to him in the future.
The Team 3M man has been one of the finds of the season so far and after winning the National Elite Cyclocross title in January he managed to secure a place on a very strong Belgian Continental-registered team.
From there he was fast-tracked into the Irish setup where he rode an excellent edition of U23 Tour of Flanders in what was his first race abroad.
“This week was pretty tough going,” he reflected. “On the second day I went down in probably the biggest crash of the week.
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“I didn’t have too many (crashes) otherwise but that was one big one on a fast descent and I was caught in the middle of it.
David Montgomery is as tough as they come. And while his first Rás did not go to plan, he is an up and coming young rider that this race will be seeing a lot more from in the next few years (Photo: Toby Watson)
“I snapped the frame and it was tough to get around,” he added.
“I had a decent day after that but the next day I was down again so the body is pretty stiff now but it was good to get around.
“Overall I’d have to say it was enjoyable, most days were quite good.”
Things looked very well for Montgomery and his team early in the week when they occupied two of the top five places on GC through Elliott Porter and Jam de Maan after stage three. They also had the U23 and KOM jersey for a spell.
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“At the start of the week the team were doing well but then we had bad luck with Elliott Porter getting sick and having to pull out and myself being injured.
Showing the pain of being Ireland’s top rider in the U23 Tour of Flanders last month; his first road race in an Irish jersey and his first abroad (Photo by Kristof Bruers)
“We lost a few jerseys so morale dropped in the middle of the week and it made things bit tougher.
“It hasn’t been that much of a challenge but I’d love to have been able to do more.
“I’m just disappointed I had those crashes and bad luck.
“I’d love to have been able to actually race," he said.
"But losing time the first couple of days and having guys in the team doing a lot better than me meant I had work for them, but that’s how the game works.”
Montgomery looked for a while like he wouldn't continue, with big British hope Mick Cuming of JLT Condor crashing out at the same time (Photo: Paul Mohan - Sportsfile)
He was helped to his feet by the fantastic crew race director Tony Campbell, and Dermot Dignam before him, have put in place. Closest to camera is race doctor Julian Dalby, himself a former national road race champion (Photo: Paul Mohan - Sportsfile)
