O’Brien grabs Fermoy victory as breakaway flounders in final stages

Paidi O’Brien was a comfortable winner in the end (Photo with thanks to Barry Sutton)

By Brian Canty

Paidi O'Brien notched up his second win of the 2012 season with a brilliant sprint-victory at the Silver Pail GP in Fermoy this afternoon, Sunday.

The former An Post-Sean Kelly professional, now riding for the Dan Morrissey/Speedy Spokes team, timed his effort to perfection on the uphill finishing straight to get the better of Michael Lucey (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers) and Blarney's fast-man Brendan McLoughlin.

O'Brien goes into Rás Mumhan on Friday as one of the pre-race favourites and today's win underlines his good form, having already won in Limerick last month, as well as notching a number of top-10 finishes.

"I felt good, the legs were good, but the way the race went, with the lads up the road, it allowed me to just sit in,” he told stickybottle.

“We're looking forward to next weekend. We are going well and we've a strong team, but we've also a happy team and that makes such a difference. The racing is hard enough so it's always good when you've a good spirit in the team and we have that."

By his own admission, the race worked in his favour and he was fortunate that a break which featured team-mates Timmy Barry and Michael Fitzgerald, as well as Martin O'Loughlin (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers) and Michael Hennessy (Fermoy CC) was brought back on the final lap to make way for the sprint.

That quartet escaped the peloton on the second lap and succeeded in staying away for the next three laps. But a hungry peloton, led by a strong Blarney line-up in Edward Barry and Brendan McLoughlin, never allowed too much of a gap to develop.

The gap fluctuated between 20 and 55 seconds for those three laps and clearly sensing blood, the peloton ramped up the pace on the fifth lap to bring back the escape.

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Several groups tried to ride across to the breakaway - Dave Kenneally (Cork County) was joined a few times by the likes of Eddie Barry and Paul Griffin (Tralee CC). But with the Dan Morrissey/Speedy Spokes contingent of O'Brien, Michael O'Reilly, Niall Brosnan and Stephen Clancy closing everything down, it proved futile.

Timmy Barry had been strong all day, as was Fitzgerald and with Hennessy riding his home race, there was some surprise when that break it was reeled in on the final lap, setting up a frenetic bunch sprint. Not so, says O'Brien.

"Well a four-man break is always hard to stick. It would have been different had there been eight in there but it wasn't to be."

O'Brien, now a full-time student in CIT admitted he's enjoying his riding now, more for pleasure than for payment, as was the case when he was on the Sean Kelly books in Belgium.

"I'm just enjoying it now," he enthused.

"I'm in college in CIT full time so I'm just like any other fella, trying to get out when I can. I've done a good winter so I'm looking forward to next weekend to see what we can do."