Mark Dowling of the Polygon Sweet Nice team has taken a string of wins on home roads this season and was at it again today in Limerick, taking Rás Kilmallock from Eoin Morton and Danny Bruton.
By Brian Canty
Mark Dowling’s run of good form shows no signs of letting up after he took another superb win at the inaugural Rás Kilmallock in Co Limerick yesterday, Sunday.
The Polygon Sweet Nice rider, who finished third in the National Criterium Championships in Cork the weekend before last, broke away with UCD’s Eoin Morton on the second of five laps yesterday and the duo were not seen again before the finish.
Morton – who took the day’s KOH – suffered cruel luck when he crashed on the last lap, which meant Dowling rode most of it on his own. But the UCD rider did manage to remount and take the runner-up slot, with Danny Bruton (NRPT) quickest from a four-man group next.
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The race was an extremely difficult one, with a lot of climbing – the punishing climb at the village of Ballyorgan had to be negotiated five times – and Dowling clearly proved he’s in superb shape right now.
The field for the main event was small but there were still plenty of strong riders, with Aquablue, the Nicolas Roche Performance Team and Planet Tri all well represented.
After the initial move went, a four-man chase formed with Bruton, Sean Lacey (Aquablue), Mick Storan (Planet Tri) and Denis Lynch (Sliabh Luachra) in there. They filled third to sixth places respectively, sprinting for the line around a minute behind Morton.
Further back, Dermot Radford came in on his own about half a minute back, with Eddie Barry (Planet Tri), Michael Hennessy (Fermoy) and Robin Kelly (Aquablue) taking the remaining prizes.
The A3 race was won by Dylan O’Brien (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk) when he got the better of Stephen Shanahan (Limerick CC. They had been part of the day’s five-man break that went away on the third of four laps. O’Brien also took the day’s KOH prize.
Also in that decisive breakaway were Blarney’s Colm Sheahan, Pierre DeLaester (Waterford Racing Team) and Kieran Crean also of Blarney, though the latter got dropped on the approach to the finish, but still took fifth.
That front five came over the line with around 50 seconds to spare on the bunch which was led in by local man Will Whelan (Kilmallock CC).
In the A4 event, top honours went to Mark Houlihan (Chain Gang CC), with Joe Noonan (Clare Crusaders) and Dean Cunningham (De Ronde Van Cork) second and third respectively.
Rás Kilmallock, Kilmallock, Co Limerick
Sunday, September 1st promoted by Kilmallock CC
A1/A2 Race - 120km (5 laps)
1 Mark Dowling (Polygon Sweet Nice)
2 Eoin Morton (UCD)
3 Danny Bruton (Nicolas Roche Performance Team)
4 Sean Lacey (Aquablue)
5 Michael Storan (Planet Tri)
6 Denis Lynch (Sliabh Luachra)
7 Dermot Radford (Tipperary Wheelers)
8 Eddie Barry (Planet Tri)
9 Michael Hennessy (Fermoy CC)
10 Robin Kelly (Aquablue)
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A3/Junior Race - 100km (4 laps)
1 Dylan O’Brien (O’Leary’s Stone, Kanturk)
2 Stephen Shanahan (Limerick CC)
3 Colm Sheahan (Blarney CC)
4 Pierre Delaester (Waterford Racing Team)
5 Kieran Crean (Blarney CC)
6 Will Whelan (Kilmallock CC)
7 Mark O’Callaghan (Limerick CC)
8 Anthony Harper (Wexford Wheelers)
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9 Shane O’Neill (Aquablue)
10 Liam O’Callaghan (North Tipperary Wheelers)
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A4 Race - 80km (2 laps)
1 Mark Houlihan (Chain Gang CC)
2 Joe Noonan (Clare Crusaders)
3 Dean Cunningham (De Ronde Van Cork)
4 Michael Corkery (De Ronde Van Cork)
5 Anthony Gahan (Limerick CC)
6 Brian Quigley (Kilmallock CC)
7 Denis Dempsey (O’Leary’s Stone, Kanturk)
8 Eoin O’Connell (Blarney CC)
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U16 Race (4 laps)
1 Dean Bradley (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
2 Dion McCarthy (OLeary’s Stone Kanturk)
3 Kyle Crotty (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers)
4 Jack Delaney (Ballymore CC)
5 Conor Murphy (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
6 Cathal Purcell (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers)
7 Barra Harrison (Cork County CC)
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U14 Race (2 laps)
1 Tom Knicht (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
2 Adrian Keohane (Fermoy CC)
3 Conrad Gruglewicz (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
4 Thomas Dore (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
5 Ronan Tuomey (Cork County CC)
6 Josie Knight (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk).
Unplaced U13: Evan O’Donnell (Limerick CC).
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U12 Race
1 Eoin Birchall (Revolution CC)
2 Denis Murphy (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
3 Fionn Desmond (Galtee Wheelers)
4 Cormac O’Brien (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
5 Laura Bitchall (Revolution CC)
6 Orla Desmond (Galtee Wheelers CC)
Unplaced U11: Arnaud Dumoulin (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk)
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