Sean Lacey takes fantastic win after race-long escape at Des Hanlon Memorial

Sean Lacey took a great win in Carlow today

By Brian Canty

Sean Lacey (AquaBlue) has taken one of the biggest one-day wins of his career at the Des Hanlon Memorial in Carlow.

The Kerryman’s team had a plan from the outset and executed it to absolute perfection to take 1^st and 2^nd in the first ‘classic’ race of the year, with veteran Joe Fenlon taking the runner’s up slot behind his team mate.

And putting in perhaps the ride of his life, Liam Frawley (Galway Bay) made the winning breakaway, stayed there all day and took the final place on the podium.

While Frawley’s name is no stranger to reports on stickybottle following a number of wins and a string of high placings in the west in recent seasons, today’s performance was recorded against the best domestic riders in the country and in one of the most competitive one-day outings of the year.

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On a freezing day for bike racing, winner Lacey was among a five-man move that went clear inside the first five miles of the race, with three of them never to be seen again.

As well as the Aquablue duo of Lacey and Fenlon in that breakaway was another rider from the team, Olan Barrett. These were joined by Ryan O’Donovan (Cork County) and Frawley.

That group rode well together on the first of three laps, though O’Donovan and Barrett paid for their early efforts when they got dropped on the second lap.

Conor Murphy (Eurocycles) – the winner of the Cycleways Cup in Navan a few weeks ago – blasted across the gap to the leading trio to make it four up front. And despite the gap to the group behind ranging from three minutes to just 50 seconds, the leaders hung on to the finish where Lacey was too strong for the others.

It was the Tralee man’s third win of the season, having won the Lacey Cup last month and Rás Luimní two weeks ago.