There has been a small stall in my blog posts, but now that I have personal things more on track its time to start laying out the news. Its been a pretty exciting past few weeks, End of the TDF, Suir Valley 3day, travelling back to Belgium, and Dan Martin winning Tour Of Poland,.
With Contador having sealed his 3rd TDF and shockingly having being pushed to his max and what seems like beyond by the Schleck, made for cycling the likes of which we haven’t seen since the days of Big Jan turning the 53/11 up Alp D’Huez In pursuit of what is now a Fallen hero Lance Armstrong. Nicholas Roche once again put in a sterling performance this year and could have achieved even higher if it weren’t for the terribly timed attacks of his team mate John Gadret. Roche came on bad luck when he punctured in the closing kilometres of a mountain top finish and almost immediately, unaware of Roche’s problems Gadret attacked, sparking responses which in turn left the Irish rider chasing in vain. But for Roche next year is another season and another tour, one in which we can all be rest assured he will perform excellently in.
What was simply 7 days after the tour another top Irish Pro Dan Martin stepped up to take overall victory in the Tour Of Poland, The 7 day stage race containing a mixture of terrains and strong teams were to prove no obstacle to the man who is quoted by many great cycling names as a potential Grand tour winner.
But back to more important matter yes you guessed it….. Me!!! For the many riders out there who claim racing back home in Ireland is a doodle in the park, the displays of racing at the Suir valley 3day would easily put that comment to rest. Arriving to Clonmel on the Friday night in order to avoid the exhausting trip on the sat morning was a very wise choice. I woke Saturday morning fully motivated for what the day had on the cards;
The 115km stage 1 was to be a very tough race, covering a number of category 2 climbs in what was terrible weather would soon sort the thick from the thin. Meeting up with my Irish Team at sign on and getting ready was pretty straight forward. I lined up among the other competitors and racing began pretty quickly, We shot out the Carrick On Suir road at break neck pace covering the initial 15km in a mere 14minutes. Break away attempts were going almost from the gun and adopting my experience of racing like this in Belgium I did my best to respond to those that looked in any way a possible success. Wet roads caused multiple crashes but I raced hard to keep at the front avoiding problems. Unfortunately I missed the Initial break and was left with no choice but to attack the remains of the bunch and make chase on those in the lead. Joined by 5 others we worked ourselves to exhaustion on route to the finish, with 15km to go we managed to make contact with what was the riders who had been shelled from the break away, We continued our work efforts for the remainder of the race narrowing the advantage of the riders still ahead to 35seconds at the end
Stage 2 was a 95km trek with initial attacks from over anxious riders almost immediately being put to sleep as the main contending teams took control establishing a fast and consistent pace. Efforts to escape and gain time would be pointless so I held strong in the Peloton and in the closing Km’s I made multiple attempts to crack those up front, using the many small climbs as spring boards to launch my attacks. As much as I tried I was shut down rapidly by the An Post, Eurocycles, Isle Of Man team and other Strong Irish riders who were well aware of the threat a rider would pose if let go. The stage was to finish in a bunch gallop with the technical and winding streets to the finish line proving fatal for king of mountains Mark Cassidy who came a cropper on the final bend.
Stage 3 was a 1.4km time trial around the streets of Clonmel. Still running joint 7th with 10 others it would be this event that would sort us out. I performed my warm up and made my way to the starting area for my turn to roll down the ramp and attempt to post a rapid time. As the Commissar counted 3, 2, 1… I was away. Hammering hard on the pedals giving all my effort, I lined myself up for the bends and swooped through them gracefully. I gave it 100% of my effort and reaped the results placing me in 8th overall for the stage. I had completed the 1.5km course in 1min 42sec.
Stage 4 was a 100km race, which would be my final chance to attain the race lead if such a thing was possible for anyone, The yellow jersey was now sitting on the back of Andy Roche and backed by an extremely strong 10man Isle Of Man National Team victory seemed certain for him. 1min down on the race leader I was still highly confident that if I could sneak into a break away and press on in the final Km’s I could win. With the Isle of Man Team protecting their rider Andy Roach and his yellow jersey I bided my time allowing others to wear them down with constant attacks. A strong 8 man break escaped the IOM clutches and wasn’t reeled in until 15km to go. At this point I decided to make my move as the fatigued IOM team were shattered from the chase. Attacking with all I had I managed to get one or two breaks moving but were all short lived as the few riders left in the peloton were all under the same thought giving it their best to get away. It wasn’t until 5km to go, just after one of my attempts to escape had been foiled, that 5 riders countered and jumped clear, totally exhausted from all of my efforts all I could do was sit back and watch as they rode off into the distance. Among them was Thomas Martin of the Eurocycles team who managed to gain sufficient advantage over Andy Roche that he walked away with the overall race lead and the Yellow Jersey.
With Contador having sealed his 3rd TDF and shockingly having being pushed to his max and what seems like beyond by the Schleck, made for cycling the likes of which we haven’t seen since the days of Big Jan turning the 53/11 up Alp D’Huez In pursuit of what is now a Fallen hero Lance Armstrong. Nicholas Roche once again put in a sterling performance this year and could have achieved even higher if it weren’t for the terribly timed attacks of his team mate John Gadret. Roche came on bad luck when he punctured in the closing kilometres of a mountain top finish and almost immediately, unaware of Roche’s problems Gadret attacked, sparking responses which in turn left the Irish rider chasing in vain. But for Roche next year is another season and another tour, one in which we can all be rest assured he will perform excellently in.
What was simply 7 days after the tour another top Irish Pro Dan Martin stepped up to take overall victory in the Tour Of Poland, The 7 day stage race containing a mixture of terrains and strong teams were to prove no obstacle to the man who is quoted by many great cycling names as a potential Grand tour winner.
But back to more important matter yes you guessed it….. Me!!! For the many riders out there who claim racing back home in Ireland is a doodle in the park, the displays of racing at the Suir valley 3day would easily put that comment to rest. Arriving to Clonmel on the Friday night in order to avoid the exhausting trip on the sat morning was a very wise choice. I woke Saturday morning fully motivated for what the day had on the cards;
The 115km stage 1 was to be a very tough race, covering a number of category 2 climbs in what was terrible weather would soon sort the thick from the thin. Meeting up with my Irish Team at sign on and getting ready was pretty straight forward. I lined up among the other competitors and racing began pretty quickly, We shot out the Carrick On Suir road at break neck pace covering the initial 15km in a mere 14minutes. Break away attempts were going almost from the gun and adopting my experience of racing like this in Belgium I did my best to respond to those that looked in any way a possible success. Wet roads caused multiple crashes but I raced hard to keep at the front avoiding problems. Unfortunately I missed the Initial break and was left with no choice but to attack the remains of the bunch and make chase on those in the lead. Joined by 5 others we worked ourselves to exhaustion on route to the finish, with 15km to go we managed to make contact with what was the riders who had been shelled from the break away, We continued our work efforts for the remainder of the race narrowing the advantage of the riders still ahead to 35seconds at the end
Stage 2 was a 95km trek with initial attacks from over anxious riders almost immediately being put to sleep as the main contending teams took control establishing a fast and consistent pace. Efforts to escape and gain time would be pointless so I held strong in the Peloton and in the closing Km’s I made multiple attempts to crack those up front, using the many small climbs as spring boards to launch my attacks. As much as I tried I was shut down rapidly by the An Post, Eurocycles, Isle Of Man team and other Strong Irish riders who were well aware of the threat a rider would pose if let go. The stage was to finish in a bunch gallop with the technical and winding streets to the finish line proving fatal for king of mountains Mark Cassidy who came a cropper on the final bend.
Stage 3 was a 1.4km time trial around the streets of Clonmel. Still running joint 7th with 10 others it would be this event that would sort us out. I performed my warm up and made my way to the starting area for my turn to roll down the ramp and attempt to post a rapid time. As the Commissar counted 3, 2, 1… I was away. Hammering hard on the pedals giving all my effort, I lined myself up for the bends and swooped through them gracefully. I gave it 100% of my effort and reaped the results placing me in 8th overall for the stage. I had completed the 1.5km course in 1min 42sec.
Stage 4 was a 100km race, which would be my final chance to attain the race lead if such a thing was possible for anyone, The yellow jersey was now sitting on the back of Andy Roche and backed by an extremely strong 10man Isle Of Man National Team victory seemed certain for him. 1min down on the race leader I was still highly confident that if I could sneak into a break away and press on in the final Km’s I could win. With the Isle of Man Team protecting their rider Andy Roach and his yellow jersey I bided my time allowing others to wear them down with constant attacks. A strong 8 man break escaped the IOM clutches and wasn’t reeled in until 15km to go. At this point I decided to make my move as the fatigued IOM team were shattered from the chase. Attacking with all I had I managed to get one or two breaks moving but were all short lived as the few riders left in the peloton were all under the same thought giving it their best to get away. It wasn’t until 5km to go, just after one of my attempts to escape had been foiled, that 5 riders countered and jumped clear, totally exhausted from all of my efforts all I could do was sit back and watch as they rode off into the distance. Among them was Thomas Martin of the Eurocycles team who managed to gain sufficient advantage over Andy Roche that he walked away with the overall race lead and the Yellow Jersey.
Looking back many people shined that weekend, Tigerneach Murphy my team mate managed 2nd in the Mountains competition, I myself managed 11th overal and my brother Ciaran whom was under the view when starting the event that he would be hammered came in 37th, a great ride all round.
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