 Tom Hughes
By Gerard Cromwell (Sept 8)
Tom Hughes of Stamullen Road Club recorded his
finest win thus far when taking the Leinster Road Race Championships on Sunday
last. Held over eight laps of a draggy 6.5 mile circuit in Kilcullen the scene
was set early on when Colm Farrell (Navan Avonmore) launched an attack just
after the start. After Farrell was reeld in, Hughes attacked around the four
mile mark and was soon joined by reigning national criterium champion Paul
Healion (Usher Insulations) and recent winner of the U.K's top stage race the
Surrey 5-Day, Paddy Moriarty (Dublin Skip). For the next 6 laps this trio were
hotly pursued by a quintet of Craig Sweetman (Stamullen), Greg Swinard and David
Peelo (Usher), David Smyth (Cahills Cycles Naas) and /////////).
With 2 laps to go, the three leaders had a maximum
lead of 1'30". With 10 miles to go, Healion attacked just before turning
into the buffetting head wind. Hughes reacted quickest and these two worked hard
together to ensure Moriarty wouldn't regain contact. At the 2 miles to go mark,
and with Moriarty now back in the chase group, Hughes jumped Healion, but the
Usher man rejoined him fairly quickly and sat on Hughes until 500 metres to go,
where the Stamullen man braked hard and forced Healion to ride side by side
until the final rise to the line where Hughes took the sprint by almost a bike
length for his first major win . Craig Sweetman rounded off a good day for
Stamullen when overtaking David Peelo of Usher on the line to take the bronze
medal. Peelo was 4th with teammate Greg swinard taking fifth and also wrapping
up the team prize for the strong Dublin club.
Hughes, who only took up cycling at a relatively
late stage, was delighted with the win. "I've won a few league races and
'B' races, but never crossed the line first in an open race." he said
after,"The whole race was about getting to the finish for me. When you are
in the company of Paul Healion and Paddy Moriarty you just try to survive as
long as possible. So when it came down to a two man sprint the only way I could
approach it was try and bust the bike in two. I had never beaten Healion in a
sprint before. But to be fair I think Paul prefers a longer wind up and faster
finish."
Hughes was surprised at Moriarty losing contact and
thought he was bluffing at first. "It happened ater the first attack of the
break. But it occurred just before the hardest part of the circuit to close a
gap if you are on your own. Top marks to Paul for that move. I thought Paddy was
watching us from a short distance, and giving us some rope before coming back up
and atacking the two of us."
Craig Sweetman's 3rd place made the win even better
says Hughes. "I was delighted myself, but when I saw Craig come in for the
Bronze that just crowned the day for our team. I know it is only the Leinsters,
but as a clubmate recently said, 'we are only a mickey mouse outfit compared to
other teams'. This may be true, but we have a very good Managerial team in Kay
and Gay Howard and also Paddy Moss. This made our sucess all the sweeter to get
something for them too."
After a mixed season Hughes is now hoping to hold
his good form for the last couple of races. "After a week training in the
Stephen Roche camp in Majorca at the end of March I came into the best form I
have ever had. Even with that, the best place I got was 5th in the Brendan
Campbell Memorial. I was pleased with my performances in the Munster and Ulster
3 days, but I failed to bring home any prizes. Since the Ras I've had a bit of
trouble trying to regain my form. Not enough rest I think was the problem. I
feel I have been improving over the last 3-4 weeks. So fingers crossed for
Kilmessan."
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