Irish road race champion David O’Loughlin repeated his 2004 victory in the Shay Elliott Memorial race today, outsprinting British rider Pete Williams (Pinarello) and Paul Griffin (Giant Asia) to the finish line in Newtownmountkennedy.
All three were part of a sixteen-man breakaway group which had gone clear inside the first ten kilometres of the gruelling 145 kilometre race. This move was whittled down on the tough Old Wicklow Gap climb, then shortly afterwards the trio pushed ahead with O’Loughlin’s Pezula team-mate Kieran Page.
The latter was dropped on the day’s final climb, the steep ascent from Glenmalure up to the Shay Elliott Monument, while the other three worked together until the final kilometre. Williams tried to jump clear at this point but O’Loughlin dragged Griffin back up and was then strong enough to take the sprint.
Stephen O’Sullivan (MyHome.ie) had a great result for a domestic-based rider, taking fourth ahead of Cameron Jennings (Pezula). Page was sixth, with Malcolm Elliott, Russell Downing (both Pinarello), Greg Swinand and Neill Delahaye (both Usher IRC) taking the remaining places in the top ten.
As expected, O’Loughlin was very happy at the end of a strong day for his team. They had been engaged in an intriguing tactical battle with the three Pinarello riders who were also in the break; Williams, former race victor Andrew Roche and Tom Murray had refused to work because Malcolm Elliott and Russell Downing were trying to bridge up from behind.
The three Pezula riders took turns attacking the others and eventually got clear of Roche and Murray, with those two, O’Sullivan and Jennings being left behind. Williams only started working after the climb of Glenmalure, but O’Loughlin nevertheless felt good about his chances.
“I knew he was strong, he had an easy day. But I was confident in the gallop. I was pretty sure I could get him back when he attacked at the end; I was cramping a little when I was going across to him, but it was fine.”
He spoke about the tactical battle that occurred between the climbs of the Old Wicklow Gap and Glenmalure. “They [Malcolm Elliott and Russell Downing] were coming across and the others were sitting on. They kept saying, ‘Malcolm is coming up,’ and I was saying ‘Malcolm isn’t going anywhere’ (laughs). There were three of us there, we were pretty strong.”
The Pinarello team missed the prize presentation due to a tight schedule travelling back to Britain, and so Irishcycling.com was unable to talk to Williams. Third-placed Griffin gave his reaction to his third place, clearly being a little frustrated to miss out again after finishing second to Elliott last year. However he felt that the best rider triumphed.
“I decided to take my chance in the sprint, but the cold just got into me, it was freezing today,” he said. “I just didn’t have it. But David deserved to win, he was the strongest all day. It is just the way it goes.
“The tactics were quite interesting. There were three of them and three Pezula and so I was kind of on a hiding to nothing, to be honest. I was trying to pick my moment, [working out] when to ride hard and when not to ride at all. There was no inbetween.
“There were a couple of times when it split and so I would ride really hard to try to put a couple of them out the back. But then they would come back and I would leave them at it again.”
Griffin wasn’t too impressed with Williams. “He was a pain,” he said. “He should have started riding long before he did, because it was obvious that his two team-mates were gone. Also, Kieran Page was just behind us and we were getting word that Cameron Jennings wasn’t that far back either. And yet he still wasn’t riding. It was up to me and him at that stage to keep the gap back to Page…it would have been a disaster if he and Jennings had got back on.”
O’Sullivan had a great performance to place fourth, finishing ahead of several professional and full-time riders. He won the race back in 2000 and said that he was motivated to perform well again. “I kind of expected to ride well today, I suppose. I was out checking out the course on Wednesday with Scott [McDonald]. There is something about the Elliott, I can always get in the top ten.
“The race was tough...it was strange up there with three Pezula riders and three Pinarello…they just started attacking each other on the road between the two climbs. I followed the wrong wheels and got caught out.
“Myself and Cameron Jennings rode hard coming back in the road. But I knew if we closed the leaders down he would stop riding [due to O’Loughlin being clear], so I just wanted to make sure the two Pinarello boys behind us [Elliott and Downing] didn’t catch up.”
O’Sullivan is motivated to ride well in next month’s big stage race, and this is part of the reason for his good form. “I’ve been training more this year. The goal is the Rás, I said to myself that I am running out of years and so I’d better make another effort. We’ll see how it goes.”
Griffin is also targeting the same race. “I am at home until the Rás, I am going to do the Tour of Ulster before then. I did the Tour of East Java a few weeks back. I was off with a broken wrist before the Tour of Langkawi, so that was my first international race, really. I used it to get form and it seems that it is coming around now; hopefully it will be good timing for the Rás.”
How it unfolded:
As has been the case in previous years, attacks went from the drop of the flag. However nothing stuck until the climb out of the Glen of the Downs, when a group of approximately eight or nine riders went clear. Irish national champion David O’Loughlin (Pezula) was one of the most active in establishing the move. Several others bridged soon afterwards, and the group of sixteen had eighteen seconds after twelve kilometres of racing.
Pezula Racing and Pinarello were best represented with three riders each; these were O’Loughlin, Cameron Jennings and Kieran Page (all Pezula) and Pinarello trio Andy Roche, Pete Williams and Tom Murray. Stephen Gallagher (An Post M. Donnelly Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) and Paul Griffin (Giant Asia) had both returned from racing overseas for the race, and were joined in the move by Damien McCabe (Team Ponte), Miceal Concannon (Killorglin CC), Scott McDonald (Winning Solutions), Stephen O’Sullivan (MyHome.ie), Simon Kelly and Neill Delahaye (Usher IRC), Joe Fenlon (Dan Morrissey) and Mick Steed (Murphy Surveyors).
Steed punctured out of the break just after the village of Glenealy but the others pressed on, joining forces to open up a promising lead over the peloton. They had a two minute 30 second gap after 32 kilometres of racing. Rear sprocket problems forced McDonald to change his back wheel but he rejoined on the climb out of Rathdrum, 35 kilometres into the race.
Behind, Frazer Duncan (Ulster Cycling) and Stephen Surdival (Orwell Dundrum Town Centre) were trying to get across, pulling 30 seconds ahead of the peloton. They were joined by Russell Downing, 2007 race winner Malcolm Elliott and Greg Swinand (Usher IRC). Steed was caught by these chasers but dropped soon afterwards.
As the leaders reached the 50 kilometre point, the pursuing quintet were two minutes 15 seconds in arrears with the bunch was a further minute back.
Ponte was dropped on the Old Wicklow Gap climb, with Fenlon and McDonald also heading south. Kelly had problems with his gears and, along with Usher IRC team-mate Neill Delahaye and Concannon, slipped back out of the move. Concannon was also in trouble.
At the same time, Downing, Elliott and Swinand were chasing hard, the other two having been dropped on the climb. They went across the top two minutes and 55 seconds behind the break, which had been led past the summit by Williams; the peloton was a further 55 seconds back.
Up front, the Pinarello riders had stopped working in order to facilitate the chase of Elliott and Downing, and break was thinning out further. Murray, Williams and O’Sullivan had each been shelled but clawed their way back on. Gallagher had no such luck; he had been looking under pressure for several kilometres and suddenly sat up, vomiting.
Tactical battles:
The Elliott group were continuing to chase but were three minutes and 23 seconds back after 75 kilometres of racing. Peculiarly, their team-mates up front were riding through at times, unsure whether or not to wait. They did ease back again afterwards but, knowing that this was dangerous for their own chances, the Pezula riders started to turn the screw.
O’Loughlin jumped hard after 79 kilometres of racing, really ramping up the speed in the break. The others got back up to him and the pace eased back again. Page then attacked and after he was recaptured, the other two Pezula riders took it in turns to counter.
This working-over put considerable pressure on the Pinarello riders and when O’Loughlin and Page jumped going through Aughrim, only Williams was able to go with them. Roche and Murray were left behind with Jennings and Sullivan, while Griffin got across to the leaders.
O’Loughlin, Page and Griffin worked well together on the run-up to the crucial climb, that of Glenmalure. Williams was sitting on in the hope that Roche and Murray (or, indeed, Elliott and Downing) would be able to get back across, but had a look of despair on his face when the time gaps showed that this was unlikely to happen.
After 96 kilometres of racing the four chasers were one minute 52 seconds back, with the Elliott/Downing group four minutes down. Roche and Murray then sat up from this chase group, leaving Jennings and O’Sullivan to chase alone.
Once onto the Glenmalure climb, Page, cracked and lost contact with the other three. O’Loughlin and Griffin remained on the front with Williams continuing to sit on. Rain was falling at this point and heading towards the top, visibility was dropping due to thick mist.
Griffin was first past the prime at the Shay Elliott monument, followed by the other two. Page was approximately ten seconds adrift at this point while the next riders, Jennings and O’Sullivan, were two minutes and seven seconds down.
Finale:
Page knew he had to pull out all the stops to regain his place up front yet, despite chasing hard on the descent, he was 35 seconds adrift at the bottom. The next two rider were still two minutes and seven seconds back, and a group containing Elliott and Downing were three minutes thirty down. Williams realised that he was now obliged to start working and did so.
The trio collaborated well between there and the finish. There were no attacks until just before the one kilometre to go marker; Williams opened hostilities when he jumped hard here and while it took O’Loughlin a couple of seconds to react, he gradually clawed the Pinarello rider back and ensured it would be a three-man sprint. The Irish champion was left on the front inside the final 600 metres but gradually wound it up from a long way out. As was the case when he won the national championships last summer, his strength prevented the other two from getting around him.
O’Sullivan finished ahead of Jennings in fourth place, crossing the line 1 minute and 41 seconds behind O’Loughlin. Page was two minutes and four seconds down in sixth, and Elliott and Downing were a further 34 seconds back. Swinand and Delahaye rounded out the top ten, while Joe Fenlon (Dan Morrissey), Conor McAllister (Cycling Ulster) and Brendan Lacey (Earl of Desmond) were best of the senior 2 riders.
Williams and McDonald took the mountains and sprint prizes, the former scoring best over the two climbs and the latter winning the prime in Ashford. All in all, it was an excellent days racing; the weather made things tough for the riders, but a lot of aggressive riding was evident.
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Coillte Shay Elliott Memorial, Wicklow (also backed by Stena Line, Spin 11 and Cycling Leinster):
1, David O’Loughlin (Pezula) 145 kilometres in 3 hours 33 mins
2, Pete Williams (Pinarello) same time
3, Paul Griffin (Giant Asia) at 3 seconds
4, Stephen O’Sullivan (MyHome.ie) at 1 min 41 seconds
5, Cameron Jennings (Pezula) at 1 min 42 secs
6, Kieran Page (Pezula) at 2 mins 4 secs
7, Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello) at 2 mins 38 secs
8, Russell Downing (Pinarello) same time
9, Greg Swinand (Usher IRC) at 4 mins 52 secs
10, Neill Delahaye (Usher IRC) same time
Senior 2:
1, Joe Fenlon (Dan Morrissey) 3 hours 43 mins 41 secs
2, Conor McAllister (Cycling Ulster) at 51 secs
3, Brendan Lacey (Earl of Desmond)
4, Kevin Donogher (Swords)
5, Richie McCauley (Bray Wheelers) all same time
King of the Mountains: Pete Williams
Prime at Ashford: Scott McDonald (Winning Solutions.ie)
King of the Mountains at Old Wicklow Gap: Pete Williams (Pinarello)
King of the Mountains at Glenmalure: Paul Griffin (Giant Asia)
King of the Mountains (overall):
1, Pete Williams, 19
2, David O’Loughlin, 17
3, Cameron Jennings, 13