I have done the race perhaps four times. The first time was in the early nineties, and again a couple of years ago as well. Fourth last year was my best placing, so it is great to win.
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I was feeling a little bit heavy-legged at the start today, so I wasn't quite sure how it would go. I was in the chase group heading out the main road at the start of the race, and then basically we were in the front group from when you turn off. When a few moves started going, I began to come around and feel okay. I felt pretty good on the climb of Glenmalure but there was a headwind all the way in, so it was a little bit cagey. Nobody wanted to attack too early.
When I got clear, it wasn't a jump as such. I think there were a lot of tired legs in the group so everybody was bluffing a bit. You could tell by the lack of big, hard attacks coming in the road that nobody really had legs. I just rode through, I found I had a gap, and kept going.
I only had 10 seconds the whole way in, and my legs were absolutely hanging up those drags into the headwind. It is pretty hard along the top. Once I got to the descent I could breathe a little bit easier there, because I knew the wind wasn't going to be as bad there. It was a case of getting to the top and then keeping it going to the finish.
IrishCycling: How are you finding the team?
AR: It is very good, the team is brilliant. You can't ask for anything better, really. It is the first year as a Continental team and they are really doing it right. There is great sponsorship, great bikes, and everybody is really keen to help out so it is going great.
I rode the Sun Tour last year with the Irish team and Morgan Fox was over there. He asked me would I be interested in riding with the team, so that sounded good.
The big target for the team is the Rás, we will hopefully pull off a stage win or see how we go GC-wise as well. The Tour de Beauce in Canada is also important, and then we will be doing some stuff in Belgium and other bits and pieces.
IC: How does your form compare to how it was in the last few years?
AR: I seemed to be getting more consistent, really. It doesn't make sense as I am getting older and I have two little sons here, as you can see, but it is just consistency, more than anything. It might just be a bit of experience were you can hide a little bit more, too!
This year I have had a good, regular programme of races. I started out in January, and I rode the Commonwealth Games for the Isle of Man team as well. I have had a good kick-off to the season, if you like, and it has worked out well.
Malcolm Elliot (Plowman Craven), second:
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I used a lot of energy up too soon in the race, I think. I seemed to spend a lot of the day chasing, getting up, getting back in front, and then missing the split again. I always find in Ireland that if I miss a move, there is another move. It was a very active race. There was constantly little groups going, coming back, chasing. It was a very, very interesting race.
I think there was a bit of team tactics going on. You often get that here, the team rivalries can influence the way a race unfolds.
The plan for the rest of the year is Premier Calendar races and the criterium series. They are both targets. I am finding decent form at the moment. I am not doing the Rás this year, it would have been nice to have done it but once again it is about keeping things different rather than following the same routine over and over again. I am looking for new challenges, so that is part of the reason.
In not doing the Rás this year, I am actually taking the family away to Florida and Disneyworld for holidays. That will hopefully change things a little, in that I often go flat in June. It is possibly the delayed effects of the Rás, I don’t know.
IrishCycling: As a former professional, can you ride the World Masters Championships?
ME: I can, yes. That is of interest. I have not been able to ride it in the past because the Rás and two or three of the Premier Calendars were UCI races and that stopped me from being able to ride. But that option is open to me now this year.
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Conor Murphy (Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group), third:
For the first 60 miles today I had very heavy legs, and it is only in the last 10 or 15 miles that I started to really come around. It was just one of those days were you start off slow and then come around. So I got stronger towards the end, thankfully!
Andy was up there so it took a lot of pressure off me. Things worked out super, as you can see. This is very important for the team, this is the main race, this is the big one. We have got first and third, so it is a super result.
After Andy got clear, there was no letup. There were two or three guys on the front and they were still riding, and it was into a headwind too. There was a lot of jumping as well, it was very, very hard. Elliot got me in the sprint, so I got third.
There was so much attacking coming in the road that I don't think that anybody had any legs left for the sprint. That is how hard it was, everybody was flat out.
I will do the Tour of Ulster next weekend, then the Lincoln Grand Prix and then the Rás.
David McCann (Giant Asia), fourth:
Today was very fast on the way out, a big group got clear in the first kilometre. A few of us missed it, so we had a bit of hard riding to do to get across. Once we had the hills it was sort of natural selection. The Murphy and Gunn were very strongly represented, with maybe six guys, and then nearer the end it came down to a group with maybe 10 of us away. There was Roche, Conor Murphy and Malcolm [Elliot] was riding with them. The boys are just letting the wheels go at the end, so Andy never had to attack. Malcolm let the wheel go and he rode off.
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I think that me and Malcolm seemed to be the strongest at the end, but Roche is a good guy and it was always one of the three of them was going to win, because they have the numbers. I think we could have caught him but Malcolm didn't want to chase, so I just ended up more or less that we were racing for a second. If I was really strong I could have pulled it off, but you need to be really strong to get the better of three guys!
IC: What was the story with your saddle today - you were looking for a spanner during the race to fix it…
DMC: I hit a big pothole and it dropped down. I needed a 12 millimetre spanner, but the roads were so bumpy that if you loosened it off, it would go forward and backwards. It is notched, it just clicked down a notch so the tilt was off. It was like that the whole day, I just left it alone. I was getting tight hamstrings but I never cramped, so it didn't affect me that much.
IC: What is next for you?
DMC: I will possibly ride the Tour of Ulster, although I am meant to leave the day of the last stage. I don't really want to start it and then abandon it. The Tour of Korea starts on the fourth, then we have three days off and then started the Tour of Japan. There is the Mount Fuji time trial again, it is 11 kilometres long at 11%, I think. I am not really climbing as well and I should be, but I have a couple of weeks to come around into shape again. That was really, really suit me if I can bring myself into condition.
I will be back for the Nationals, I will be back for most of June. I am looking forward to that. I kind of hard to take a break after the Commonwealth Games, I was pretty tired and wasn't in top shape there. I think the crash out training affected me, and then I had to do the Tour of Taiwan a week after the crash, so I didn't get the recovery I needed. When I went to Australia after Taiwan, I was just exhausted. I couldn't really train up until the Commonwealths. Then after the Games I just needed another rest. It was always the plan to peak for the Commonwealths and then come down again, so I feel like I am just starting off again.
IC: What is going to be the target for the year - is the Asian Continental classification a big goal?
DMC: I am not sure, just do more races. The Qinghai Lake race is a Hors Categorie in China, that will obviously be a big one. I want to get into really good condition for it. I will try to rebuild from now to get into really good shape for the end of June, start of July.
The Worlds are also a target, I think the time trial is going to be a bit hilly so that should really suit me. I haven't really looked at the road race course yet, but I would like to give it a really good shot. I have a feeling that we have qualified more riders with the new system, but I haven't checked it exactly. That would be good if we had a really strong team there. Guys like Philip [Deignan] have moved up to the elite level now, so there would be myself, O'Loughlin, Scanlon, Philip, and maybe another one or two.
IC: Stephen Gallagher has also been going well, it is a pity about his hernia…
DMC: It is a pity, because they are telling him that it could be up to eight weeks. I think it happened when he crashed in Thailand.
IC: At this stage of your career, are you happy with Giant Asia, or are you still aiming to get to a European team?
DMC: No, I am enjoying things with the team. The weather is too bad in Europe for me, I have been racing in the sun for most of the year! I am always subject to getting cold and chest infections, so it suits me to race where it is hotter. Even if I come back to Europe in good condition, I just know that I would get sick racing in Belgium in March and April. It is a possibility alright, but I am happy enough with Giant:
IC: So what is the long-term plan - do you see yourself eventually settling full-time in Ireland?
DMC: I am not that sure. I am hoping to get assimilated in this coaching program, they have been working on this assimilation thing for the last year. I would like to get more involved in coaching, I am already coaching a few guys privately and obviously if I wind down the cycling, I will have time to take on a few more. I don't know, maybe get a post as a coach with the federation, whenever something crops up.
I’d be based in Ireland, or wherever the team is going to be based. I do have a lot of experience that I could share and it is something that I think I would enjoy doing. Or even team management, that sort of thing.
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Ryan Connor (Ballymena Scott), fifth:
IC: How were you feeling?
RC: Not bad. I had a few goes, but the legs just weren’t fully there and the headwind at the finish didn't help. I started feeling that I hadn't got much left in the last 15 miles. I had a few late nights last week that probably didn't help. It wasn't that I was out drinking, I just have a lot of stuff to do. I was up at five this morning, that probably didn't help either!
Andy Roche was riding strongly all day. McCann and Elliot marked each other out, more or less. The racing was a bit negative as a result. Tommy had a few digs but he just was unluckily, I think. Anyway, I am happy enough with that, there are some good riders here and my season is going well.
The plan after this is to go to France on Thursday. I have to confirm that tonight, but I think it is Thursday. I will be riding with EC Mayenne. I will be doing the Rás with Usher again, and then head out to France again afterwards.
Declan Byrne, directeur sportif for Team Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group:
After last weekend, I think that the guys have demonstrated how strong they are. It was always important for us to win this race as our team sponsors are also sponsoring the event, and it is probably the biggest one-day race outside the national championships.
Basically the strategy at the start of the day was to take the race to everybody else. We knew that in terms of strength in depth, we were by far the strongest team. There were a lot of other good guys out there, David McCann is home, Malcolm Elliot is over for it, the Tour of the North winner Ryan Connor is here and you also had Tommy Evans, who was second overall. So it was a strong, strong field and all those riders ended up in the main move.
We had discussed last night where the place to attack would be, telling Andy Roche that if he had a gap of 20-odd seconds before coming back onto that main road and made it to the descent, then more than likely he would hold it. It worked out perfectly.