Easter 2018 was a busy weekend for the men of Scott-Orwell Wheelers. There were no women or youths/juniors racing so the men took centre stage with two big events – Ras Mumhan for the A1/A2 racers, and The Gorey Three Day for the A3s
RAS MUMHAN
Kerry Group Rás Mumhan is one of Ireland’s premier cycling events. Run by Killorglin Cycling Club, it takes place in Kerry and west Limerick over the Easter weekend. With Killorglin as its base, it passes through some of the most stunning scenery in Kerry and from the cyclists’ point of view, some of the most demanding terrains. The event has been based in Killorglin since 1998, having been originally run in the 1950’s. The race has traditionally attracted the cream of Irish amateur cyclists. Over recent years the event has attracted cyclists from England, Scotland, and Holland. This has added immensely to the competitive nature of the race
Orwell Wheelers had two teams taking part in Ras Mumhan this year – the Scott-Orwell Wheelers and the Joe Daly Orwell Wheelers.
Scott-Orwell Wheelers: Jamie Busher, Ronan O'Flynn, Freddie Stevens, Eoin Ahern and Neil Hudson
Joe Daly Orwell Wheelers: Bryan Geary, Odhran Connors, Bernard English, Graham Scanlon and Manuel Fontan Gracia
Team Mananger for both teams was the very experienced and very busy Aidan Collins. Big shout out to Cian Leahy from Kanturk CC, team mechanic for the weekend, who jumped in to help out when a mechanic couldn’t be found from within the club ranks. Aidan was able to fit in sending home some daily reports as well as managing two teams.
Stage 1: 98.6km
Ronan, Bryan, Graham and Bernard all came in in the main bunch of about 80 riders sprinting for 5th.
Ronan had a crack with 15k to go but didn’t quite make it across the gap to the winning break.
Two casualties today - Jamie didn’t finish due to mechanical trouble. Eoin crashed fairly heavily but finished alright. He’s a bit banged up with some sore ribs but not too bad.
STAGE 1 RESULTS
Stage 2: 130.3km
Neal and Bryan were caught up in a crash about 40k in. Unfortunately Neal broke his rear mech and as he has no spare bike couldn’t continue. Bryan got in with a group and finished in decent shape.
Ronan was getting into moves early on but missed the break of the day. Himself, Odhran, Manuel, Bernard and Freddie all came in in the main bunch.
A super ride from Bernard who battled through cramps to stay within shouting distance of the A2 jersey. The lads all got together and gave him a great lead-out to get him up for the sprint to take the jersey but unfortunately it didn’t pay off.
Eoin and Graham were getting on very well for their first Rás Mumhan and came in in a decent group today on a very tough stage.
STAGE 2 RESULTS
Stage 3: 154.7km including the Coom an Easpaigh climb!
A brutal stage today for the Queen Stage. On what was already a tough route the crosswinds and rain from the start and it blew to bits in the first few kilometers.
Manuel crashed coming off Coom an Easpaigh. Thankfully he suffered no major injuries but unfortunately had to pull out.
All the lads rode well. Ronan and Freddie fared best coming in in a small group a few minutes down. Bernard English moved into 6th place in the A2 category.
Stage 4: 113.5km
A great ride by the lads to finish out the weekend. Ronan got up the road on lap 2 but the with some well placed HC guys in with him they were never given much leeway by the bunch.
Ride of the day from Freddie Stevens who finished off a great weekend of racing, holding on in the main bunch until the end and finishing well up in the sprint.
THE GOREY THREE DAY
Closer to home a strong team of A3 racers lined up in Blessington on Saturday for stage 1 of the Gorey. The Scott Orwell Team was made up of Paul Forristal, Alan Hickey, Cahir O'Higgins, Ken O'Neill, Mihai Paveliu, Michael Hanley, Paul O'Toole, Daniel McIlory & CallumO'Toole.
Team Manager, Stephen O’Shea, had a strong back up team with Gen Sheridan, Uisneach Sheridan and Ruth O’Shea.
Stage 1: 103km from Blessington to Cranford
Dylan Hughes of Team UK Spokes Racing broke clear at Hacketstown and was never seen again, riding solo all the way to the line in Cranford. Hughes took victory by 46 seconds from his team mate Ben Barlow.
Paul Forristal finished strongly to come home 5th in a bunch sprint 1.55mins down on the leader.
Ken O’Neill was involved in crash earlier on but thankfully no injuries. Peter O’Toole unfortunately punctured at a critical point of the race.
Stage 2: 6.4km TT
Dylan Hughes was the winner of the TT stage with Scott-Orwells Paul Forristal coming home in 12th place just over 31 seconds down.
Stage 3: 96.4km Gorey Circuit
After what would be by his own standards a disappointing TT, Paul Forristal made up for it by winning stage 3 in fine sprinting style. Paul was part of a breakaway group and when he got to the line in a group of three there was no stopping him.
Team Manager, Stephen praised the team today for a fantastic team effort.
Stage 4: 85km Gorey to Blessington
A miserable wet and windy day saw the race head back to Blessington with a headwind most of the way.
There was lost of aggressive racing right from the off with a 6 man break finally sticking which included 2 Scott-Orwell men – Paul Forristal and Callum O’Toole. Callum O’Toole took the KOH prime.
The gap went out to 1min 30 seconds at its best and Paul put in a few digs to shake things up. Callum stayed with the break until a few kilometres to go before dropping back to the fast approaching bunch.
In the end it was a two man race to the line with Paul Forristal getting the better of Spokes Racing’s Ben Barlow.
The result meant Paul moved up to 4th over all on General Classification.
RESULTS:
Stage 3: 1st Paul Forristal
Stage 4: 1st Paul Forristal
GC: 4th Paul Forristal
Points Classification: 2nd Paul Forristal
King of the Mountains: 3rd Callum O’Toole
Team Competition: 4th Scott Orwell Wheelers
