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Cycling Reports

Major win for Navigators team

Report By Gerry McManus

Email: gerry@londonirish.freeserve.co.uk

FBD Milk Rás winner Ciarán Power (Navigators) helped his team mate Mark Walters to victory in the USPRO Championships race in Philadelphia on Sunday June 9th.

The 156-mile race is one of the richest one-day cycle races in the world and is covered by live TV coverage in the states with commentary by Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.

Over 500,000 people were expected to line the streets to see the First Union sponsored event, which climbs the famous 17% gradient Manayunk Wall ten times.

The race had split with Power being one of four of the squad that had made the elite selection.

Power worked hard for his team closing gaps and had even attacked through the finish at the beginning of the final long circuit eventually finishing in 39th place.

"It was a good team performance," said Power:" We knew that we were one of the strongest teams and we had to show it. I was supposed to do a lot of work for the team in the middle of the race to cover breakaways. Just towards the end my team mate Oleg (Grishkine) had punctured at the bottom of the climb and there was a mix-up and we ended up in the second group."

"The Manayunk Wall was fantastic. It reminded me of the Olympics with the crowd and the whole thing really."

Power goes with his team to Canada for a stage race before briefly returning home to contest the Irish road race championships at the end of June.

David O'Loughlin (Ofoto - Lombardia) also put in a sterling performance to finish in the second group in 34th spot.

"It was a long day," O'Loughlin explained after nearly six hours in the saddle at 84 deg: "It all split again on the last time up the climb and my group split again on the finishing circuit and I was suffering at that stage. We had made a half-hearted attempt to chase but we couldn't catch the lead group."

O'Loughlin's team mate James Hodnett finished in the main bunch over nine minutes adrift.

Second placed Chann McRae (US Postal) becomes the new U.S champion. Last year's champion Fred Rodriguez (Domo Farm Frites) retired early from the event and pre-race favourite George Hincapie (U.S Postal) couldn't match the winners speed finishing 5th in the eleven-up sprint.

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