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Last Updated: 4 Apr 2018 - 3:13:57 PM |
Brave Ride by Bennett Cut Short Due to Heat in Worlds
By Cycling Ireland Media
16 Oct 2016,
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| Irish Elite men's team of Bennett, Mullen and Brammeier at the start line in Doha - Photo courtesy of Sean Rowe |
Brave Ride by Bennett Cut Short Due to Heat in Worlds
On the final day of racing at the UCI 2016 Road World Championships in Doha, Qatar today, Sam Bennett’s hopes of a podium were dashed in the dessert heat when a combination of factors pushed him out of the winning break, and out of the race, in the Elite Men’s Road Race. In a race where only 53 of the 199 starters completed the race, all three Irish riders were listed as DNF. The 257.5km race was aggressive from the start with the main group of contenders establishing themselves early on. Having a flat race profile, heat and strong winds, a fast race was predicted by many, with the style of racing suiting sprint specialists like Ireland’s in form Bennett. Ryan Mullen, who had finished 5th earlier in the week in the Elite Men’s Time Trial, was pulled out with one lap remaining, as was Matt Brammeier, who suffered three punctures in the race. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) became World Champion for the second year in a row, beating GB’s Mark Cavandish, with Belgium’s Tom Boonen winning bronze. This was the final day of action in what was a good week for the Irish National Team competing at the UCI 2016 Road World Championships in Doha.
Team Manager Kurt Bogaert had predicted the winning move to come after 75km of racing, and Sam Bennett moved smartly to move with the key riders; “We knew the move was going to happen at about 75km with the Belgian team, they were talking to the Belgian press during the week. Sam was in the right spot and went with it. Unfortunately a combination of factors meant he couldn’t stay there. He was sick two weeks ago, so in the dessert it was hot and dry, and he got overheated. He dropped to the second group which had the Germans in it, who were pushing up the speed because they needed to chase, but Sam got more and more problems with the heat – shivers and everything – I gave him ice, but it was not worth it to continue. We made the right decision to stop him, something bad could happen, and he had given everything to be in the first group but circumstance showed it was not possible to continue.”
Over the past year the Carrick-on-Suir man has shown that he has comfortably made the leap into the elite ranks, in particular with his win in the Paris-Bourges 1.1 class race earlier this month. Bogaerts believes that he is at the right level, but luck was not with him today, saying; “Sam is at the level to keep with that top competition, he has won two UCI races in the last month before the worlds, so he can take that with him. He was sick a couple of weeks ago and lost about ten days training, so when he was going into the red zone too early in that heat there’s nothing really you can do.”
Mullen and Brammeier were also in action, and raced well today, with Brammeier getting unlucky with three punctures and Mullen missing out on the winning lead group, a group in which Bogaerts believes that he was capable of being; “Ryan has the strength to be in that first group, he missed a bit of road racing experience to get there, and was maybe a little scared of the big names like Booned and Van Avermaet, but he has learnt a lot from today. He knows now that with his kind of legs he can go with the big moves, he needs to go with them because today he ended up in a group that was too easy for him, even though it was a good group. It was pulled on the last lap even though it was only ten minutes behind the leaders, which is not normal, it would have been nice for him to be able to finish here. Ryan trained specifically for the Time Trial, and when you look at his result, finishing 5th against the best riders in the world; he did the right thing preparing for that. More road experience and confidence will come with time. Matt was unfortunate to get three punctures today, so it really wasn’t his lucky day!”
This has been a good week for Irish cycling, with Irish riders getting four top thirty results, and in particular a week which saw outstanding time trials from Mullen and U23 Eddie Dunbar. Bogaerts is pleased with the standard of racing this week; “We had a good week across the categories, even though sometimes luck was not on our side. There were the crashes in the U23 and Junior Road Races which caught us out, but then we had great results in the Time Trial, which is probably the hardest event in cycling, as it is a true test of strength only the rider against the clock. Eddie and Ryan both were very impressive here.”
Today was the last day of racing for the Irish National Team at the UCI 2016 Road World Championships which took place in Doha, Qatar from the 10th – 16th October.
IRISH RESULTS:
10th October Men’s U23 TT 28.9km
Michael O’Loughlin 45th
Eddie Dunbar 9th
11th October Men’s Jun TT 28.9km
Xeno Young 43rd
Ronan Tuomey 42nd
11th October Women’s Elite TT 28.9km
Anna Turvey 28th
12th October Men’s Elite TT 40km
Ryan Mullen 5th
Nicolas Roche 30th
13th October Men’s U23 RR 166km
Eddie Dunbar 49th
Michael O’Loughlin 106th
Matthew Teggart 105th
Daire Feeley 57th
14th October Men’s Jun RR 135.5km
Jake Gray 107th
Ronan Tuomey DNF
Xeno Young DNF
16th October Men’s Elite RR 257.5km
Sam Bennett DNF
Matt Brammeier DNF
Ryan Mullen DNF
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14th October
Gray Best of Irish on Day that Crashes Cause Mayhem in Junior Men’s Road Race at Worlds.
Cycling Ireland’s Jake Gray was Ireland’s top finisher in the Junior Men’s Road Race at the UCI 2016 Road World Championships in Doha, Qatar today, finishing 107th on a day where crashes put an end to the hopes of Ireland’s Ronan Tuomey and Xeno Young. Gray rode a strong race, racing in the main peloton, with the winning medals coming from a breakaway group. The gold medal went to Jakob Egholm from Denmark, with Niklas Markl of Germany winning silver and Switzerland’s Reto Muller taking bronze. This is the fifth day of action for the Irish National Team competing at the UCI 2016 Road World Championships in Doha, on a week where Irish riders have performed strongly, in particular Ryan Mullen who finished fifth in the Elite Men’s Time Trial last Wednesday.
The junior men were competing over 135.5km, or eight laps of a flat and fast circuit in the Middle Eastern city. At the mid-section of the race Xeno Young attacked the bunch, but once he was brought back he got caught up in a crash in the bunch, and Junior Team Manager Martin O’Loughlin described an unfortunate scenario for the young Irish cyclists; “Xeno had a pop off the front and just as he drifted to the back after getting caught a guy in front of him came down, Ronan [Tuomey] was back there too, and they both came down. I think the luck of the Irish deserted us today. The heat probably contributed to a lot of the crashes today, but it was the busiest day for the medical centre here.”
Once Tuomey and Young were out of the race Jake Gray was the sole Irish rider on the course. The second year junior was well positioned in the main group coming into the final kilometre, but once again fell victim to a crash in the bunch. O’Loughlin was disappointed for Gray saying; “Jake was just getting in for the gallop when he crashed. ‘Twas disappointing for him, he’s had a great junior and youth career, but it was a pity for him ending his junior career on the deck. That’s bike racing, though, it’s the biggest stage in the world and to end up on the floor isn’t part of the plan. Next year he will ride for VC Toucy, the team that Mark Downey was on this year, so he has a big career ahead.”
With Young and Tuomey still first year juniors, both are already back in school, making preparations for the World Championships a little more complicated; “Two of the three boys are still school boys, but their preparation was top notch with their coaches on what was always going to be a difficult Championships without acclimatisation camps. The guys themselves are very professional with their behaviour here, and they are getting great learning from the likes of Ryan [Mullen], Sam [Bennett] and Nico [Nicolas Roche]. I think Kurt [Bogaerts – Team Manager] summed it up well the last day when he said that the juniors are coming through now like the U23s were a few years ago, they are coming in with the skills and are not overawed by the level, they adjust well and seamlessly into the team. That’s all we can hope for. It is all part of a bigger picture and hopefully these lads will learn from it this today. You have to enjoy the good days and learn from the bad days, and this is all part of the pathway. Now we have to drive for qualification for next year, and get more people to the World Championships in Bergen, that’s the big aim for next year.”
The last race for the Irish National Team will be the Elite Men’s Road Race on Sunday morning, with the Irish hopes being placed on sprinter Sam Bennett. Also in action on the 257.5km course will be Ryan Mullen and Matt Brammeier. Racing in Doha at the Road World Championships runs from 10th – 16th October.
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