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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: BEAMON HOPES FOR GOOD NATIONALS PERFORMANCE
By Shane Stokes
23 Jun 2006,
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Following two consecutive Irish road race championship wins by David O’Loughlin, Navigators Insurance directeur sportif Ed Beamon is hopeful that the Irish road race champion’s jersey will stay within the team following Sunday’s big race in Westport, Mayo.
Beamon said that he is very happy with Ciarán Power’s form, the Waterford rider having returned to racing with the team earlier this month following a period of time recovering from an operation. He had surgical intervention earlier this year to correct endofibrosis, a blood flow obstruction in his iliac artery. This had hampered his racing for several seasons, although the effects only became obvious after his 13th place in the Athens Olympic road race two years ago.
Last weekend, Power took eighth overall in the 2.2 ranked Tour de Beauce in Canada. This top ten result came despite the fact that he did a lot of team riding to ensure that Valeriy Kobzarenko and Sergey Lagutin (Navigators Insurance) took first and second in the general classification. Power’s high placing ensured that the New York based squad also won the team GC.
“Ciarán is doing great at the moment,” said Beamon. “He is showing steady progress, and I think the next few weeks will only see him getting stronger. I have very high hopes for his abilities in the second half of the season. His performance in Tour de Beauce was quite remarkable as he managed a top ten GC position is spite of riding in defence of his team leader, and eventual winner Valeriy Kobzarenko.”
“I believe he will have his best form in several years for the Irish Championships, and both he and David [O’Loughlin] are very strong and motivated. I am expecting that they will be a formidable duo and we are hoping we can keep the jersey on a Navigators Insurance man.”
A ferocious battle in on the cards this weekend with all of Ireland’s top riders expected to turn out for the 112 mile race. The men’s event will be fought out over 14 laps of a tough eight mile circuit, and race organiser Joe McGuire is expecting a very exciting contest.
“I feel it will be one of the best editions in years as the race is being run on a tough course and such a strong field has entered,” he said this week. “It is anyone’s guess as to who will win, but I think Ciarán Power and local rider David O’Loughlin will be right up there.”
Besides double champion O’Loughlin, several other past winners will be on the start line. Mark Scanlon and David McCann have also won the race twice and were second and third behind the Mayo rider last year. However both Scanlon and team-mate Philip Deignan have been below par this season due to illness, so it remains to be seen if the AG2R Prévoyance duo can mount a strong challenge.
McCann is clearly in good form, though, having recorded a scorching 18 minutes and 24 seconds in a ten mile time trial held on the Woodgreen course last Thursday. Once ratified this will be a new national record. He will be joined on Sunday by Giant Asia team-mates Stephen Gallagher and Paul Griffin, who have also ridden well this year and who will be one of the strongest teams in the race.
Another rider likely to play a big part is the talented Cofidis professional Nicolas Roche. He last rode the race two years ago and took a fine third place, despite being just 19 years of age. Roche’s form has been a little erratic this year but he has several good performances to his credit thus far in 2006. If he is firing on all cylinders on Sunday, he certainly has the ability to chase gold.
His in-form cousin Daniel Martin (VC La Pomme) is similarly expected to travel from France, and his good performances in the Ronde de l’Isard and Baby Giro mark him out as one of the big favourites for the Irish under 23 title.
Also certain to have an impact are the riders from Ireland’s two continental teams, the Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group squad and the Sean Kelly – ACLVB M. Donnelly team. Although he hadn’t entered by yesterday, the latter team will probably include last year’s under 23 champion Paídi O’Brien, who finished a fine 20th in the 1.1 ranked Halle-Ingooigem race in Belgium on Wednesday.
Like Power and O’Loughlin, some of the Murphy and Gunn/Newlyn Group riders competed in the Tour de Beauce and they will have built form there. And there will of course be Irish domestic riders who will also play a part, with riders such as Tommy Evans (Terry Dolan, fourth last year) and Ray Clarke among the list of those who have shown the necessary form this season to be in on the action.
The action gets underway tomorrow with the 7 lap women’s championships and this should see another strong tussle for gold. Siobhan Dervan (Lotto Ladies) put in a dominant ride last year in winning her first title and has been riding very well again this year.
She is most likely to be challenged by Louise Moriarty (Moving Ladies) and former champion Julie O’Hagan (Dublin Wheelers), both of whom have been racing abroad this season and shown good form.
Although she hadn’t pre entered as of this afternoon, if last year’s runner-up Trudy Brown turns up tomorrow she too could be a factor. “There are several riders from both the men’s and the women’s event who haven’t yet sent in their entry,” said McGuire this week. “In the interests of getting the strongest field possible, we will now allow riders to enter on the day for both events.”
There will be others in the women’s race who will also line out gunning for a high placing. This number includes Jenny Fay, Heather Wilson, Orla Hendron, Roisin Kennedy, Mary Brennan and Joanna Hickey who, along with O’Hagan, raced in Belgium earlier this month and had a good opportunity to build on their earlier form.
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