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Last Updated: 2 Apr 2018 - 8:45:17 PM |
LIVE COVERAGE FROM ELITE ROAD RACE CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Shane Stokes
24 Jun 2012,
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12.08: The race has started and the riders are rolling out of the town. A total of 84 turned out and face nine laps of an 18.6 kilometre circuit. It takes in many of the roads of yesterday, but features an additional 6.1 kilometres.
12.15: There has been several attempts to get clear but nothing gets far.
12.20: There was a slight split going over the climb for the first time but it’s early days yet, riders still feel fresh and the race came back together.
12.23: We are rolling ahead of the bunch and will drop back when a break gets established with a sufficient margin.
12.24: Damien Shaw is slightly ahead at this point, with an eleven man group chasing. They have covered approximately fourteen kilometres.
12.27: He has been joined by twelve others, namely defending champion Matt Brammeier (Omega Pharma Quick Step), Conor Dunne (VL Technics), Mike Ryder (Galway Bay), Thomas Martin (Eurocycles), Philip Lavery (Node4 Giordana), Sean Downey (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Connor McConvey (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly), Fiachra O’Mhuire (DID Dunboyne), Paidi O’Brien (Dan Morrissey Speedy Spokes), Sean Lacey (Dan Morrissey Speedy Spokes), Damien Shaw (Lakeside Wheelers/Mullingar), Martyn Irvine (RTS Racing) and Ronan McLaughlin (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) are chasing, seven seconds back.
12.29: Those chasers are losing ground. They are 22 seconds back, with the main field 35 seconds behind.
12.32: Going over the finish line for the first time, the gap between break and bunch is 53 seconds. Eight laps to go. Very good crowds there in Clonmel, and bright sunshine.
12.40: The gap is now up to one minute. Roche and the other guys who missed the move will have to get up to it.
12.42: And, on cue, Nicolas Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale) clips away with Sam Bennett (An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly) and Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne).
12.43: They are being joined by Adam Armstrong (Eurocycles) and Peter Hawkins (IG Sigma Sport), making it a five man chasing group.
12.44: Those chasers are at one minute, with the bunch 23 seconds further back.
12.50: The Roche group is one minute seven seconds back, and therefore losing a little more time; has he missed the boat?
His first cousin Dan Martin missed the break last year and got across later, finishing a very close second to Brammeier. So Roche could yet get across, but he’ll use up valuable energy in chasing.
12.55: They are continuing to chase and the gap is down to 50 seconds. So they are inching closer.
The main field is slipping further back, and is one minute 40 seconds down.
12.59: After the end of that second lap, the gap is 56 seconds…so it’s not easy for them to try to come across.
13.03: Hawkins has sat up from the chasing group; that’s going to hurt their chances.
13.06: The four chasers are now one minute and four seconds back; the peloton is a full two minutes 35 seconds behind at this point. They have gone over the first climb for the third time now.
This pursuit will continue until one or other cracks; time will tell if it will be the break or the chase group. Roche knows that he needs to close this gap down, otherwise his chance of taking a second title is gone.
13.11: It’s now one minute and one second. They are about to head up the second big climb, the one which was added on to yesterday’s circuit.
Armstrong and Dowling have been dropped from the chase group. That leaves Bennett and Roche working together in trying to get back on terms.
13.15: They get back up again; presumably that happened on the climb.
Downling has sat up again and is out of that chase group.
13.21: The gap is relatively stable; it’s down to 58 seconds, but it’s not coming down as fast as Roche and Bennett would like.
13.27: It’s again looking tough for the chase group; they were one minute ten seconds back starting lap four.
13.32: Okay, finally their persistence is paying off; the three chasers are now just 43 seconds back, so this is looking better for them.
13.34: They are just 23 seconds behind now, so they are really tearing across this gap.
13.38: The chasers join up with the leaders on the second climb. Roche immediately goes to the front and pushes it on the ascent, putting Armstrong out the back.
13.40: Roche, Lavery, Brammeier and a couple of others have a gap on the others in that lead group. McConvey, O’Brien and McLaughlin are the others who are there.
Dunne, Bennett, Downey, O’Mhuire, Shaw and Irvine are chasing, a couple of seconds back.
13.45: They get across now, so there’s a leading group of twelve.
13.48: We are a couple of minutes ahead of the riders, and are going through Clonmel again at the end of lap four. So almost at the halfway point of this nine lap race.
13.50: Irvine and Shaw clipped away going through the town; Brammeier jumped across, as did Lavery and Downey. Five leaders, the rest chasing.
13.56: We are waiting for a time gap between those two lead groups. Bear with us… Okay, it’s 15 seconds.
13.57: Roche has jumped clear of the chase group. McConvey and O’Brien are chasing him, with Bennett a little further back.
13.58: McConvey and O’Brien have got up to Roche; they are 13 seconds back. Roche is having a complicated race thus far, tactically! A lot of chasing.
Lavery’s seatpin has slipped; he had mechanical trouble earlier and it’s happened again.
Martin and Armstrong are a minute back now.
14.00: The three chasers are six seconds back. Perhaps the An Post riders have realised that their odds are better with a couple of options up front.
Roche and O’Brien have got across now to the leaders. They have covered 79 kilometres, nearly at the halfway point. McConvey is trying to get up to the seven leaders.
14.04: Irvine has attacked just before the start of the second climb on the circuit, the new addition from yesterday. He may simply be trying to get a few seconds before the slopes.
Downey has also got up to the leaders.
14.05: Lavery has got across to Irvine. Roche has surged, and Brammeier is marking him. They are chasing the two leaders. Downey is in turn chasing them, with the others a little further back.
14.06: Roche and Brammeier have made contact; Shaw, O’Brien and Downey are the nearest chasers.
14.11: Correction: Downey is chasing alone, eight seconds clear of the next riders. He’s now sitting up and waiting for McConvey, O’Brien and Shaw.
14.12: Network coverage is very patchy for much of this circuit; we’ll upload these updates when we connect again.
14.20: The riders have passed through the start/finish area once again, so they are on lap six of nine. Four to go…
14.32: The four chasers are a minute and twelve seconds back, so the race has settled into a pattern now The four leaders will almost certainly take all the medals. Hard to see the chasers come back now, unless the leaders really start messing about.
14.36: Of the four, Roche and Brammeier race at the highest level on the road. The other two are going well, though, and will seek to profit from the chess games between the two ProTeam riders.
Irvine had a no-vent helmet on this morning at the start, showing he was serious. His coach Andy Sparks is at the race and will be willing him on today.
14.45: As the An Post Grant Thornton Sean Kelly team is based in Belgium, it can’t contend for the team prize. Neither can that of Roche (Ag2r La Mondiale), Irvine (RTS Racing), Brammeier (Omega Parma Quick Step) – who don’t have enough riders anyway – so it means that classification will be settled by riders further back.
14.53: The riders have passed through Clonmel and are on the third-last lap now. Things should start getting spicy soon…
Roche has won the championship once, taking it in Dunboyne in 2009. Brammeier has won it twice since, while Irvine and Lavery have yet to do so.
Irvine has taken various other national titles in the past, including criterium gold medals. He’s specialised on track racing for the past couple of years.
15.01: The leaders are on the climb. The safety car keeps pushing us forward so it’s hard to see what’s happening; we’ll try to be in a better position then next lap round. But looks like they stayed together that time up. A nervous, and temporary ceasefire often breaks out around this point, but next time round – the second-last time up – things could be very different.
The chasers had dropped back to one minute 45 seconds in arrears, but reduced that to about one minute 20. It’s now gone back to one minute 50 seconds.
15.06: Lavery, Roche, Brammeier and Irvine are rolling along together; no attacks as yet.
15.09: A word about the weather; it has been bright all day, a big contrast from yesterday, which was pretty grim. It’s mild rather than hot, but the riders will be fine with that.
15.13: We are coming in to the finish again: just two to go! Still four leaders together, no aggression as yet.
One minute 50 back to the next chasers...two laps to go.
Brammeier leads them around the corner before the line. Next time around, it'll be the bell...
15.18: At the line, the gap was one minute 57 seconds.
15.20: The leaders are now on a small climb heading out of Clonmel; Lavery leads from Brammeier, then the others roll through.
15.23: They are all tapping through. The fuse will be lit at some point; will it be on the climb this time round?
15.26: The answer is yes; Roche attacks on the first of the two climbs on the circuit, Brammeier covered it and the others also latched on. It was likely more a testing move at this point in time, seeing who is strong.
Those initial attacks can do a lot to change the tone of a group. The cooperation between the riders can become a little strained as the mood shifts from collaboration to competition.
15.31: Roche kicks again on the second of the two climbs. Brammeier jumps onto his wheel, Lavery covers it and Irvine gets slightly distanced. He’s 50 metres back and losing more time.
He’s done a lot of gym work for the track, and so he has more bulk than the others to shift on the climbs.
15.34: He had dropped to eight seconds back, but is now back with the other three. He could yet profit if the others mark each other.
On paper, Roche and Brammeier should be the strongest but if they become too fixated on each other, one of the other two could strike.
Once again, we have no network coverage so will keep writing, then upload when we can.
15.38: After 141 kilometres of racing, Irvine has attacked the group….he’s got a small advantage.
15.39: He’s eight seconds clear heading towards Clonmel and the bell…will the others watch each other, or work together to get him back?
Looking back, Brammeier is on the front. The gap was ten seconds, it’s now eight…
15.43: It’s now up to twelve….he’s riding very well heading along the streets of Clonmel.
15.44: Going over the start/finish line for the final time, the future Oympian has thirteen seconds on the others. Here’s a video interview with him after he finished second in the time trial in Thursday. http://youtu.be/Cg30oPJp-qI
(cut and paste the link into your browser)
15.46: He’s now got 18 seconds as he leaves the town….he’ll give it everything over these final 18 kilometres, particularly to build a buffer for the hills…
15.47: Now 22 seconds…he’s flying, and they are clearly scrabbling amongst themselves.
15.49: It’s down slightly to 19 seconds….let’s see what happens next.
15.51: 22 seconds, and now the chasers are arguing amongst themselves...
15.58: They got him back just going onto the second climb on the circuit, the last ascent of it. He went south, and Lavery led up it before Roche took over at the top. Those two plus Brammeier are together now – not sure how far back Irvine is, but he will chase hard if he has anything left.
We are inside the final ten kilometres of this race…anyone could win this, as it will be very tactical.
16.01: Irvine is 15 seconds back. However there’s clearly been a bit of disagreement amongst these three riders about workload, so if they disagree again and don’t keep the head down, he could get back up.
16.02: Network coverage is down again, unfortunately…bear with us.
Eighteen seconds gap now..
Back in the chasing group, the two An Post riders are pushing ahead. They are quite a way back, though, so they won’t threaten the medal contenders.
16.05: It’s still all together…Meanwhile Irvine is 31 seconds back, so it looks like he won’t get back to him.
Lavery has attacked….Brammeier is chasing him with Roche there too.
16.06: The three are together again. Now he tries again…
16.07: Still together…three kilometres to go….could this go down to a sprint?
16.11: Brammeier attacked with two kilometres to go
16.12: Looks like Brammeier has it..three in a row for him. Roche takes the silver medal, Lavery nets third. Irvine will be fourth.
Apologies for the delay, folks – network coverage was very bad.
So that concludes the nationals for this year - we'll have more details later, but need to get reactions now. We'll have full results a little later... Thanks for reading
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