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Last Updated: 6 Apr 2018 - 3:10:13 PM |
HOT TUBES WIN JUNIOR TOUR FOR SECOND YEAR RUNNING
By Tommy Campbell
16 Jul 2012,
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Colin Joyce of the American based Hot Tubes team made no mistakes on the final stage of the Junior Tour yesterday in Castlebar, thus landing the overall prize.
It was anticipated that the gauntlet would be thrown down by the majority of the teams and in particular by Stena Line Ireland.
But the Idaho native and his team were up for it and rode a very sensible stage, showing no negativity. Assessing all the attempts on stage six which was reputed to be the toughest because of the ascent of the infamous 'Windy Gap' not once but twice.
Joyce's closest challenger was Curtis White also of Hot Tubes, but the real source of danger on their radar was Cormac Clarke of the Stena Line Ireland team.
Ireland did play the cards immediately after the start in Castlebar when they launched Ryan Mullen into a lead which hovered no stronger than 30 seconds. Ryan a specialist in TT set the tone for 20kms and it was evident that Hot Tubes were not intimated by the move. The attacks would be reciprocated by various individuals for the next 86kms. Even on the first ascent of the Windy Gap the cat was amongst the pigeons and it was plain to observe that no one wanted to surrender their advantage on the leaderboard and that was sufficient for Hot Tubes to continue the pace setting albeit there were moves to snap the elastic.
The final stage was won by Stephen Bassett of Team Specialised Racing also based in the USA who had a margin of two seconds on James Knox of Mountivation Development with Danny Bruton of Leinster back in third place.
“A fantastic win for the team and I. Last year I was doing my bit for Thomas Wrona of Hot Tubes to win and today he supported me. It would be wrong to suggest that we had it all our way today. Everything had to be covered. Bike racing is unpredictable. You just never know what is around the corner, They say that the Tour de France has the black jersies of Team Sky, but here in Ireland it is the blue jersies of Hot Tubes,” said Colin as he downed a cool bottle of orange.
The team manager Toby Stanton was more forthcoming. "Last year I knew we had a good team. That is not to say that we were not on a par with the 2011 outfit. But the standard has gone way up this year. The organisation that runs this 'tour' are superb and the organiser Alice Sherratt certainly knows how to motivate people. But back to the win. It was a wonderful achievement, particularly for these bunch of kids. Look! It is like they all have won and the commitment was great. Last year Colin rode for Thomas Wrona and here today the tables were turned in favour of Colin We'll be back next year," said Toby as he prepared to leave Lough Lannagh Holiday Village ad head to Shannon and home on Monday.
Whilst the field as made up in principal by teams from abroad and provincial teams in Ireland. Two club teams participated in the event Castlebar CC and Naas CC. Both will be well satisfied with their performances, particularly Liam Corcoran of Castlebar who finished third on the Ballycastle stage. Quiet frankly that was in my opinion a fantastic stage with the bunch catching the breakaway group literally as they started the climb up to the finish in the village.
So, Colin Joyce of the American based Hot Tubes team landed the overall prize in the 35th edition of the International Junior Tour which finished yesterday after six days of racing in the Castlebar area of Co. Mayo.
He has a link to Bellmullet (his great grandparents were born there).
Junior Tour of Ireland - Stage 6
Castlebar, Pontoon, Windy Gap (106kms).
1 Stephen Bassett (Team Specialized Racing), 2hrs.42mins.56secs;
2 James Knox (Mountivation Development), @2secs;
3 Danny Briton (Cycling Leinster), @4;
4 Brendan Rheim (K.M.S. Cycling Academy), @6;
5 Colin Joyce (Hot Tubes), same time.
6 James King (Colomba CC), st,
Final Overall GC
1 Colin Joyce, 11.05.46;
2 White Curtis (Hot Tubes), @40;
3 Cormac Clarke (Stena Line Ireland), @50;
4 Stephen Bassett, @1.05;
5 Marcus Smith (Team Specialized Racing), @1.05;
6 Siebe Bosman (Tempo Bruns Veld), @1.21.
Team:- Team Specialized Racing
Points:- Colin Joyce
Mountains:- Hugh Carthy Maxgear Champion Systems
First year Junior:- White Curtis
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How it panned out over the week
The 35th edition of the International Junior Tour came out of the blocks last Tuesday on a crisp overcast evening n the townland of Ross on the outskirts of Castlebar in Co. Mayo.
Sixty-six faced the starter, Tom Keenan. Countries represented, USA, Holland, South Africa England and Ireland.
As anticipated, the pre race favourite Ryan Mullen of the Stena Line Ireland team, put a smile on the home contingent with a win. The winning margin was four seconds from Hugh Carthy of Maxgear Champion Systems an English based team. In third place was the American team of K.M.S. Cycling Academy in the USA. The defending Champion Thomas Wrona of the Hot Tubes outfit also from the States eased into the event in 16th place.
Day two turned out to be dramatic! Not only were the participants in the eye of a storm! Colin Joyce of Hot Tubes put his nose in front on the stage from Westport to Westport via Leenaun with Jacob Ragan from the Maxgear Champion Systems taking over as the race leader. Sadly Ryan Mullen of Stena Line Team Ireland was involved in a crash after 74.8kms and it looked as though his race was run. The never say attitude swung into action and he made the junction back to the main bunch at the 88kms mark. Bridging a gap of 4 minutes 16 seconds in that space. Subsequently after a hearing a five minute penalty was added to his time and his manager was fined 80 euros..
Day three from Castlebar to Ballycastle was a very interesting stage with Jacob Ragan retaining the yellow jersey. But he had a mighty test to do so. His team colleague Hugh Carthy had flown the nest when Jacob arrived on the scene. Hen queried about the tactics on the day by Ted Crowley “All I'm interested in is that Maxgear Champion Systems are in pole position. That is the main aim of the team.
Day four and the race around Achill Sound was one helluva of a day. First it started with Maxgear Hugh Carthy leaving his shoes back in the Lough Lannagh Holiday Village. Albeit the stage started behind schedule. But the action that was followed was superb. It went right down to the wire as the main groups merged. But there was still a sting in the tail when Ryan Mullen bounced back to show that he was still a danger man. Colin Joyce took over as number one.
Day five and we were in wonderment 'If this could be the day?' In actual fact if you give it plenty of thought! The action was good with several attempts to crack the ice. In the end it came down to a bunch sprint with Jack Sadler edging out a group of fifty-five. Yes! But the junior from the Lake District steered himself home in first place. Obviously the action is been left for another day. And who knows, can the Hot Tubes survive the tsunami which is in the offing. .
Winner alright Colin Joyce comes through to land the biggest win of his life.
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