Gerry McManus Reports

Cycling Reports

The Havant Grand Prix

Sunday 5th August By Gerry McManus

Email: gerrymcmanus@yahoo.com

Paddy Moriarty rescued four valuable UCI points for Team Ireland as he won his group sprint to take 6th place in the Havant Grand Prix on Sunday 5th August. This segment of the UK Premier race series was won by Britain's John Tanner (Pro Vision-Ribble) who took the sprint from his three breakaway companions. Gordon McCauley (Lanbouwkredit-Colnago) took second, Mark Lovatt (Pro-Vision-Ribble) third and Matthew Stephens (Sigma Sport) in fourth. The race title does no justice to the race route, which on two circuits, takes in the rolling countryside of Southdown. In moderately warm temperatures only 38 of the 94 entries completed the event, with Shane Prendergast taking the lantern rouge position. The race covered 25.8 miles in the first hour.

It was Eugene Moriarty that had got into leading break on the first lap with Lovatt, McCauley, Matt Bottrell (Bournemouth Jubillee Wheelers) and Scotland's Jason McIntyre. Their lead was nearly two minutes over the bunch, at around half distance in the 113-mile race. Ireland's Rory Wyley (www.sdeals.com), now resident in the UK, had tried to bridge the gap with one other but with the leaders working well together, they failed to make it closer than around one minute.

Eugene Moriarty looked comfortable in the lead group, particularly on the prime climbs of Old Winchester Hill and HMS Mercury. Back in the bunch, Tanner and Paddy Moriarty were policing the breakaways when at around 80 miles, Matt Stephens attacked on the long drag to the Bat and Ball PH landmark. Tanner and Moriarty were amongst those quickly on his wheel. Soon after this move, Eugene Moriarty had an attack of cramp and slumped back, first to the chase group and then the bunch before eventually retiring.

With Paddy Moriarty now able to work in the group, the gap came down to only 30 seconds on the last lap. "Eugene came back", explained Paddy, "so I had to start riding and on the last lap of the second circuit, Stephens and Tanner attacked and left me with Martin Vesby (Belgium) and Szonn. They attacked all the way up the hill and I kept clawing my way back on until the lights went out!"