Ben McKenna

Having pre-rode the course earlier in the week I had a fair idea of what to expect. I knew the race was going to be selective with small groups coming to the finish. It was extra important to be aggressive from the outset to avoid getting stuck in a negative group.



I'm starting to make a good habit of picking the right move. I don't know how this change has come about but it's certainly something I have tried to work on. No one magic bullet has brought about the change. The main thing I am focusing on is being more observant in races. It's amazing how many lads just drift through a race without being fully aware of what's going on in front or behind them. Hopefully I can continue this nice habit as the season progresses.



The race sprang to life for me after a large enough group of the scratch riders caught the A2 bunch. I managed to jump clear of the A2 bunch with Paídi O’Brien (Sportactive) and Mark Dowling (Team Dectek). After some serious work on the hardest part of the course we were joined by Martin Irvine (Giant Asia). The four of us worked fairly well together and made contact with the early breakaway with around 70km of racing still to go.

I remember when I started cycling I bought a magazine with Paídi O’Brien on the cover - it's amazing to be in selective groups with a man of his pedigree.

We had a big advantage back to the next group on the road so the pace wasn't flat out. On the way down the main road just before we began the last lap the breakaway split. I am not entirely sure what caused the split - it didn't seem like anyone attacked but I know I was on the wrong side of the split. Once the front half realised what had happened they drove hard to increase the gap. Game over!




I was now apart of the second group on the road. We never regained contact with the leaders, probably as a result of our half hearted, disjointed chase. We sprinted it out for 6th place in the race. I lead the uphill sprint from the front early but two hundred meters was too early to open up into a headwind. I placed 8th.

It's a good result on a tough course with another top class field. Maybe it's a measure of how I am progressing, i'm not sure, but I was fairly disappointed at the finish to have not been apart of the group contesting the race win.

For the power geeks, I had an average of 284 watts for around four hours of racing.

1, Sean Downey (Cotes Demour)
2, Adam Armstrong (Eurocycles)
3, Paídi O’Brien (SportActive)
4, Greg Swinand (Usher IRC)
5, Martyn Irvine (Giant Kenda)
6, Mark Downing (Dectek)
7, Thomas Lavery (Comeragh)
8, Anthony Walsh (UCD)


photos from Irishcycling.com