Laragh Classic Co. Wicklow

Post date: Sep 24, 2013 8:28:38 PM

(By Billy Cunnane)

On Sunday 15th September St. Tiernan's CC hosted the Laragh Classic in Co. Wicklow. It was a sell-out two days before the actual event but there was never going to be a full complement of riders entering the race, due to the deteriorating weather that many riders woke up to on Sunday morning.

This had everything a true Classic required, a course that demanded respect and aggressive riding, weather that was changing by the minute and a field of riders that had no hiding place and where only the strongest and bravest would take the spoils. First race off on the day was the A3s and we were represented here by Billy Cunnane.

Fifty four riders rolled out of Laragh at 10.59 in wet and windy conditions. The race distance was 87 km of a rolling difficult course that favored the climbers. The race went straight into a 2km climb which started to shake up the bunch and within the first lap the bunch was halved. On the King of the Hills on the second lap a 5 man break went clear and stayed away to the finish. By the final lap the chasing bunch was dwindled down to just 10 riders. In the bunch gallop Billy finished just outside the points in 12th position.

Next race off was the A4s. We were represented by Eoghan Kevlihan and Roy Carey. 46 riders took to the line for two and a half laps of the tough 62km circuit. With the climb starting 2km after the start in Laragh village splits were expected early on with a lone rider going clear. The technical decent on narrow rough roads required good bike handling and he built on his lead throughout the first lap. Coming through Laragh and starting the climb for the second time he had extended his lead to two minutes and took the KOH. Plenty of riders attempted to bridge across to him with the attacks reducing the bunch on every lap but he never flagged and maintained the gap right until the finish to take a superb win on a very tough day. The chasing bunch was now whittled down to 16 riders and these contested the remaining points places in the sprint.

Well done to all the lads on a very tough days racing.

The Laragh race team