Gorey Three-day - NE

Ireland, April 10-12, 2004

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Stage 3 - April 11: Gorey, 60 miles

Nestor wins, Martin seizes yellow

By Shane Stokes, Irishcycling.com

First year senior Daniel Martin (CC Giro) this afternoon took over from fellow Englishman Leigh Smith (Milton Keanes CA) at the top of the classification in the Greenstar Gorey 3 Day race, finishing second on the 60 mile third stage won by the fast-finishing Irish junior Mark Nestor.

The two riders were part of a seven man breakaway group which went clear on the third of four fifteen-mile laps. They then jumped away going into the final lap and, together with Smith's teammate Martin Quill, eked out a stage-winning lead over the rest of the field. Quill lost his place up front due to a combination of nerves, a slipping back wheel and fatigue, leaving Nestor and Martin to fight it out for the stage win between them. The latter drove hard to the finish and consequently had no answer to Nestor’s final surge, but with the final race victory now looking very possible he will be delighted by what he achieved today.

Third place on the stage went to McNally Swords rider Keith Daly, with Kenny Conlon (Newbridge CC) and Maurice O’Brien fourth and fifth. Martin now leads by 19 seconds overall from Smith and is three seconds further ahead of Nestor.

As with yesterday’s opening stage, the women riders were again let off ahead of the main field, getting a ten minute advantage. The attacks began once the men got underway, with a four-man group gaining a short-lived ten second lead before being reeled in on the climb out of Craanford. At the six-mile mark Martin Quill (Milton Keanes CA) and Alan Bingham (Cuchulainn) went clear and built a twenty second advantage, Quill then pressing on ahead as Bingham weakened.

Turning onto the main road at Camolin, Quill had thirty seconds on a group of eight chasers, who were shortly afterward joined by three others. This eleven man group comprised Dan Nulty (Stamullen M. Donnelly), James Lawless (Usher IRC), P.J. O’Halloran (Safari Duhallow Wheelers), Bingham, Barry Meehan (Worldwide Cycles), Aidan Dennehy (St. Finbarr’s), Michael Lucey (Kilkenny), Noel McGlynn (Leinster), Stephen Enright (Usher IRC), Maurice Hickey (Dungarvan) and yesterday’s stage winner Colm Crawley (Leinster Seniors). Shortly afterwards on the run in to Gorey town, the group caught the women – Siobhan Dervan (St. Finbarr’s), Roisin Kennedy (Usher IRC) and Joanie Burns (Orwell-Dundrum SC) – and then picked up Quill to make it fifteen up front.

At 17 miles the group was twenty seconds ahead of two chasers and 22 in front of the main field. Burns and Kennedy were shed at this point, leaving Dervan as the sole woman in the leading break. Heading again onto the main road at Camolin, the gap was up to 41 seconds. However it began to fall quickly after this and so, just after crossing the start-finish line to begin the third lap, Quill and Hickey cleared off on the drag out of Gorey and opened up a decent lead.

The rest of the break was reeled in and Nestor and Martin, two of the big aggressors yesterday, clipped away. These bridged up to the two leaders and then at the 37 mile point, the group was joined by the yellow jersey Leigh Smith (Milton Keanes CA), Maurice O’Brien (Kanturk Credit Union) and Darren Burke (Realt Tuam).

Leinster Senior team rider Sean Bracken has in previous years been a big aggressor on this stage and it was little surprise that he set off in pursuit. What was however unexpected was his crash on the bad downhill bend approaching Camolin; the veteran hit the deck along with Henry Crowley (McNally Swords) and Ciaran Cassidy (Leinster Juniors). Cassidy was not too badly hurt but the other two unfortunately ended up in the ambulance, their race over. Bracken was later reported to have suffered a broken hip.

The strong composition of the front seven seemed to bode well, but infighting within the group prompted a series of attacks which destroyed any cooperation. Nestor surged clear on one of the many drags on the run in to Gorey but his move was contained. The yellow jersey and second-placed Martin countered but they too were reeled in, as was the next attacker O’Brien. Finally, Quill succeeded in going clear and Nestor then bridged, pulling away from the rest of the break and opening up a ten second lead by the time they took the bell for the last lap.

On the drag leaving Gorey Martin jumped across and himself and Nestor set about working together to further distance the rest. Bizzarely, Quill took a couple of turns even though the race leader – his team mate Smith – was trying desperately to close up. Quill’s own time at the front ended on the wet, dangerous descent approaching Camolin, where Bracken, Crowley and Cassidy had crashed one lap previously, losing his place due to a drifting back wheel, a fear of falling and the fact that he was unable to chase back on because of his growing fatigue.

Turning onto the main road for the last time at Camolin, the two leaders looked all but certain to dispute the stage win between them. A group of twenty chasers were at one minute and two seconds, while the bunch was just over two minutes down. But Martin and Nestor were both committed, seeking to gain as much time as possible over the yellow jersey and the rest of the field.

Of the two, Martin appeared stronger, doing more than his share of the work and driving hard on the undulating run-in towards Gorey. Expectations were that he would take the jersey, Nestor the stage, and so it proved; the Leinster Junior team rider jumped away with 200 metres to go and met with little resistance, a tired Martin wheeling over the line to seize the yellow jersey. McNally Swords rider Keith Daly led the chasing group home 25 seconds later, with Kenny Conlon (Newbridge CC), Maurice O’Brien (Kanturk Credit Union) and Shane O’Halloran (Safari’s Hss Duhallow Wheelers) completing the top six. Smith also finished with this group but slipped down to second overall, 19 seconds behind Martin, and now just three up on Nestor.

The main bunch raced in 2 minutes and 58 seconds after the stage winner, amongst their number Siobhan Dervan. She had another strong ride today, latching onto the break when they caught the women and then finishing comfortably in the main group. Her time of 8 minutes 54.47 seconds in the morning time trial was also a fine performance; she is now over 42 minutes ahead of Joanie Burns (Orwell-Dundrum Shopping Centre) and Roisin Kennedy (Usher IRC) in the overall standings. Tarja Owens (Team WORC) had been second in this classification but pulled out before the afternoon stage due to a persistent cough. She is aiming to ride the Olympic cross country MTB event this summer and with important selection races coming up next month, said she was not willing to take a chance.

Of the other classifications, race leader Martin is also the first junior, while deposed yellow jersey Smith is 56 seconds clear of Nobby O’Reilly (Sanchez-Metro CRCA) in the senior 3 standings. Denis McCarthy (DPC-First Legal Garda CC) is leading the veterans’ competition.

The Greenstar Gorey Three Day concludes tomorrow with a mainly flat 60 mile road race from Gorey to Brittas. On most occasions this ends in a group sprint, but with sixteen riders within a minute of Martin’s yellow jersey there is still a lot of racing to come.

Results

1 Mark Nestor (Leinster Juniors)                 2.33.42
2 Daniel Martin (CC Giro)                           0.01
3 Keith Daly (McNally Swords CC)                    0.25
4 Kenny Conlon (Newbridge CC)
5 Maurice O'Brien (Kanturk Credit Union)
6 Shane O'Halloran (Safari's Hss Duhallow Wheelers)
7 Martin Quill (Milton Keanes CA)
8 Jamie Barlow (Worldwide Cycles) 
 
General classification after stage 3
 
1 Daniel Martin (CC Giro)                        5.17.19
2 Leigh Smith (Milton Keanes CA)                    0.19
3 Mark Nestor (Leinster Juniors)                    0.22
4 Ciaran Kelly                                      0.29
5 Maurice O'Brien (Kanturk Credit Union)            0.31
6 Ruairi Mitchell (Naas Team Rubex)                 0.33
7 Derek Burke (Realt Tuam CC)                       0.34
8 David Lane (UCD)                                  0.43
9 Bill Miller (Carlow CC)                           0.45
10 Noel Moloney (Leinster Seniors)                  0.47
 
Women
 
1 Siobhan Dervan (St Finbarr's Triton Ventilux)  5.21.07
2 R. Kennedy (Usher IRC)                           42.13
3 J. Burns (Orwell-Dundrum SC)                     42.15
 
Juniors
 
1 Daniel Martin (CC Giro)
2 Mark Nestor (Leinster Juniors)
3 Ciaran Kelly
 
Veterans
 
1 Denis McCarthy (DPC First Legal Garda CC)      5.18.17
2 M. Nulty (Stamullen M. Donnelly)                  0.29
3 S. Willingham (Sanchez Metro-CRCA)                2.04
 
Third category
 
1 Leigh Smith (Milton Keanes CA)                 5.17.38
2 Norbert O'Reilly (Sanchez Metro-CRCA)             0.56
3 Adrian Pretorius (McNally Swords)                 1.04

Results

Coming!