Gorey Three-day - NE

Ireland, April 10-12, 2004

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Stage 4 - April 12: Gorey - Brittas, 58 miles

Miley wins as Martin cruises home

By Shane Stokes, Irishcycling.com

Today's final stage of the Greenstar Gorey Three Day may have produced attack after attack from the moment the flag dropped, but at the end of a hard day's racing there was no change in the overall standings. Bray Wheelers rider Ger Miley led home the riders in the bunch sprint which decided the day' prizes, while Daniel Martin (CC Giro) successfully defended his slender 19 second lead over compatriot Leigh Smith (Milton Keanes CA) to become the first ever overseas winner in 38 editions of the Easter Weekend event.

Irish junior Mark Nestor finished best of the home riders in third overall, 22 seconds behind Martin. His Leinster Junior squad team-mate Ciaran Kelly was fourth, with Maurice O'Brien (Kanturk Credit Union) and Ruairi Mitchell (Naas Team Rubex) fifth and sixth.

Miley's stage-winning sprint saw him cross the line ahead of Shane O'Halloran (Safari's Hss Duhallow Wheelers) and Colm Crawley (Leinster Senior Team).

The stage started on the outskirts of Gorey town at noon, with Siobhan Dervan (St. Finbarr's), Joanie Burns (Orwell-Dundrum SC) and Roisin Kennedy (Usher IRC) getting a ten-minute lead on the main bunch. Once the men left there was a spate of short-lived attacks, with small groups shooting clear but then being reeled in by an attentive peloton. After ten miles, James Lawless countered a move containing his Usher IRC team-mate Brian Hammond to race through the streets of Carnew and stay clear for two miles. Next to try were five riders - Mark McLeavy (Les Jeunes), Stuart Gibson (Orwell-Dundrum SC), Kenny Conlon (Newbridge CC) and the Bray Wheelers duo Adam Kelly and Declan Kinch. These caught the three women going through Shillelagh (16 miles) and the eight-strong group built a lead of fifteen seconds before being reeled in after five miles up front. Conlon countered just as they were about to be caught but he was himself recaptured almost immediately.

Leinster Senior team rider JP Lynch was next to achieve temporary freedom, getting seven seconds during his three mile escape. Stephen Enright (Usher IRC) then followed with his own solo move, being hauled back just before a group of five escaped on the streets of Tullow (25 mls).

A glance at the composition of this particular break was enough to see that the quintet meant business. Ruairi Mitchell (Naas-Rubex) was sixth overall, 33 seconds off the race lead of Daniel Martin, while Leinster Senior rider Noel Maloney started the day 47 seconds back in tenth. Former international Aidan Duff, who raced for many seasons in France, was 13th in GC, 52 seconds down. His Bray Wheelers team-mate Ger Miley had finished second on stage one and started today particularly determined to go for the stage win, while Barry Meehan (Worldwide Cycles) was one of the strong riders in Saturday's long breakaway.

The danger was obvious. In response to the move several riders tried unsuccessfully to jump across from the bunch. The five leaders worked well to maintain a solid lead; at Rathvilly (31 miles) they had 23 seconds on the bunch, and after Baltinglas this grew to thirty seconds. Duff, Mitchell and Miley had all raced together years previously in the St. Tiernan's club and knew each other well; together with Maloney and Meehan they made a committed effort to carve through the headwind and build their lead.

The bunch, though, had other ideas. Behind a strong chase brought the advantage back down, mile by mile, until the break was finally overhauled on the road between Baltinglass and Hollywood. Odds were growing that the stage would end in a bunch sprint, but a group of nine decided not to wait around for that and clipped away on the run-in to Blessington with about six miles to go.

Gibson highlighted his good form by getting involved once again and was joined in this attack by Stephen McKenna (Stamullen M. Donnelly), Brendan Mulhare (Carlow RC), David Lane (UCD), Shaun Rock (Leinster Junior team), Noel Moloney (Leinster Senior team), Terry Ferris (Murphy and Gunn), Tom Fanning (Comeragh CC) and Martin Quill (Milton Keanes CA). Some of the riders were fully committed, such as Mulhare and Gibson, but with some of the others more occupied with looking behind rather than riding up front, the break dangled about five seconds ahead of the main bunch rather than opening up a more decisive lead. Scott Willingham (Scanchez Metro-CRCA) and Barry Meehan (Worldwide Cycles) jumped across from the main bunch once the riders were through Blessington, just three miles remaining at this point, but the scrappy co-operation up front combined with the frantic pursuit meant that the main field closed down the move with just one mile to go.

That set the scene for a thundering bunch finish, so often the decider on this final stage. Miley had sprinted to second place on Saturday's opening stage and so was one of the favourites in this situation, but having been up the road for over twenty miles he was unsure of his chances. However when it came to the crunch he had more than enough left in his legs, sprinting home a full bike length clear of O'Halloran, Crawley, Conlan and the rest of the main field. Martin finished safely in the main bunch to make sure of his win, becoming the first foreign rider to take home the Gorey Three Day trophy in the 38 editions of the event.

In the other categories, Siobhan Dervan (St Finbarr's Triton Ventilux) was clearly best of the women, finishing in the main bunch each day and riding a good time trial yesterday morning to end the race 55th of 140 riders in the final overall standings. She was over forty minutes clear of Joanie Burns (Orwell-Dundrum SC) and Roisin Kennedy (Usher IRC), a dominant display. Denis McCarthy (DPC First Legal Garda CC) was best of the veterans while Bill Millar (Carlow CC) and Leigh Smith (Milton Keanes CA) came out on top of the senior 2 and senior 3 classifications. Bray Wheelers CC beat the Milton Keanes CA to lift the team prize.

Post-stage quotes

Ger Miley (Bray Wheelers), stage winner:

'I've been waiting for this for a long time.I was fourth on this stage in the past and also placed in the top ten a couple of times before that. The sprint is a bit of a lottery but it worked out this time..it is really great to win it.'

'I wasn't sure how my legs would be after being in that break. We were away for twenty miles so it takes a bit out of you. I know Rory (Mitchell) and Aidan (Duff) but the move wasn't planned beforehand. It was more a case that when I saw lads I knew going up the road, I wanted to get across and give them a hand. I just had to make sure I didn't bring anyone else up with me.'

'The good thing about being up the road with guys like that is that you know they are going to work. We didn't have to worry about anyone working the others over, we just all knuckled down. We thought the move might work but when the advantage wouldn't go over thirty seconds then we knew there was a chance it would be brought back. When the bunch came up to us I had to just do what I could to rest and hope that I could recover in time for the sprint.'

'My Bray Wheelers team-mates did a great job to bring back that move which went just before Blessington. A couple of the guys were very strong and they were able to set things up nicely. I wasn't sure what I'd have left in my legs but when I started sprinting they were fine, things worked out very well in the end.'

Daniel Martin (CC Giro), race winner:

'Today was a bit dodgy, there were a few crashes along the way. The last one happened just behind me, going into the last couple of miles of the stage. I did what I could to stay out of trouble.'

'When the break went up the road I didn't panic. The headwind didn't help them and besides, I knew the first five riders were around me in the bunch so as long as no group got to the line with more than thirty seconds, I would be okay. A lot of guys were riding at the front or attacking from the bunch so that kept the gap small. My dad (Neil Martin) also did a lot of riding.'

'Coming into the race I intended going for a stage win. I rode last year and struggled a bit, finishing 25th, but thought I could do more this year. Juniors have won the race in the past two years so I thought 'why not me?'.I was determined to give it a shot. I went close to winning the first stage but was caught just before the line. There were a load of us on the same time so I knew that if I won the time trial, I would be in the jersey. It didn't quite work out that was as I was second, but then I was able to get away with Mark Nestor in the afternoon stage, get some time and take yellow. Mark was going well but I think being away for a long time on Saturday took a bit out of his legs.'

'I'm really happy to win this. It is my first stage race victory - I held yellow in the Junior Tour of Wales last year but then lost it.'

'I have two national series races in the next couple of weeks so I am happy that my form seems to be good. After that, I will be aiming for a ride in the national championships, the Junior Tour of Ireland and the Junior Tour of Wales. I'd really like to get to ride the world championships, too - I crashed out last year after just six miles so I want to go back.'

Siobhan Dervan (St. Finbarr's Triton Ventilux), first woman and 55th overall:

'I enjoyed the race and was happy with how things went. I was very happy with my time trial time (8 minutes 54.47 seconds). The other stages went ok.I had been warned about the bunches beforehand but I was able to stay out of trouble. One thing which didn't help is that my cornering is poor..it was getting better this year but then I crashed in the Des Hanlon race in Carlow and that set me back a bit.'

'I haven't been cycling for very long, just doing it seriously since the TQ Paper 2 Day last year. Before that I had doing triathlons for about a year but I ended up getting a leg fracture from running with shin splints, so I can't really run any more. I'm enjoying the cycling now, I've no real plans for the year other than I'll do the selection race next Sunday and take things from there.'

Results

1 Ger Miley (Bray Wheelers CC)                         2.20.39
2 Shane O'Halloran (Safari's Hss Duhallow Wheelers)
3 Colm Crawley (Leinster Senior Team)
4 Kenny Conlan (Newbridge CC)
5 Dave O'Reilly (DHL Wall Cycles.com Eurotrek)
6 Richard Maes (Killarney CC)
7 Michael Lucey (Killarney CC)
8 Marin Quill (Milton Keanes CA)
 
Final general classification
 
1 Daniel Martin (CC Giro)                              7.37.58
2 Leigh Smith (Milton Keanes CA)                          0.19
3 Mark Nestor (Leinster Junior Team)                      0.22
4 Ciaran Kelly (Leinster Junior Team)                     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 Senior team)                    0.47
11 Declan Kinch (Bray Wheelers CC)
12 Jamie Barlow (Worldwide Cycles)                        0.51
13 Aidan Duff (Bray Wheelers CC)                          0.52
14 Tom Fanning (Comerage CC)                              0.55
15 Martin Quill (Milton Keanes CA)
16 Denis McCarthy (DPC First Legal Garda CC)              0.58
17 Maurice Hickey (Dungarvan CC)                          0.59
18 Stuart Gibson (Orwell-Dundrum Wheelers SC)             1.08
19 Kenny Conlan (Newbridge CC)
20 Richard Maes (Killarney CC)                            1.09
 
Women
 
1 Siobhan Dervan (St. Finbarr's Triton Ventilux)       7.41.46
2 Joanie Burns (Orwell - Dundrum SC)                     42.15
3 Roisin Kennedy (Usher IRC)                             47.28
 
Juniors
 
1 Martin                                               7.37.58
2 Nestor                                                  0.22
3 Kelly                                                   0.29
4 O'Brien                                                 0.31
5 Burke                                                   0.34
 
Veteran
 
1 McCarthy                                             7.38.56
2 Mick Nulty (Stamullen M. Donnelly)                      0.29
3 Scott Willingham (Sanchez Metro - CRCA)                 2.04
4 Hughie Davis (Usher IRC)                                2.22
5 Neil Martin (CC Giro)                                   2.25
 
Senior 2
 
1 Bill Miller (Carlow CC)
 
Senior 3
 
1 Smith                                                7.38.17
2 Norbert O'Reilly (Sanchez Metro-CRCA)                   0.56
3 Adrian Pretorius (McNally Swords CC)                    1.04
4 Stephen Spratt (St. Finbarr's Triton Ventilux)          2.45
5 Patrick Dobbs (Wexford Wheelers)                        3.09
 
Club team overall
 
1 Bray Wheelers CC                                    22.55.49
2 Milton Keanes CA                                        3.11
3 Stamullen M. Donnelly                                   4.29
4 Killarney CC                                            6.20
5 Comeragh CC                                             6.24
6 Worldwide Cycles                                        6.40