It may be the Royal Mail that delivers letters in Northern Ireland, but it was the team co-sponsored by their counterparts over the border that made the evening collection in Belfast last night, with An Post Sean Kelly picking up both the team win and, through David O’Loughlin, the individual victory when the Halfords Tour Series hit town.
With two races left to go in the ten-round Halfords Tour Series in Great Britain, yesterday’s race was the first part of a double-header mini-series across the Irish Sea, the second and final round taking place yesterday evening.
Like the British series, riders are racing for their teams, although the line-up has an especially Irish feel to it, with teams representing all four Irish provinces mixing it with representatives from the likes of Sigma Sport-Specialized and Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta.
There was a guest rider last night, too, riding on his own for the individual prize – none other than Garmin-Transitions star, preparing to claim back the Irish National Road Race champion’s jersey he lost last year to AG2R La Mondiale’s Nico Roche.
The US-based ProTour team’s orange and blue Argyle colours were to the fore at the front of the peloton early on in the race around a 1km circuit as Martin sought to chase down the evening’s first big breakaway, and eventually he managed to bridge the gap himself to join an 11-strong lead group.
As the race went on, however, the escapees were reeled in by the chasing bunch, bringing the field back together, until O’Loughlin made what proved to be the race-winning move, riding strongly to keep the peloton at bay for what was ultimately a comfortable margin of victory.
Tonight’s race in Dublin starts at 6pm and full details are available on the Tour Series Ireland website.
The Halfords Tour Series Belfast Results
Team
1) An Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team
2) CyclePremier.com-Metaltek
3) Cycling Ulster-Slanes Cycles
4) Sigma Sport-Specialized
5) Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta
6) Team Ireland
7) Team Raleigh
8) Munster
9) Leinster
10) Connacht
Individual
1) David O'Loughlin - An Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team
2) Tony Gibb Cycle - Premier.com-Metaltek
3) Matt Brammeier - An Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team
4) Maxim Debusschere - An Post Sean Kelly Cycling Team
5) Jason White - CyclePremier.com-Metaltek
Boardman Bikes Sprints Competition Results
1) Andrew Magnier - CyclePremier.com-Metaltek 13pts
2) Tom Murray - Sigma Sport - Specialized 12pts
3) Richard Handle - Team Raleigh 8pts
Cycling infrastructure does not force drivers to break the law, drivers are the reason they break the law, no one else.
Ah but taking pictures of things to defy the man (avoid a fine) is righteous. Taking pictures of people to grass on them to the cops (perhaps...
But getting paid for it is the very definition of professional....
Never had a Shimano QR fail on me. They just work. And the top end ones look good too....
If you're only looking at the guy in front of you then you're going to crash whatever brakes you have, you need to look beyond them to anticipate...
As a woman, this works great for me! My chain broke once, and a kind guy stopped with a chain breaker and sorted it all out for me. We stopped at a...
Same. I also have gone through a bunch of their tyres, and only the extralight disappointed (torn sidewall) but the standards are fantastic....
thanks for the ideas....
Indeed - but it's no more inconsistent than our current road design - very often UK high streets are "for shopping" and also a busy through route....
If you ask the world's leading economic commentators how many people have been rescued from abject poverty by capitalism the average answer would...