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Ronan's Tour highs...and lows
26.08.09
by Simon McGeady, Inishowen Independent
Muff cyclist Ronan McLaughlin experienced the highs
and lows of an eventful Tour of Ireland at the
weekend. The An Post/Sean Kelly team rider did not
finish the Tour, but then he was in good company
with seven time Tour de France winner Lance
Armstrong and Isle of Man star rider Mark Cavendish
not making it to the finishing line in Cork on
Sunday either.
Only 47 of the 112 riders who set off from Bantry on
stage three made it to the finish line in Cork City.
Heavy rain caused most to pull out but for Ronan, it
wasn’t the elements that got the better of him.
“Actually, I am pretty good in the rain, that wasn’t
my problem. The pace from the start of the stage was
really fast and I started to get heavy legs and
unfortunately after about 80 kilometres I had to
pull out, which was very disappointing. |
“It’s hard to explain
what went wrong, maybe it was the build up of the
first two days but my legs just felt numb and they
didn’t have any power. It was hard to stand up in
front of the crowd in Cork to be interviewed because
I didn’t make it to the city on the bike.”
Ronan was happy with his performance in the first
two stages however. |
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“There were a couple of
highlights. On Saturday I had a strong ride.
Whenever the 21 riders at the front broke away, 100
others came together and I was at the front of that
second group rubbing shoulders with some big name
guys. Seeing experienced riders puff their cheeks
and drop back behind me was a big boost,” said the
Belgium-based professional.
Saturday might have been even better had Ronan not
suffered a puncture just before the main climb of
the stage.
“It happened about two kilometres before the climb.
I was 4th or 5th in the peloton and really confident
of making the split when I got a puncture. After a
quick change I made it back to the bunch and flew
down the hill,” said McLaughlin, who missed the
split on Friday by less than 100 metres.
McLaughlin had targeted a top 50 finish prior to the
start of the race and was on course to make it after
day one’s stage from Enniskerry to Waterford. He
finished day one 47th overall and was the second
Irish rider home after 4th placed Philip Deignan.
After the puncture on day two McLaughlin dropped to
58th overall.
The Tour of Ireland was won by Russell Downing of
the Candi TV–Marshalls Pizza team.
McLaughlin paid tribute to ‘incredible support’ he
received from Inishowen people that travelled to
watch the Tour.
There was further disappointment for the Muff man at
the weekend when he found out Ireland had not been
selected to qualify for the U23 World Championships
in Switzerland next month.
“On Saturday I found out from the CEO of Cycling
Ireland that we hadn’t qualified for the World
Championships. The Irish U23 team only took part in
one of the 12 races in the series this year and they
think that’s why we aren’t going. It’s very
disappointing because I had been working towards the
World Championships all season and this is my last
year at that level.”
McLaughlin, who returned to Belgium following the
Tour of Ireland, has a number of single day
professional races in northern Europe before the end
of the season on the 10th of October. |
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