2014 Gorey Stage 4 Report

Mark Reilly (LCRC) took home the yellow jersey today, having finished in the bunch of the fourth & final stage of the Gorey 3-Day.

Having started the final stage in yellow, Reilly fought hard along with his Lucan team mates to retain the jersey, eventually taking the win by 19 seconds from nearest rival Robin Seymour (Epic MTB/Expert).

The stage got underway with a neutralised parade through the town up past the Monument, before the moto-commisaire signalled to riders that the race was on and the attacks started straight away.

Diarmuid Kavanagh (SERC), Kenneth Conlon (Naas CC), Graham Thomas (LCRC), Ian Redmond (Fermoy) were the first to make a jump, gaining a 10 second advantage. Stephen Geary (Phoenix CC) took chase and it wasn’t long before he caught the four ahead of him, the gap now increasing to 13 seconds. Next to bridge the gap, was Marc O’Callaghan (Limerick CC). With the gap now stable at 19 seconds, the bunch began to react. Riders launched themselves off the front of the main field, increasing the speed on the twisty roads leaving Gorey town. The leaders were slowly reeled in, and with the gap now down to eight seconds, the break-away sat up and waited for the peloton.

As the break was engulfed by the bunch, Marc McGavley (Mad MTB), Justus Ossege (Teambikeonline), Ciaran Kelly (Team Bikeworx) along with yesterday’s stage winner Darragh Zaidan (Adamstown CC) and GC leader Mark Reilly (LCRC) accelerated off the front, soon gaining a 50 metre advantage. The bunch reacted, and the break was short-lived.

Carnew created quite the spectacle. The speed was now up, and the bunch descended through the town at 50mph. The group continued to let breaks get away before pulling them back. No move got further than 200 metres.

The only KOH of the day came at the 29 kilometres mark, with James Pittman (Cork County), Henry Cooke (Limerick/Munster), Robin Seymour (Epic MTB/Expert) hoovering up the points.

Reilly continued to work away at the front of the bunch, covering moves and attacking relentlessly. He controlled the pace of the race, and the bunch remained together through Baltinglass, the finish line just over 30 kilometres away.

Attacks continued to form, but as the bunch stormed through Blessington, the sprinters began to position themselves for the inevitable bunch sprint. LCRC’s John Priest had to be favourite to take the stage win, but visiting rider Martin Meschkat (Team Bikeonline) showed supreme strength, crossing the line in first place ahead of Colm Bracken (Murphy Surevey), JP Lyons (SDCC) with John Priest fourth ahead of the bunch.

Reilly crossed the line in the bunch, knowing his hard work had paid off and he had won the 38th Edition of the Gorey 3-Day. Daragh Zaidan retained the green points jersey, while Peter Kirwan (LCRC) held onto the polka dot jersey.

199 riders signed on for the event, with 128 eventually finishing the action packed 3-Day.