Tom Sheehan Memorial A3 and Junior Race

On Patrick’s Day the Tom Sheehan Memorial A3 and Junior Race was run over five laps of a 20KM circuit near Carrick on Suir. It is a classic race that has been won by some illustrious riders, including the current top man, Sam Bennett. To get there from Allihies is a 550KM round trip, so we left on Saturday and stayed in Blarney with some friends. Neil deliberately missed a race on Saturday as he wasn’t feeling his best on Friday, deciding instead to save himself for the Tom Sheehan event. This turned out to be a wise choice as he subsequently went on to win the Tom Sheehan race in fine style. A break went away on lap one and it got a two minute lead before anybody seemed to feel the need to chase. The break was eventually caught though and on the start of the last lap Neil and four other riders broke away.

On the last corner coming into the steep uphill finish, Neil powered on and came home with a good few bike lengths for First place. Neil needed fifth place in the race to move up to an A2 race license. Neil now has 19 points from his two races this year. His next race will be with the A1 and A2 riders so it will be longer and faster. A great start to the season.

The first four in the winning break were

  1. Neil Hodges Killarney CC
  2. Alex Sparrow Bandon CC
  3. Bernard Sweeney Killorglin CC
  4. Conor Coleman Panduit Carrick Wheelers

The chase starts to get the leading break
Up the hill to the line

Some reworked photos of the race

Aaron Wade, NRPT Chill Insurance Vitus
Bernard Sweeney – Killorglin CC
Grace Young – Velo Revolution Strata 3
Luis Mota

Neil now has 19 points from his two races this year. His next race will be with the A1 and A2 riders so it will be longer and faster. A great start to the season.

Richie Maes with his own beer….

Tom Sheehan Memorial A3 and Junior Race

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