Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Dauphiné Libéré Photo ©: Sirotti |
M. Donnelly Junior Tour of Ireland - NE
Ireland, August 5-10, 2003
Main Page Results Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 5 - August 9: Clonmel - Lismore , 60 miles
Hardwick wins stage 5
By Shane Stokes
 |
Ireland Stena Line rider Theo Hardwick took a fine stage win on today's fifth leg of the M. Donnelly Junior Tour, a sixty mile race starting and finishing in Clonmel. Hardwick broke clear with USA rider Brad Viera with six miles remaining and built up a healthy lead over the main bunch, winning the sprint to the line to take his first ever Junior Tour stage win. The rest of the field crossed the line some 9 seconds later, including the ongoing yellow jersey Kai Reus of the Dutch Tempo BMV squad and the rest of the main contenders.
Hardwick's Ireland Stena Line team-mate Frazer Duncan set the tone for what would be an aggressive day of racing when he went clear with Cycling Ulster's Peter Hawkins just two miles into the stage. Arguably hampered by the scorching temperatures in recent days, the Irish riders were more prominent on this warm but overcast stage and although Duncan and Hawkins were soon dragged back, Killorglin's Eoin Concannon raced clear at the five mile mark and built a fifteen second lead.
After he too was reeled in, Duncan tried again and had opened up a thirty-second advantage over the bunch by the time the riders started the climb of the Vee. South African Larens Badenhorst and Kanturk's Christy Higgins rode well to bridge the gap, but the effort proved to be for nothing as the field came back up to them shortly afterwards. Hardwick then seized the moment to launch his own bid, briefly going clear in a small group.
Hauled back, he tried again going over the top of the climb and once more on the descent, succeeding in getting a gap with Viera. However the bunch once again bridged the gap and while eight riders did go clear, neither the yellow jersey nor Hardwick, Woods, Duncan or their Ireland Stena Line team-mate Mark Cassidy were present.
With panic bells ringing behind, the octet set about building their lead. Present were Viera, Bruce Edgar (Dataphonics), Pete Williams (North West Division), Maarten Mandemakers (Tempo BMV) and four Irish riders, namely Hawkins, Mark Nestor (Stamullen M. Donnelly), Eoin Concannon (Killorglin) and McNally Swords' Derek Bourke.
By the halfway point this group had a 50 second lead and things were looking serious for the bunch. However much of the chasing had been done by a small collection of riders and once bigger numbers started amassing at the front, the break began to come back. Viera, Mandemakers and Williams jumped clear just before the junction was made and re-established a considerable lead, but with ten miles remaining the field reformed as one.
That set things up for a fine attack by Hardwick, who had suffered in the heat on day two but was getting stronger as the race progressed. He jumped clear with a dogged, determined Viera and had built a forty second lead with three miles remaining, ensuring that the stage honours would go to one of them. The Irishman then proved faster in the final sprint, pipping Viera to the line, with the main field being led home nine seconds later by the first year junior leader Crawforth, who was impressively strong today.
Reus was fifth on the stage while Killarney's Richard Maes and Ireland Stena Line rider Barry Woods were sixth and seventh. Woods' unlucky team-mate Frazer Duncan trailed in over 21 minutes down, once again the victim of a crash.
In terms of the overall standings, Dutchman Kai Reus continues to lead overall, with Viera and Hardwick the only two to move up the general classification today. Hardwick is now the best placed Irishman in fifth, two minutes and 29 seconds in arrears, while his team-mate Woods is sixth and Maes now tenth.
"I felt good today," said the delighted stage winner. "I was a little disappointed with my overall position and so decided to have a go. The plan was to go in the last ten kilometres and try to get some time; when I heard we had 30 seconds as we approached the finish, I knew we were safe. The other rider (Brad Viera) was going well today but I had great legs, so I was pretty confident."
"I am feeling better as the race goes on. I think tomorrow's stage won't make a huge difference, though, and Reus has the win pretty much sewn up. I lost a lot of time on the first stage - the team car couldn't get up to us to give me a bottle and I was very dehydrated, but since then I have been improving."
"I am very happy with this stage win, it is my first in the Junior Tour. After this I am hoping to get selected for the junior world championships, and also am aiming to do well in the nationals at the end of August."
Another who surely has the world championships in Hamilton, Canada, in mind is Reus. Second in the world ranking for juniors, he has been riding impressively well this week and is now all but certain to win the M. Donnelly Junior Tour when it concludes tomorrow with a 50 mile race in Waterford. Today he seemed relaxed, confident and laid-back. Tomorrow, he may well try to take his third stage win and finish off the race in style.
Photography
Images by M. Donnelly Junior Tour
- Theo Hardwick (Stena Team Ireland) attacks during the fifth stage
- Theo Hardwick (Stena Team Ireland) beats Brad Viera (USA) to win stage 5
Results
1 Theo Hardwick (Stena Team Ireland) 2.19.05 2 Brad Viera (USA) 3 Ben Crawforth (London Team) 0.09 4 Juan Van Heerden (South Africa Academy B) 5 Kai Reus (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 6 Richard Maes (Killarney CC) 7 Barry Woods (Stena Team Ireland) 8 Jesse J Anthony (USA) 9 Mark Cavandish (Dataphonics) 10 Bruce Edgar (Dataphonics) 11 Zach Taylor (USA) 12 Ricard Bowen (North West Division BCF) 13 Jerome Coppel (VC D'Annemasse A) 14 Olivier Costechareyre (VC D'Annemasse A) 15 Michael Mulvenna (Cycling Ulster) 16 Roderick Muscat (Malta) 17 John O'Mahony (Swords McNally) 18 Joe Liversidge (Dataphonics) 19 Eoin Concannon (Killorglin CUCC) 20 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 21 Jochem Ponten (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 22 Derek Bourke (Swords McNally) 23 Quie Ferreira (South Africa Academy A) 24 Gwenael Conte (VC D'Annemasse A) 25 Ryan Bonser (North West Division BCF) 26 Maarte Mandemakers (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 27 David Pomeroy (Bray Wheelers) 28 Daniel Davies (Wales) 29 Paul Brady (Swords McNally) 30 Pete Williams (North West Division BCF) 31 Sam Sturgeon (London Team) 32 Mark Nestor (Stamullen MDRC) 33 Michael Lucey (Killarney CC) 34 Ian Ormond (Kanturk CUCC) 35 Richard Price (Bray Wheelers) 36 Peter Hawkins (Cycling Ulster) 37 James Stewart (North West Division BCF) 38 Paul McMahon (Bray Wheelers) 39 Henco Vanwyk (South Africa Academy A) 40 Chris Gould (Wales) 41 Stephane Dubois (VC D'Annemasse B) 42 Brendan Lacey (Earl of Desmond) 43 Willem Jan Smits (Tempo BMV Veldhoven B) 44 Zach Bolian (USA) 45 Mark Cassidy (Stena Team Ireland) 46 Christy Higgins (Kanturk CUCC) 47 Stephen McKenna (Stamullen MDRC) 48 Lionel Pinto (South Africa Academy C) 49 Leon Nel (South Africa Academy A) 50 Rob Partridge (Wales) 51 Marco Rodriques (South Africa Academy B) 52 Daniel Martin (Team South West RICCI) 53 David Watson (Cycling Ulster) 54 Franck Blanchard (VC D'Annemasse A) 55 Aidan O'Shea (Killorglin CUCC) 56 Thomas Duggan (Bray Wheelers) 57 Ruan Buys (South Africa Academy C) 58 Richard Wakor (CCB 2000) 0.29 59 John Opie (Team South West RICCI) 7.32 60 Jamie Barlow (Stamullen MDRC) 12.49 61 Colm Crawley (Stamullen MDRC) 15.50 62 Andrew Hoey (NICF) 63 Ben Simmons (Wales) 64 Fredoe Van Niekerk (South Africa Academy B) 65 Tim Smith (London Team) 66 Chris Edwards (Team South West RICCI) 67 Imiel Visser (South Africa Academy A) 68 Fraser Duncan (Stena Team Ireland) 21.45 69 Ray Cullen (Kanturk CUCC) 22.25 70 Neil Cooper (Reading) 71 Chris McCaughan (NICF) 72 David Dougan (NICF) 73 Eddie Knowler (Dataphonics) 30.50 74 Gerard Carroll (Killarney CC) 38.55 75 James Lawless (Usher Irish Road Club) 51.55 76 Danny O'Connor (Kanturk CUCC) 77 Scott Milton (London Team) 53.25 78 Egan Tarr (South Africa Academy B) 54.25 79 Laurens Badenhorst (South Africa Academy C) Primes Prime at #1 1 Eoin Concannon (Killorglin CUCC) Mountains KOM Cat 1 at at 21.1 miles 1 Leon Nel (South Africa Academy A) 12 pts 2 Maarte Mandemakers (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 10 3 Gwenael Conte (VC D'Annemasse A) 8 4 Barry Woods (Stena Team Ireland) 6 5 Theo Hardwick (Stena Team Ireland) 4 Teams 1 USA 6.57.33 2 Stena Team Ireland 3 Dataphonics 0.09 4 Tempo BMV Veldhoven A 5 VC D'Annemasse A 6 North West Division BCF 7 Swords McNally 8 Bray Wheelers 9 Cycling Ulster 10 South Africa Academy A 11 Wales 12 Stamullen MDRC 12.49 13 London Team 15.50 14 South Africa Academy B 15 Kanturk CUCC 22.25 16 Team South West RICCI 23.13 17 Killarney CC 38.55 18 South Africa Academy C 54.25 19 NICF 1.00.22 General classification after stage 5 1 Kai Reus (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 9.59.19 2 Jesse J Anthony (USA) 2.10 3 Leon Nel (South Africa Academy A) 2.11 4 Brad Viera (USA) 2.28 5 Theo Hardwick (Stena Team Ireland) 2.29 6 Barry Woods (Stena Team Ireland) 2.35 7 Ben Crawforth (London Team) 2.36 8 Roderick Muscat (Malta) 2.37 9 Jerome Coppel (VC D'Annemasse A) 10 Richard Maes (Killarney CC) 11 Paul McMahon (Bray Wheelers) 12 Juan Van Heerden (South Africa Academy B) 2.38 13 Maarte Mandemakers (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 2.39 14 Rob Partridge (Wales) 2.40 15 Mark Nestor (Stamullen MDRC) 16 Peter Hawkins (Cycling Ulster) 2.41 17 Quie Ferreira (South Africa Academy A) 18 Daniel Martin (Team South West RICCI) 19 Mark Cassidy (Stena Team Ireland) 2.42 20 Franck Blanchard (VC D'Annemasse A) 2.43 21 Ryan Bonser (North West Division BCF) 2.44 22 Olivier Costechareyre (VC D'Annemasse A) 3.01 23 Mark Cavandish (Dataphonics) 3.44 24 Gwenael Conte (VC D'Annemasse A) 3.47 25 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 3.48 26 Thomas Duggan (Bray Wheelers) 27 Zach Taylor (USA) 3.49 28 Ricard Bowen (North West Division BCF) 3.50 29 Paul Brady (Swords McNally) 3.51 30 Jochem Ponten (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 31 Michael Lucey (Killarney CC) 32 Christy Higgins (Kanturk CUCC) 33 Pete Williams (North West Division BCF) 3.52 34 David Watson (Cycling Ulster) 35 Stephane Dubois (VC D'Annemasse B) 3.54 36 Chris Gould (Wales) 3.55 37 Derek Bourke (Swords McNally) 3.57 38 James Stewart (North West Division BCF) 39 Brendan Lacey (Earl of Desmond) 3.58 40 Joe Liversidge (Dataphonics) 4.11 41 Eoin Concannon (Killorglin CUCC) 4.17 42 David Pomeroy (Bray Wheelers) 5.22 43 Michael Mulvenna (Cycling Ulster) 10.03 44 Zach Bolian (USA) 11.25 45 Bruce Edgar (Dataphonics) 13.35 46 Ruan Buys (South Africa Academy C) 16.24 47 Henco Vanwyk (South Africa Academy A) 18.41 48 Marco Rodriques (South Africa Academy B) 19.04 49 Willem Jan Smits (Tempo BMV Veldhoven B) 19.09 50 Ben Simmons (Wales) 19.34 51 Imiel Visser (South Africa Academy A) 25.38 52 Richard Wakor (CCB 2000) 26.08 53 Daniel Davies (Wales) 32.12 54 Jamie Barlow (Stamullen MDRC) 40.50 55 Sam Sturgeon (London Team) 42.55 56 Richard Price (Bray Wheelers) 44.58 57 Stephen McKenna (Stamullen MDRC) 45.22 58 John O'Mahony (Swords McNally) 54.48 59 Tim Smith (London Team) 55.25 60 Ian Ormond (Kanturk CUCC) 57.01 61 Egan Tarr (South Africa Academy B) 58.05 62 Chris Edwards (Team South West RICCI) 58.41 63 Neil Cooper (Reading) 59.03 64 Colm Crawley (Stamullen MDRC) 1.00.13 65 John Opie (Team South West RICCI) 1.00.31 66 Aidan O'Shea (Killorglin CUCC) 1.01.13 67 Fraser Duncan (Stena Team Ireland) 1.17.33 68 Chris McCaughan (NICF) 1.18.00 69 Andrew Hoey (NICF) 1.28.48 70 Fredoe Van Niekerk (South Africa Academy B) 1.30.45 71 David Dougan (NICF) 1.33.09 72 Eddie Knowler (Dataphonics) 1.54.16 73 Ray Cullen (Kanturk CUCC) 1.54.40 74 Lionel Pinto (South Africa Academy C) 1.58.17 75 Laurens Badenhorst (South Africa Academy C) 2.43.57 76 James Lawless (Usher Irish Road Club) 2.46.44 77 Gerard Carroll (Killarney CC) 2.48.32 78 Scott Milton (London Team) 3.03.21 79 Danny O'Connor (Kanturk CUCC) 3.06.13 Points classification 1 Kai Reus (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 59 pts 2 Jesse J Anthony (USA) 53 3 Ben Crawforth (London Team) 49 4 Mark Cavandish (Dataphonics) 45 5 Barry Woods (Stena Team Ireland) 37 6 Juan Van Heerden (South Africa Academy B) 37 7 Brad Viera (USA) 33 8 Leon Nel (South Africa Academy A) 32 9 Richard Maes (Killarney CC) 28 10 Franck Blanchard (VC D'Annemasse A) 24 11 Roderick Muscat (Malta) 23 12 Gwenael Conte (VC D'Annemasse A) 21 13 Zach Taylor (USA) 18 14 Theo Hardwick (Stena Team Ireland) 17 15 Ryan Bonser (North West Division BCF) 16 16 Olivier Costechareyre (VC D'Annemasse A) 16 17 Bruce Edgar (Dataphonics) 15 18 Quie Ferreira (South Africa Academy A) 12 19 Jerome Coppel (VC D'Annemasse A) 11 20 Paul Brady (Swords McNally) 10 21 Mark Nestor (Stamullen MDRC) 8 22 Ricard Bowen (North West Division BCF) 7 23 David Watson (Cycling Ulster) 7 24 Jochem Ponten (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 6 25 Laurens Badenhorst (South Africa Academy C) 5 26 Maarte Mandemakers (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 4 27 Paul McMahon (Bray Wheelers) 3 28 Imiel Visser (South Africa Academy A) 2 29 Daniel Martin (Team South West RICCI) 1 30 Patrick Van Leeuwen (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 1 31 Michael Mulvenna (Cycling Ulster) 1 32 Egan Tarr (South Africa Academy B) 1 Mountains classification 1 Leon Nel (South Africa Academy A) 42 pts 2 Gwenael Conte (VC D'Annemasse A) 40 3 Maarte Mandemakers (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 32 4 Quie Ferreira (South Africa Academy A) 23 5 Olivier Costechareyre (VC D'Annemasse A) 19 6 Jesse J Anthony (USA) 18 7 Brad Viera (USA) 16 8 Juan Van Heerden (South Africa Academy B) 14 9 Peter Hawkins (Cycling Ulster) 12 10 Paul McMahon (Bray Wheelers) 10 11 Kai Reus (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 8 12 Barry Woods (Stena Team Ireland) 6 13 Roderick Muscat (Malta) 5 14 Theo Hardwick (Stena Team Ireland) 4 15 Jerome Coppel (VC D'Annemasse A) 3 16 Franck Blanchard (VC D'Annemasse A) 3 17 Jochem Ponten (Tempo BMV Veldhoven A) 1 First Year Junior classification 1 Ben Crawforth (London Team) 10.01.55 2 Roderick Muscat (Malta) 0.01 3 Jerome Coppel (VC D'Annemasse A) 4 Richard Maes (Killarney CC) 5 Paul McMahon (Bray Wheelers) 6 Juan Van Heerden (South Africa Academy B) 0.02 7 Mark Nestor (Stamullen MDRC) 0.04 8 Daniel Martin (Team South West RICCI) 0.05 9 Gwenael Conte (VC D'Annemasse A) 1.11 10 Zach Taylor (USA) 1.13 11 Ricard Bowen (North West Division BCF) 1.14 12 Michael Lucey (Killarney CC) 1.15 13 Pete Williams (North West Division BCF) 1.16 14 David Watson (Cycling Ulster) 15 Stephane Dubois (VC D'Annemasse B) 1.18 16 Chris Gould (Wales) 1.19 17 Derek Bourke (Swords McNally) 1.21 18 Joe Liversidge (Dataphonics) 1.35 19 Michael Mulvenna (Cycling Ulster) 7.27 20 Zach Bolian (USA) 8.49 21 Ruan Buys (South Africa Academy C) 13.48 22 Henco Vanwyk (South Africa Academy A) 16.05 23 Marco Rodriques (South Africa Academy B) 16.28 24 Ben Simmons (Wales) 16.58 25 Daniel Davies (Wales) 29.36 26 Richard Price (Bray Wheelers) 42.22 27 Stephen McKenna (Stamullen MDRC) 42.46 28 Chris Edwards (Team South West RICCI) 56.05 29 John Opie (Team South West RICCI) 57.55 30 Aidan O'Shea (Killorglin CUCC) 58.37 31 Andrew Hoey (NICF) 1.26.12 32 Fredoe Van Niekerk (South Africa Academy B) 1.28.09 33 Eddie Knowler (Dataphonics) 1.51.40 34 Lionel Pinto (South Africa Academy C) 1.55.41 35 Scott Milton (London Team) 3.00.45 36 Danny O'Connor (Kanturk CUCC) 3.03.37 Teams classification 1 Tempo BMV Veldhoven A 30.04.24 2 Stena Team Ireland 1.18 3 VC D'Annemasse A 1.26 4 USA 2.00 5 North West Division BCF 3.59 6 Wales 7 Bray Wheelers 5.20 8 South Africa Academy A 8.19 9 Cycling Ulster 10.09 10 Dataphonics 15.01 11 South Africa Academy B 24.12 12 Swords McNally 28.25 13 Stamullen MDRC 1.03.30 14 Team South West RICCI 1.09.05 15 London Team 1.34.29 16 Kanturk CUCC 2.48.24 17 Killarney CC 2.48.33 18 NICF 4.09.16 19 South Africa Academy C 4.52.11
