Irish Road Championships: Rory Townsend takes second national title at end of aggressive men's road race

2022 champion Rory Townsend (Q36.5) sprinted to a second title in the Irish national championships, winning a men's road race that was full of attacks.

The race was hardly calm for a moment, but the riders aggressive all day long and many riders still in contention deep into the race, but a fast finish from Townsend delivered him to the line in a four-man sprint.

Jamie Meehan (AVC Aix Provence Dole) took second, with Patrick Casey (Israel-Premier Tech Academy) third, but Townsend's sprint was dominant, finishing a whole second in front of Meehan and three ahead of Casey.

Townsend was one of three former national champions on the list, alongside defending champion Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) and Ryan Mullen (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Rafferty was in the group that went to the line, but the climber could only sprint for fourth, whilst Mullen finished in 13th, some three minutes down after losing touch with the race further away from the finish.

With most riders starting the race with no teammates, it was a chaotic day in Ireland, with attacks and moves going almost all day long. The likes of Townsend, Mullen, Rafferty (and his brother Adam) and Seth Dunwoody (Bahrain Victorious Development) where in amongst all of them as the group slowly whittled down.

Heading towards the final lap, a big attack from Darren Rafferty drew out a group of four, who then led for the last lap, holding off the chasers.

The quartet went on to contest the win in a sprint, with Townsend galloping to victory by a clear margin.

Results

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