Ulster Cycling News
19Apr/140

Duncan Puts His Stamp on Tour of the North

aThe first stage of the fiftieth edition of the Tour of the North promoted by the NICF took to the roads today in glorious sunshine. The route took the riders the riders along the Antrim coast and up some of the beautiful glens and the scenery was stunning. However the riders did not have time to admire the view as the racing went from the gun.

This was no Saturday run along the coast but good quality international racing which saw riders clock an average speeed of 27 miles per hour at the end of the race. Early into the race a small group went away and began to open a gap on the chasing peloton.

This group included second year Junior, Eddie Dunbar from Cork riding on the Irish Development Team. Also in this early break was Chris Dredge (Spirit Bikes RT), Sebastian Baylis (Champion Systems) and two riders from Velosure Giordana, namely James Cullen and Richard Hepworth.

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The race then wound its way towards Glenarm and more climbing. Fraser Duncan of Northern Dave Kane saw the danger the breakaway group posed as the gap began to widen and he gave chase along with Brad Morgan, Velosure Giordana finally reaching them along the coast before the second KoH of the day at Munie Road. This was again taken by the onform Dunbar.

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A crash occurred on one of the climbs and while no-one was serously hurt the fallen riders had a lot  of time to make up. One of these was Rider No 1 James Moss of Giordana, the 2012 winner of the Tour. He did a magnificent ride to rejoin the main peleton but could not manage to get across to the break. Marcus Christie riding for the North Pole team also came down in the crash but did not manage to regain the peloton. This was a pity as he had been riding very aggressively earlier in the day.

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Other agressive riders on the day were Peter Hawkins riding for the Cycling Ulster Slane Cycles outfit, James McMaster of North Down, Mark Buchanan of North Pole, Connor Murphy of Northern Dave Kane and Mike Millar of Phoenix CC.

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Hepworth took the third KoH from Duncan and Cullen but Dunbar fought back on the final climb at Glengariff taking second leaving him comfortably in the Polka Dot Jersey

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In the closing miles Duncan broke away from the head of the race along with Cullen. Both riders continued their aggressive riding opening the gap on the chasers to forty seconds. In the run to the finish Duncan showed his power by taking the win.

Fraser takes the win  captured by Darren Crawford.

Fraser takes the win captured by Darren Crawford.

Cullen was second and was followed in 29 seconds later by the remains of the break. Richard Hepworth was third ahead of team-mate Brad Morgan with Baylis fifth ahead of Dunbar and Dredge.

The main peloton crossed the line over two minutes down on the two leaders with Phoenix CC's "Brian -I beat Cav -  Stewart" taking the bunch sprint ahead of  North Down's James McMaster and Ed Clements of Spirit Bikes RT.

Bayliss was awarded Young rider U23 jersey with Dunbar getting the KoH jersey all of which were sponsored by Powerhouse Sport. Velosure Giordana lead the team classification ahead of Northern CC-D Kane and Cycling Ireland Juniors.

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Back at the Ballymeba Club rooms the catering committee had a wonderful spread of food for all the riders an their supporters . This was appreciated by everyone and it also gave time for  a chat and post mortems about the first stage of this year's Tour. Many thanks to the Comms for the day Jack Watson, Brendan Kirk, Owen McFadden and the irrepressible Paul Devenney. Thanks are also due to the ambulance crews. Their help was much appreciated

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As always this stage race could not take place without the support of the PSNI who did a marvelous job today along with the many civilian motorbike men who turned up.

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Report and Pics Marian Lamb unless otherwise stated.

Results courtesy Seamus Shortall and Ian Barfoot assisted by Gorder Parker and Ali.

David McVeigh was also out and about with his camera and his shots can be seen HERE

Tour of the North 2014 - Stage 1 - Top Ten
1 Duncan,Fraser Northern CC-D Kane 2h28m32s
2 Cullen,James Velosure Giordana 2h28m32s
3 Hepworth,Richard Velosure Giordana 2h29m01s @29s
4 Morgan,Brad Velosure Giordana 2h29m01s @ s/t
5 Baylis,Sebastian Champion Systems 2h29m01s @ s/t
6 Dunbar,Eddie Cycling Ireland Juniors 2h29m01s @ s/t
7 Dredge,Chris Spirit Bikes RT 2h30m35s @2m03s
8 Stewart,Brian Phoenix CC 2h30m55s @2m23s
9 McMaster,James North Down CC 2h30m55s @ s/t
10 Clements,Ed Spirit Bikes RT 2h30m55s @ s/t

To download the full GC Sheet click HERE

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