A pleasant day out in a sunny Katesbridge at the foot of the Mourne Mountains for the West Down Wheelers GP with a very popular local lad winning this for the second time. Paul-Antoine Hagan won it last time as a junior and now as a first-year Espoir…Last week he won the Hilltown GP in the same fashion. This race has not many flat sections..it’s up or down all the way with a drag to the finish line. The views are spectacular around the circuit especially when blue skies greet you in that part of county Down. The race was handicapped but around halfway overturned and after that, the attacks started…the race was split into 3 groups and the five upfront didn’t get caught anymore…A sprint slightly uphill with a headwind was on the cards and the power of Paul-Antoine too strong for big names like Lindsay Watson and Darnell Moore! Paul-Antoine won with a few bike lengths, despite his gear cable had snapped during the race and got stuck in his biggest gear for the remainder of the race..talk about power in his legs!! A very safe race with plenty of volunteers, motorbikes, and lead cars, and an ambulance service who had no work to do…any promoter wishes for such an outcome, and West Down Wheelers can be proud of themselves…remember this is a very small club but with a big heart!!
Provisional Top 10 result
1. Paul Antoine Hagan (Banbridge CC)
2. Lindsay Watson (Powerhouse Sport)
3. Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles)
4. Kevin McKinney (Armagh City)
5. Stuart Millar (Ards CC)
6. Craig McAuley (Caldwell Cycles)
7. Gareth O’Neill (Caldwell Cycles)
8. Conor Mc Cann (Inspired Cycling)
9. Dean Harvey (VC Glendale) First Junior
10. Peter Mc Lean (Ards CC)
Unplaced A2 winner Alan Bingham (Newry Wheelers)
Unplaced A3 winner Stephen Hanna (Iveagh CC)
