Next phase of the Club league on RGT

What a race! The groups fragmented on the opening mountainous climb, and ones and twos were the order of the day as nearly everyone rode an individual TT for the rest of the course to claim their finishing places. Well done to all who suffered through that - the heat of the day here matched the surroundings of Mallorca pretty well, but wasn't pleasant on the turbo!

Robbie Dolan put the head down from the start and powered away, and would've come away with the win only for another storming performance from Killian O'Brien in the hills! There was a two minute gap in the end to emphasise O'Brien's dominance, but Dolan stayed away from all the chasers to take second.

Luke Ginnell and Padraic O'Flynn led the pursuit from behind, with Ginnell getting a gap over the top of the major climb of the day and holding it to the finish line.

Shaun Kelly and Dave McLoughlin were the next Scratch men and swept up all before them bar Brian McArdle, but having them breathing down his neck was strong motivation to fight for 5th.

1 Killian O'Brien (SS)
2 Robbie Dolan (SS)
3 Luke Ginnell (S)
4 Padraic O'Flynn (S)
5 Brian McArdle (SS)
6 Shaun Kelly (S)

Table is here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HDNGw0-V...f1U/edit?usp=sharing

To me, 5 is a pretty small number for a race, particularly in virtual world where it's hard to get up and overs going smoothly. I'd prefer a larger bunch where there's a bit more going on tactically (and I can shelter for longer), and a larger chance of a working break instead of just attrition eliminating people off the back of a small bunch.

All eyes were on Killian O'Brien tonight, and he didn't disappoint - coming from the back of the field where the Scratch chasers started nearly 5 minutes down, to take the final sprint up the Paterberg (if you can call 10kph a sprint).

Brian McArdle was the unlucky runner up, but unluckier still was Ken O'Neill who was a sure thing for the final step on the podium, before technical difficulties relegated him to 6th.

The beneficiaries all came from Scratch, with Ian Donnelly snatching a tight fight with Neal Hudson on the line, and Luke Ginnell sealing 5th.

1 Killian O'Brien (S)
2 Brian McArdle (SS)
3 Ian Donnelly (S)
4 Neal Hudson (S)
5 Luke Ginnell (S)
6 Ken O'Neill (SS)

The Scratch race saw plenty of action, with Killian O'Brien the victim of a start line mechanical, and both Ian Donnelly and Padraic O'Flynn going AWOL during the race, presumably to technical difficulties.

In a repeat of round two, Robbie Dolan took advantage of the handicap to put the head down and power away solo to try steal the win outright. A SS chasing group of Darran Kearney, Dick O'Brien and Colm O'Neill got organised behind, but it was Neal Hudson who steadily ate up the lead.

First he splintered the Scratch group, then pulled past Semi-scratch, before steadily eating into Dolan's lead to make the catch around 40' and creating a comfortable gap to cruise home for the win.

Dolan's impressive performance earned him 2nd, while O'Brien bested O'Neill in a tight sprint for 3rd. Kearney held on for 5th, with Shaun Kelly taking the final points.

1 Neal Hudson (S)
2 Robbie Dolan (SS)
3 Dick O'Brien (SS)
4 Colm O'Neill (SS)
5 Darran Kearney (SS)
6 Shaun Kelly (S)

I don't have a race report from the Limit event, but the results are in!

1 Peadar Corbally (SL)
2 Barry Redmond (L)
3 Fergal Quinn (SL)
4 Aoife Parker Hedderman (L)

Rumours have it that Dave Murnane started, but Sean had booked the turbo so Dave had to quit the race.

Sheet is available at: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HDNGw0-V...f1U/edit?usp=sharing