Luke Tuckwell makes it a Holy Trinity with overall victory at Rás Mumhan
Joe Pidcock of Trinity Racing punches the air as he wins the final stage of Rás Mumhan in Killorglin. Photo: Caroline Kerley
Aussie teenager Luke Tuckwell crowned the weekend of the Holy Trinity by taking the overall honours at the Dornan Rás Mumhan after the final day of racing in Killorglin.
Tuckwell valiantly defended his yellow jersey on a thrilling stage 4 on the Kerry roads as his Trinity Racing team-mate Joe Pidcock took the final stage win, to add to the UK-based team’s victory on stage 3 by Belfast racer Dean Harvey on Sunday.
Pidcock (22), brother of Ineos-Grenadiers star Tom, proved the fastest in the dash for the line after 113km of racing to see off Donegal’s Odhran Doogan (Caldwell Cycles) and Waterford man Patrick O’Loughlin (Greenmount Cycling Academy).
Tuckwell crossed the line in a large group 17 seconds behind Pidcock to finish 33 clear of second place Dominic Jackson (Foran CT) in the general classification, with Tom Martin of All-Human-Velo Revolution nine seconds further back.
The Trinity team played a patient game on the final day, after a frantic start which saw a aggressive group of nine, which included danger men Daire Feeley and Conn McDunphy, stretching out a gap of almost 40 seconds early on.
Once the bunch began to reel in the early breakaway, another six-rider group went on the attack, including 17-year-old Seth Dunwoody (Cycling Ireland), Mitchell McLaughlin (All-Human-Velo Revolution) and Lindsay Watson (Cycling Ulster) and they pulled out an advantage of over 50 seconds. Despite Dunwoody’s attempts to pull clear, Trinity marshalled their rivals well and the race came back together on the closing circuits around Killorglin.
“It literally could not have gone any more perfect,” said 19-year-old Tuckwell. “I knew I had some good form in training coming into it and I just came into it with an open mind. To get the win is the best possible start to the year.
“The last two days were pretty much prefect for us as a team, with Joe and Dean getting the stage wins.”
Dornan Rás Mumhan General classification
1 L Tuckwell (Trinity Racing), 9h48’52” 2 D Jackston (Foran CT), +33” 3 T Martin (All Human-Velo Revolution), +42” 4 D Harvey (Trinity Racing), +1’04” 5 J Meehan (Cycling Ulster), +1’17” 6 D Feeley (All Human-Velo Revolution) +1’28”
Stage 4
1 J Pidcock (Trinity Racing) 2h27’53” 2 O Doogan (Team Caldwell Cycles) ST 3 P O’Loughlin (Greenmount Cycling Academy) ST 4 J Meehan (Cycling Ulster) ST 5 W Perrett (Spirit TBW Stuart Hall Cycling) ST 6 A Lewis (Team Skyline-Cadence) ST
