Waterford cyclist Ciarán Power recorded his best performance yet this year when he finished 20th in the world-ranked Paris-Camembert race in France. The St. Quentin-Oktos professional was part of a small group racing for 15th place in the 1.2 ranked 208-kilometre event, finishing 20 seconds behind solo winner Laurent Brochard and just 11 seconds behind a cluster of big names which included double Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. The result shows that Power is coming into form after a serious disruption earlier this season when his Linda McCartney team collapsed due to financial difficulties.
"It is a very good ride by Ciaran," confirms his manager Frank Quinn. "His group counterattacked three-quarters of the way up the final hill of the race and got close to the riders in front but couldn’t quite get across in time. Ciarán feels that he was in with a chance of finishing in the top ten had they closed the gap. But it was still a very good showing against some big names - he is very bullish and optimistic now and seems to be coming into form." Power is next due to compete in the Grand Prix of Denain on April 26th, with the Tour of Vendée following three days later.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
