Dubliner Philip Lavery, of British-based pro-team Node 4-Giordana, claimed victory at the Shay Elliott Memorial race.
A mere four seconds separated Lavery from runner-up and team mate Kieran Frend and Cycleways’s Ryan Sherlock.
Fourth place went to Team Eurocycle’s Fraser Duncan. National Vets Road Race Champion Greg Swinand of Usher Irish Road club came home fifth.
From the gun, the racing was fierce as riders tried to make their escape into the headwind on the N11 dual carriageway. All escapees were reeled in as the peleton scorched through the Glen of the Down, touching 80 kph.
Breaking clear of the bunch at Newtwonmountkennedy, Robin Kelly (Waterford Cycling Club) stayed away long enough to claim the sprint prime, but the whole field was back together as the race turned inland at Ashford.
The pace was frantic by the halfway point with Lavery, Ryan Mullen of Planet X Mullen and Mullingar man Damien Shaw desperately trying to widen the gap. Local man Dave Peelo (Murphy Surveys Apex) sensed the danger and took charge of the chasing bunch.
Mullen gave his all to stay with the break but Lavery and Shaw proved too strong, forging ahead on their own.
The two leaders maintained their gap but a bunch of five, including Eurocycle’s Fraser Duncan, jumped clear of the bunch in hot pursuit. Approaching the Greenane Drags, the bunch pulled back all riders bar Fraser, but the duo up front had increased their margin to 1:53.
Hitting the bottom of the category 1 climb at Drumgoff, Lavery decided it was time to go it alone and rode away from Shaw, opening up a 50 metre gap.
Summiting the Shay Elliott climb at Drumgoff, to the roars of ecstatic spectators, Lavery had 20 seconds to spare over Shaw. With the King of the Mountains prime in the bag, all eyes were on the 22-year-old as he faced into the remaining 35 km of racing.
The main bunch shattered to pieces on the categorised climb with Sherlock, and Lavery’s teammate Frend bridging the gap to join Shaw on the road. Crossing the river at Anamoe the days toil had taken its toll on Shaw as he lost touch with Sherlock and Frend.
Lavery now had a lead of 1-07 over Sherlock, who was receiving no assistance from Laverys team mate Frend. The race was on, could Sherlock pull Lavery back in the remaining 20km of racing.
Two minutes behind, a dozen riders including Duncan, Swinand and Peelo were working ferociously to claw back some time but the real heroics were taking place up ahead. With only 10km left in the race, Sherlock had pulled Lavery back to within 30 seconds.
Duncan and Swinand were in hot pursuit, opening a small lead on the remaining group. At this point, Peelo punctured and was now out of contention for the prizes.
At the 5km marker, Lavery’s lead was whittled down to a 10 seconds by Sherlock, who was being marked closely by Frend, with Duncan and Swinand a minute behind.
Approaching the finish line in Kilpedder, Sherlock had Lavery in his sights, but the up-and-coming Irish star and deserving winner of the 55th Shay Elliott Memorial race held off the challenge by a slender four seconds with Frend coming around Sherlock at the line for second place.
