Ryan Mullen won his eighth senior Irish title in Wicklow on Sunday to add to the time trial title he won on Thursday.
The 27-year-old of of Trek Segafredo outsprinted domestic based Daire Feeley (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) who acquitted himself very well in esteemed company.
Conn McDunphy of EvoPro Racing picked up the bronze medal 38 seconds in arrears. The Under-23 Race was won by John Buller of Amicle Cycliste Bisontine.
The 160km race featured 2,474 meters of elevation and proved to be a thrilling encounter as the large field was thinned down with each attack.
After 60km a group of seven had formed at the head of the race including Nicolas Roche, Eddie Dunbar, Rory Townsend, McDunphy, Matthew Taggart, Liam Curley and last year's champion Ben Healy.
Dunbar and Roche lifted the pace once more on the Kilmacurragh climb with 94km to ride and pulled clear of the lead group.
They looked to be away, extending the gap to 45 seconds until Dunbar crashed out of a greasy bend. The Cork man remounted his bike and slotted into chase group one.
Mullen and Feeley were in the second chase group but fought their way back to the front of the race. From there the attacks kept coming until eventually there were six – Roche, McGlinchey, Feeley, Mullen, McDunphy and Taggart.
Mullen and Feeley made the decisive move on the final lap and the former backed his sprint to bring home the Irish champions jersey once more.
"No one saw that coming, did they? I didn't," Mullen joked at the finish.
"The first lap there was a selection made at the top of the first climb. I personally didn’t think it would go that early, but it did, and that was all cards on the table to not get spat out the back.
"It was just a wearing down process the whole time, that first selection was 15, 20 guys in it. Because of how hard we went; it was just the strongest legs in the race where in it."
Mullen said of Roche and Dunbar’s long range attack: "It definitely wasn’t an ideal scenario, but there was also a long way to go so I wasn’t too worried. I mean a lot can happen in two hours."
"A lot can happen in one lap never mind four, so I knew it would come back, well I hoped it would anyway."
