Club Championship Road Race
Wednesday 2nd July 2008 at 7:00 pm
Pauley races to much coveted 'maillot jaune'
On Wednesday the Lakeland CC Club Championship Road Race took place. Indeed, the 39 mile test is the one they all want to win with the coveted ‘maillot jaune’ and bragging rights for the rest of the year, a much sought after prize.
Nearly all the big names have won this one; Boylan, Dunlop, Foster, Armstrong, Indurain, Merckx and Coppi to name but a few.
The race started on the Five Points to Gortatole road and headed towards Gortatole before going left at the road junction to Florencecourt. The race then took a left at Florencecourt down through the heaving metropolis and on straight to the junction with the Five Points to Gortatole road where the race had started. Four laps of this circuit ensued with the finish a few hundred yards before the start point junction.
The 15 Lakeland Club riders were split into three groups; a lead group of five riders with a five minute advantage over the middle group of eight riders who, in turn, had a three minute advantage on the two ‘scratch’ riders, Kenny Boylan and Dane Dunlop, who really had their work cut out for them.
The front group, with Willie Dunlop working well, kept ahead for over two and a half laps before being caught at the Florencecourt junction on the third lap.
Brendan Fee confused the middle group when they caught him by not turning left at Florencecourt but going on straight, possibly as a decoy or he may have heard an animal in distress, and being the conscientious vet that he is, went to their aid.
As they began their last lap the two ‘scratch’ riders were still well behind with a lot to do to catch the peloton. On the last lap the pace of the peloton surged and dropped as different riders tried to get away but were reeled in. In the end it was down to a sprint finish and Raymond Pauley managed to take the win with Willie Dunlop second and new man Paul McCorry third.
The two ‘scratch’ riders were about 20 seconds off catching the peloton at the finish line; the three minute gap was just too much for two riders to make up.
This was Raymond Pauley’s first club championship win after coming close on a few previous occasions. Thanks as always to the marshals who kept everyone safe at the road junctions and shouted encouragement or abuse as appropriate to the riders as they passed by.