Well done to Tony Hare & Tony McConville for competing in the Newry 3 Day, the boys put in a great performance with Tony Hare in the Break of the stage on the first night only to be caught with 5 miles to go to the finish, he managed to hold on to the tail of the bunch as it went by on the final climb to come in only 2 minutes down on the yellow jersey, Tony McConville was still finding his legs and even though he did not get out of the bunch he was able to finish in the front group.
Stage 2 was the 3 laps of the hill town circuit followed by the climbs of Reed Hall and Elm Hall. The boys finished in the main bunch waiting for the time trial in the afternoon.
After a relaxing day in the sun the boys came to the starting line of the TT relaxed and prepared, both put in great times but as with everyone where blown away with McCrystals time of 9,01 into a headwind (savage).
The final day the plan was to go for a stage victory by trying to get away in the early break, Hare followed the plan to perfection and jumped clear just before Newcastle, however with only two companions in the break it was going to be hard to stay ahead especially with the horsepower behind. The break came to an end on the steep castlewellan hill and unfortunately for tony he had put all the eggs in the one basket and was unable to continue the remainder of the stage, Big Tony MConville on the other hand had kept his powder dry and climbed brilliantlly with the mountain goats to finish in a respectable GC place overall.
Well done to the bike pure boys who where with us all weekend and we helped each other out, great weekend with no pregnant doging or yapping, just honest blokes who just wanted to enjoy their bike and the camaradery of a stage race, it would have been nice if it had been with 6 Apollo riders instead of 2 Apollo and 4 bike pure but there is always next year!
Thanks to Cathal and Campbell who were on the road on Saturday showing their support, the boys appreciated it
Marty Rodgers
