Omagh 3 Day Tour 2012 Report

Friday 27th July 2012 saw seven A4 riders from the Island Wheelers line up at the start line for the start of the annual Omagh 3 Day Tour – a 4 stage race around the roads and hills of Omagh, Co. Tyrone. 90 riders took part in this fantastic event that was organised brilliantly by the Omagh Wheelers.

The seven riders who took part were Owen Campbell, Gerry McVeigh, Barry Hayes, Gareth Dempsey, Dermot Donaghy, Cathal McGuigan and Gareth Donnelly. Mostly the team was after experience points from the full weekends riding and they certainly got it with what was ahead of them.

Stage 1 on the Friday night was a 27mile circuit leaving Omagh, through Beragh and onto Carrickmore for the first of the weekends KOH tests – the pace was high from the off, with the race being such short miles and this caught a few out even before they got to the main test of Carrickmore. The peloton was nervous and with a strong wind blowing, it didn’t make riding conditions easy. Owen Campbell tried early to tease out a few riders to break just after leaving Beragh, but with no-one biting he rode off with a particularly aggressive attack only to be reeled back in the by the peloton at the foot of the KOH. This is where the peloton really got blown apart with the speed at which the group travelled up the hills from Carrickmore.

With many riders not realising there were another 3 to 4 hills after the KOH leading all the way to the Creggan crossroads, this caused damage with a number of splits and small groups forming. A pack of about 50 was in the leading group which included Owen Campbell. A second group of about 10 riders which included Wheelers Gareth Donnelly and Barry Hayes rode aggressively to battle back onto the main group, but with a fierce headwind all the way back to Omagh it was difficult and this second group ended 40secs down.

Stage 2 on the Saturday saw the weather conditions get worse and riders contended with a wet and windy stage. This was a 47mile stage with two KOH and two sprint points. Gareth Donnelly and Barry Hayes took up position near the front for most of the first half of the stage, dictating the pace at times and trying to make a punch off the front, but with a headwind and being chased down was not going to get away. A large crash in the group occurred on the fast descent after the second KOH which saw a number of riders going down on a wet road, a number of which were taken to the hospital and everyone at the Island Wheelers wish those involved a speedy recovery. This saw a fraction in the group once again with a lead bunch of about 40 riders getting through and staying away to the end for the sprint finish.

Stage 3 on the Sunday morning was a short Time Trial on a closed road of 2.5miles distance. Gerry McVeigh shined here once again as he did last year showing his TT dominance and taking a good 16th position in this stage with a time of 5mins 52secs. The rest of the Wheelers didn’t lose much time and tested well. With all eyes and minds set on the final stage now, team tactics were to be thought about.

Going into Stage 4 we knew it wasn’t going to be easy, best placed rider was Owen Campbell 35secs down from the yellow jersey. He was in his usual high energy mood and looking to attack right from the off! Leaving the neutralised zone from Omagh, the temperature was warm and arm warmers were being taken off and sunglasses on. It was like it was a summers day! Roll forward 2miles and we were into a dark winters day. Dark clouds formed overhead and the heavens opened! Sheets of rain pelted down on the riders with hailstones at a point, it certainly wasn’t ideal riding conditions and every corner was being taken cautiously by riders. Well done to everyone who managed to stay upright on the most extreme and testing conditions.

Stage 4 consisted of 3 KOH points and 3 sprints once again. Right on the foot of the first KOH Island Wheeler Gareth Donnellys chain got jammed against the frame causing him to have to stop and get it freed and back on. The neutral service car certainly were doing their job well as they were out within seconds and attempting to remove his back wheel thinking it was a puncture! Eventually they assisted and got Gareth rolling again but with the pack most of the way up the hill it was a lung busting effort to get back into the peloton but he give everything he had and did get on again on the foot of the descent on the other side of the climb.

On the second KOH Owen Campbell was showing his aggressiveness again on the front by pushing on and he took second place over the climb. He stayed on the front from thereon trying his best to get away and get to the foot of the climb as best he could with some advantage but he couldn’t make any attacks stick. Gerry McVeigh was visibly on the front in the final run in to the final KOH also working and trying to help Owen out to gain some time to the start of the climb.

The main group approached the final climb of the weekend, the locally know Pigeon Top mountain top finish which is a Cat 1 2.7mile climb to what seemed the heavens! This wasn’t going to be an easy finish for anyone and when the gradient hit, riders were just forced to ride to their own limits and get to the top. With no-one from the club knocking on the door of the yellow jersey it was all about just the GC placing finish and completing the tour for our riders. Barry Hayes was first to the top riding comfortably and looking fresh faced when he got to the top. The rest followed closely behind and all were happy to have put in a good showing at the tour, coming home safely.

Have a look at what Pigeon Top Mountain looks like at the link here –
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandraarmstrong/5685312748/
[We didn’t include the photo on the site in case of copyright reasons.]

In conclusion, the bunch of riders from the Island Wheelers who took part definitely got what they wanted out of the weekends racing. Experience was at the front of the minds of most, just riding within the peloton, learning lessons about positioning, tactics and just the general pace and challenge of open racing. Owen Campbell didn’t surprise anyone, continuing his improvement this year and featuring a lot during the course of the races. Barry Hayes was the dark horse, showing potential and will definitely be a rider to watch and do well during our ICL season for the rest of this year and next certainly. Gerry McVeigh and Gareth Dempsey, two seasoned A4 riders were unlucky to have been caught out with positioning early on and so lost a bit of GC time, but were riding well and comfortably to the end at stage 4. Gareth Donnelly rode a steady tour but the tough climbs are something he knows isn’t his strong point and is something he plans to change come next season. Relative newcomers to the open racing scene Dermot Donaghy and Cathal McGuigan got their taste for competitive open racing at the Omagh Tour and rode well to the end. They picked up a lot of experience and we hope to see them at more open races for the club as they can offer a lot of potential.

Well done to all the riders from the Island Wheelers who represented the club well. Special thanks goes to Sean McCann who managed the team on the Saturday and Sunday and pretty much got the team all together from the start and got them onto the starting roster. Paul Quinn who helped out on the Saturdays stage and to John O’Hagan and Eddie Polin who took charge of the team on the Friday nights stage. It’s with support like this that our club riders can take part and know that they are being looked after.

Also a special mention to the Omagh Wheelers who put on another faultless tour – every aspect of the race was taken care of and it was a joy to take part. Already looking forward to next year!

Images courtesy of Omagh Wheelers and 01 Media (www.o1media.co.uk)