O’Brien doubles up in Carrick

Páidí O’Brien won his second race in as many weeks when he scorched to victory in yesterday’s Carrick Wheelers Cup in Carrick on Suir.

The Planet-Tri rider looked in real trouble as he became distanced from a front group of some 20 riders with just 30 kilometres to go but the Banteer native never panicked and following some strong riding behind, the two groups merged, playing perfectly into his hands.

And despite facing a slight incline to the finish, O’Brien timed his effort to perfection, taking the sprint ahead of Simon Ryan (Visit Nenagh) with Michael Lucey (Iverk Produce Carrick Wheelers) in third.

Dylan Foley (Nicolas Roche Performace Team) maintained his outstanding start to the season by winning the A3 event while Barry Meehan (Worldwide Cycles) followed up his win in Caherconlish last Sunday with a fabulous sprint victory in the A4 category.

Meanwhile, Gerald Ciolek (MTN Quebeka) won yesterday’s Milan San Remo from Peter Sagan (Liquigas Cannondale) with Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack Leopard).