Gutted Martin crashes out within sight of victory

Ireland’s Dan Martin suffered one of the biggest disappointments of his career yesterday when he crashed within sight of the line in the iconic one-day Belgian classic, Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Martin, the defending champion, went into the event as one of the favourites and looked perfectly poised to take the win with less than 200 metres to go when he escaped from a select group.

The Garmin-SHARP rider was looking to bridge to two others, Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) and Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R La Mondiale), who had gone clear on the last climb of the day.

However, just as Martin was about to make contact with them, he fell on a sharp left-hander and was taken out of contention, with Orica-GreenEDGE’s Simon Gerrans pouncing from the select group that Martin had just attacked and ridden clear of to take victory.

“I’m obviously devastated,” Martin said after.

“It’s one thing to make a mistake or know what you’ve done but we figure that there’s a patch of oil or something. I think I had tears in my eyes before I even hit the floor. There aren’t really words for it. To race for seven hours and for that to happen on the last corner…. it’s poetry.

“Maybe I’d have won, maybe I wouldn’t have, but it’s really hard to take. My team were excellent again and executed the plan to perfection. We made the race again like last year and if there’s a positive, it’s that we’re in good form and with the Giro so close, that sure bodes well.”

Meanwhile, Damien Shaw took the biggest one-day victory of his career on Saturday when he stormed to victory in the Shay Elliott Memorial in Bray.

The Mullingar man, riding for the Cork-based Aquablue team, may have had just seconds to spare over talented junior Eddie Dunbar (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk CC) but he won the race from the front with some aggressive riding.

Shaw and Dunbar went clear from the break of 12 that had been whittled down from an original escape of around 16 riders following a very lively start to the race.

In that break of 12 were Shaw’s team-mates Robin Kelly and Dylan Foley, along with runner-up at the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan, Paddy Clarke, Marc Potts (Omagh Wheelers) and Greg Swinand (UCD CC).

But Shaw and the irrepressible Dunbar pushed on with intent on a very wet and breezy day; the bunch behind beginning to split with a number of chasing groups getting organised, apparently not intent on throwing in the towel.

However, no one got back on terms with the flying leaders who pulled out a gap of two minutes of those closest to them.

“I said at the start of the year I wanted to win stuff that I hadn’t won before,” said Shaw. “I’ve been close before but it’s brilliant to get one of the big ones.”

Victory on the Bray Wheelers promoted event takes his tally to four for 2014; the Lacey Cup in February, the Cycleways Cup in March and the Visit Nenagh Classic a fortnight ago.

Elsewhere, Paidi O’Brien has won the John Drumm Cup Memorial in Currow, County Kerry yesterday.

The Banteer man, riding for the Osbourne Meats-Edge Sports Shop team, outsprinted his neighbour and training partner Eddie Dunbar after the duo had broken away from the day’s other breakaway man, Mick Fitzgerald (VeloRevolution).

Fitzgerald hung on for third place, with Denis Dunworth (Tralee BC-Manor West) 4th over the line after leading in a mini-chase group that contained around three others.