Stage 1 Tour of The North
Gareth McKee (Banbridge CC) wears the first yellow jersey of this years Tour of the North after winning today’s first stage through the Glens of Antrim. McKee and Dutchman Thijs Nijvelct (WTOS-Delft) had surged ahead of the leading bunch after the last King of the Hills prime at Glenariffe. During the last 10 miles they held a short lead which peaked at 20 seconds but in the closing miles the forty strong bunch closed in rapidly.
At the finish line on Frys Road Ballymena, McKee was a clear winner ahead of Nijvelct while Mark Downey Banbridge CC, won the bunch gallop for third at 6 seconds. Jake Hales (Spirit Bikes) and Arain Stalwijk (WTOS-Delft) were fourth and fifth while North Down CC’s Dave Watson took 6th despite crashing twice during the stage.
Ronan McLaughlin (Team Asea) leads the King of the Hills competition after scoring points in all four of the primes while Dromore man Mark Downey will wear the white jersey of leading young rider (under 23) tomorrow.
Tomorrow mornings Stage 2 time trial of 4.6 miles will no doubt sort out the top of the general classification. The leading bunch was forty strong but from 1st to last of the 115 finishers was 39 minutes.
Brendan Kirk
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