Tour of Omagh 2015

Tour of Omagh 2015

Team - Nigel Gibson, Dean Lockhart, Darryl Mullan, Shane Elder, Tomas Mc Elwee

Shea Gribben - Guesting for Spires CC / Stephen Murtagh - Guesting for Bann Valley CC

Woman's Race – Mairead McGurk

Stage 1

The Spar Tour of Omagh 2015 kicked off on Friday 7^thAugust with 129 riders tackling the 45 mile circuit. The pace was high from the start with the first few climbs splitting the field.

Dean, Darryl and Tomas made it over the final KOH in the first bunch and finished strongly with the same time as the winner.  The second group worked well together and almost caught the first group coming back into Omagh however Mairead, Shane, Nigel and Shea finished 55 seconds down on the leader.  Unfortunately a mechanical for Stephen Murtagh left him a few minutes back from the rest of carn riders.

Stage 2 – 2.5 mile TT

The TT stage on the Saturday morning split the GC to decide the yellow jersey going into the penultimate stage on Saturday PM. 

The Carn men and woman put in some solid performances leaving it wide open going into stage 3 on Saturday afternoon.   Shane Elder the best of the carn riders with an impressive time of 5 min 47sec – well done Shane!

Stage 3  

This stage saw the riders take on the hills of Carrickmore and the Omagh – Cookstown road.  The weather took a turn for the worse as riders were preparing to roll out from the Silverbirch hotel.  The rain and wind remained throughout the race leaving road conditions tough for the men and women.  Early into the stage Shea Gribben got a puncture unfortunately ending his race prematurely.  The men's race caught the women on the Omagh-Cookstown road – Mairead did well to hang in until the second KOH through Carrickmore.  Shane and Nigel finished well just a few minutes behind the main group.  Tomas and Dean put in solid performance to keep them in the running; the star performance however came from Darryl Mullan who finished in an excellent 4^thposition!   Well done to Darryl who was showing some top form going into the last stage. 

Stage 4  

The Queen stage – Gortin Glens

The shortest of the 3 race stages but certainly the most difficult in terms of climbs with a category 1 up Gortin Glens towards the finish.  A good night's rest after a tough day on Saturday left the riders suitably refreshed and rearing to go on the final day of a fantastic Tour of Omagh.  It was all to play for with the carn men and women in the mix.  The bunch stayed together of the majority of the race until the final climb from Gortin to Omagh when the field splintered leaving it open going into final 6 miles towards Omagh.  Dean Lockhart had a fantastic 9^th place finish to top off his weekend, closely followed by Darryl Mullan, Stephen Murtagh, Tomas McElwee, Nigel Gibson, Shane Elder and Mairead Mc Gurk. 

Mairead finished 4^thoverall in the women's standing after the 3 days

Huge Congratulations to all the Carn Wheelers who took part in the Tour of Omagh 2015 – another successful weekend showcasing the talent in our club

Many thanks go out to those who helped over the 3 days including Team manager and driver Nicky Gormley, Ali Gribben, Joseph McCrory and Shea Gribben.

Thanks to all who came along to support the riders and encourage them over the 4 stages!