Jamie Meehan and Odhrán Doogan do Donegal proud in Rás Tailteann

Two Donegal cyclists did the county proud last week by finishing second and third in the prestigious Rás Tailteann, which ran from Wednesday of last week, finishing on Sunday.

Jamie Meehan from Mountcharles and Odhrán Doogan from Gortahork were on the podium on Sunday evening and Doogan wore the yellow jersey as race leader for three days.

The Rás started in Drogheda on Wednesday and by the time it reached Clifden on Thursday evening, Cycling Ulster’s Odhrán Doogan was leading the general classification by three seconds and wearing yellow.

The next big change in the top order came on the big climb into Mountrath in Laois on Saturday and it was there that Mountcharles man Jamie Meehan came into his own. Meehan was in a three-man breakaway along with his Team Ireland teammate Dean Harvey. They were joined by George Kimber, who had five seconds to spare on Meehan, and in the end that proved to be decisive.

Meehan came home second on the stage but was unable to make any inroads on the five second lead held by Kimber and that was maintained on the final stage on Sunday.

Speaking to DonegalLive on Monday on his way back to his base in France where he races with the AVC Aix Provence Dole (CT) team, Meehan was disappointed but happy at the same time.

“Yeah,  happy enough all things considered. It’s always a bit sickening when you’re just five seconds off but if you told me last week that I would finish second I would have chewed your arm off,” was the reaction of Jamie Meehan, to finishing second.

“I mean, without him, I don’t know if we would have stuck away on the flat. We had the gas on the climb but there were a lot of bigger boys behind who could have reeled us back in on the flat.

“To be honest, we kinda needed him for the flat.”

There was a bit of regret also for Meehan that Odhrán Doogan wasn’t able to join them on the breakaway on Saturday.

“It was really nice to see Odhrán put on yellow. It would have been nice if he had stuck with us on the climb (on Saturday). I would have been more than happy to see Odhrán win the race. I’d have preferred to see Odhrán win than (George) Kimber.

“But for us to have a chance of winning we had to go on the climb.

“For the finish of the Saturday stage, we couldn’t play around much because the gap was maybe only 20-30 seconds. I got a gap through a corner with 500m to go but he dug in and reeled me back,” said Meehan, who said he tried to sprint to get ahead but Kimber was big and strong.”

With Sunday’s final stage not suiting a climber like Meehan, it was always going to be an uphill task to bridge the gap.

“We averaged 47k an hour for the whole final stage and that included a wee crash. The speed was really high and me being a smaller guy it was definitely out of my element. It was hard to do something big to break away.

“Coming into the last lap towards the finish I got a chance to get out of the group and get to the group ahead. Kimber missed me going and I jumped and he got stuck for a moment. I got to the group ahead, but he managed to come across solo, even though there was one or two of us working. It showed how strong he was really,” said Meehan.

For Meehan, it has been a good season, that despite breaking a bone in his hand in Italy recently. He spent four or five weeks back home recovering and his preparation for the Rás was on the roads of Donegal.

“It was good to have it in the legs after the injury to my hand. And I leave for the Alpes Isère Tour tomorrow (Tuesday), which is a big UCI stage race.  That was always one of the big goals of the season.

“Hopefully, the Rás will have given me that bit of depth now to go into this race.

“It was the first time I ever broke or fractured a bone. That was in Italy about four or five weeks ago. 

“I’m happy enough with the season so far. There have been a lot of times I have been really close to a huge result, just coming up a bit short. But the form has been there to go for those results, which is the main thing.

“I’ve picked up a couple of top ten UCI’s and a podium at Elite Nationals. 

“I’m definitely enjoying it more this year. I think last year I put a lot of pressure on myself to get results, while this year I’m just more riding my bike and letting it happen.”

Among the other targets for Meehan in the coming months is the Irish Nationals at the end of June and the Tour d’Aosta in July. “The nationals are on quite a flat surface this year which is not ideal for me, but it’s something I’ll try to be up there.”

Meehan is well aware of the talent of Odhrán Doogan and is proud that two Donegal men were on the podium at the finish on Sunday.

“It kinda just shows what Donegal can produce. Me and Odhrán have been lucky with a lot of people helping us along the way.”

Asked if he had encountered the Rás winner, Kimber, before, Meehan said: “He won the first stage of Rás Mumhan last year but he was nowhere to be seen for the rest of that rest. So that’s what we were hoping for, but he managed to hold on this time.”

As for the Mountcharles man, he is happy that the second place finish will look good on his CV.

“It’s quite a good result to have and I’m quite proud of it, especially in a race that really doesn’t suit me. It wouldn’t be my choice but being a home race it was quite nice.”

ODHRÁN DOOGAN

For the other Donegal man, Odhrán Doogan, there was also a bit of pride and disappointment mixed together.

"It's hard to put into words the last few days. I came into the race not really expecting to be in contention for general classification but after stage 2 I was leading it.  Yeah, fought all the way to the end but  unfortunately lost the yellow coming into the last day.

"Pretty happy coming away with third overall," said Doogan, who won the Points category and the overall County category.

"I lost the Points jersey in the last stage last year so it was nice to take it on the last stage this year, definitely happy with that.”

The Gortahork man says it doesn’t get any easier preparing for the big races.

"It's getting harder and harder every year. I spent a couple of weeks in Spain over the winter period. I knew the Rás would be a big goal of mine and it was Rás Mumhan a couple of weeks ago I knew it would be a real test. From that I knew the work I had to do for this race and I was lucky to have the two or three weeks in between to work on specific efforts to help me finish this race and it really paid off in the end.”

Asked about the stand-out part of the week, Doogan didn’t, as you would expect, point to putting on the yellow jersey as race leader, but to the climb on Saturday that changed things at the top.

"It's quite obvious, it was the last climb (on Saturday). It  was what took me out of the yellow jersey.  But it was also where I had to fight the hardest not to lose too much time," said Doogan, who said the three lads up the road (including Meehan) were in a good position.

"I knew coming into the bottom of the climb it would be a hard ask to hold on to yellow. I fought all the way and I was happy not to give up too much time.

“My main goal was to win a stage but maybe I went one better. If you offered me two days in the yellow jersey or a stage win, I would be taking the two days in yellow in fairness,” said Doogan.

READ NEXT: The Alternative View: Donegal's record against Tyrone washed away in Ballybofey rain

“I definitely wouldn’t class myself as a hill climber but in the last couple of years I’ve become more versatile than I was in the fact that I can get over climbs where sprinters can’t but I can also gallop better than a climber. I can do both to a certain extent.

Doogan spent last year in Holland and the year before that he spent a couple of months in France. “I got on great in Holland last year. This year I set my goals to do well on the local scene. I knew if I did a good Rás that hopefully that will get me talking to some teams on the continent. So hopefully now it will help me and we’ll see what comes out of it in the next few weeks. 

“That’s been the goal for the last few years (to get back on the professional circuit). Slowly but surely it’s been building up and improving every year.”

Looking ahead, Doogan says he hasn’t made any great plans. “I hadn't really looked past this and then I will re-assess then. The National Championships are three or four weeks away. So that will be the next big goal. In between I will take a few weeks off and build up for the nationals," said Doogan, who will be competing against Jamie Meehan again in the U-23 category.

“He won two years ago and I was third and I was fourth last year so hopefully I can go a few better this year.”