Michael Hutchinson won’t take part in tomorrow’s Irish road race championships in Clonmel but the In Gear Quickvit rider has already achieved what he wanted to do this week; improve from his bronze medal of last year to win the time trial.
The TT specialist beat future Irish Olympian Martyn Irvine (RTS Racing) by 35.51 seconds, with Tour de France-bound Nicolas Roche (Ag2r la Mondiale) having to be satisfied with third, 49.7 seconds back.
Defending champion Matt Brammeier (Omega Pharma Quick Step) was over two minutes down in fourth.
Roche came to the race after a top ten finish in the Tour de Suisse, and will next weekend line out in the Tour de France as leader of the Ag2r La Mondiale team. He was genuinely surprised not to have won, believing that his ride was a good one.
Irvine is also building towards a big target in the relatively near future; he will represent the country in omnium event at the Olympic Games.
Of the medallists, Hutchinson is the least well known in Ireland. That’s partly because he doesn’t often race on the world stage, and also because he competes almost exclusively on the British TT scene, holding over 50 Cycling Time Trial (CTT) records. But the win was an well-earned one, and was something which gave him a lot of satisfaction, not least because he beat two WorldTour riders and a future Olympian.
“In England there is a whole time trial culture which really doesn’t exist anywhere else in the world,” he told VeloNation in a video interview below. “I am not a pro any more but I did that professionally for quite a few years and I was in a position to make a career out of doing it,” he said.
“I am a lot better at time trialing than I am at road racing, and since I got the opportunity to do what I enjoy and what I was good at, that is what I did. I guess that is why I can come to event like this against guys like Nicolas, Martyn and Matt and get a result. It’s because I have had the opportunity to specialize in this area.”
Hutchinson speaks about the achievement in the video interview below and also talks about what’s next for him.
Cycling Ireland senior time trial championships, Cahir:
Irish national time trial championships, Cahir (35km):
1, Michael Hutchinson (In Gear Quikvit) 43' 49.52"
2, Martyn Irvine (RTS Racing) 44' 25.03" at 35.51"
3, Nicolas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale) 44' 39.22" at 49.70"
4, Matthew Brammeier (Omega Pharma Quickstep) 46' 12.80" at 02' 23.28"
5, Ryan Sherlock (Cycleways CC) 47' 23.45" at 02' 33.93"
6, Damien Shaw (Lakeside Wheelers) 47' 33.09" at 03' 43.57"
7, Ronan McLoughlin (An Post Sean Kelly) 47' 46.84" at 03' 57.32"
8, Con Collis (UCD) 48' 25.24" at 04' 35.72"
9, Ian Richardson (UCD) 48' 31.68" at 04' 42.16"
10, Adam Armstrong (Eurocycles) 48' 31.95" at 04' 42.43"
11, Colm Cassidy (UCD) 49' 29.08" at 05' 39.56"
12, Michael Lucey (Iverk Produce Carrick Whs) 49' 55.67" at 06' 06.15"
13, Hugh Mulhearn (Iverk Produce Carrick Whs) 49' 57.65" at 06' 08.13"
14, Kevin Shelly (Iverk Produce Carrick Whs) 51' 37.87" at 07' 48.35"
15, Cathal Johnston (South Dublin CC) 52' 10.11" at 08' 20.59"
16, Padraic Doherty (Staggs Lucan) 52' 18.22" at 08' 28.70"
17, John O'Connell (Midleton CC) 52' 44.67" at 08' 55.15"
18, Paul Flynn (Iverk Produce Carrick Whs) 53' 09.15" at 09' 19.63"
19, Eoghan Considine (Black Rose Racing) 53' 21.70" at 09' 32.18"
20, Declan McMackin (North Down CC) 53' 57.35" at 10' 07.83"
21, Patrick Withers (West Tyrone Velo) 56' 11.54" at 12' 22.02"
22, Stephen Duggan (Wexford Wheelers) 57' 35.60" at 13' 46.08"
U23:
1, Conor Dunne (VL Technics) 45' 59.57" at
2, Sean Downey (An Post Sean Kelly) 46' 23.85" at 24.28"
3, Aaron Buggle (Apoge Super U) 46' 31.62" at 32.05"
4, Felix English (Rapha Condor Sharp) 46' 52.04" at 52.47"
5, Dane Dunlop (Lakeland CC) 48' 57.84" at 02' 58.27"
6, Richard Hooton (Visit Nenagh DMG) 50' 55.60" at 04' 56.03"
7, Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) 51' 10.10" at 05' 10.53"
8, Eoin McCarthy (ASFRA Racing) 51' 50.86" at 05' 51.29"
Women:
1, Olivia Dillon (Now and Novarti) 51:25:64
2, Melanie Spath (Cycleways CC) 51:47:16 at 21.52"
3, Siobhan Horgan (GSD Gestion) 52:57:06 at 01'31.42
4, Eve McCrystal (Garda CC Richies Bikes) 54:17:22 at 2'51.58
5, Mary Hunter (Dromara CC) 57:16:72 at 5'51.08
6, Amy Brice (Phoenix CC) 58:01:28 at 6'35.64
7, Sinead Rivers (Roe Valley) 59:45:80 at 8'20.16
8, Rachael Withers (West Tyrone Velo) 1h02:30:33 at 11'04.69