Luongo, Bergeron win big but Irish riders also on move in Junior Tour final

Brendan Luongo may have lost the Junior Tour of Ireland yellow jersey to his US Hot Tubes team mate, Caden Budd, due to time bonuses on the penultimate stage, but he made the winning breakaway on the final day of the race on Sunday in Co Clare.

And when that winning breakaway gained 36 seconds on the bunch, it meant Luongo, from California, took back that leader’s jersey to win the Quanta Capital-backed race overall.

One of the riders of the race – the ever-aggressive Antoine Bergeron of Ignite Canada – also made the winning move today. And he took the stage win, to add to his triumph in the climbers’ classification.

Though the stage and GC spoils went to the North Americans at the end of the 74km Ennis circuit race stage today, the Irish were also in the mix. Of those, the classy Cameron Henry (Cycling Ulster) was the biggest winner, moving up to 4th overall and also winning the first-year junior classification.

Bergeron won the stage in a sprint from the breakaway today after 1 hour 37 minutes of racing, with Otis Engel (Kelly Benefits Cycling) 2nd and Charlie Abraham (Lee Valley Youth CC) rounding out the podium.

Cal Tutty (Team Ireland) placed 4th, just ahead of the 2024 champion Luongo, followed by Ulster’s Henry in 6th, Paul Opie (Lee Valley Youth CC) 7th and Ivan Sorby (Utmost-Mezzo Isle of Man) in 8th place.

A total of 13 riders were sprinting for the stage victory today and the remaining riders in that group, filling places 9th to 13th were: Luke Mannings (Halesowen Academy 1), Garrett Beshore (Boulder Junior Cycling), Thomas Mead (Lee Valley Youth CC), Irish rider Killian O’Brien (Cycling Leinster), Reece Pittman (Lee Valley Youth CC) and Jack Grubb (Team California 2).

With seven laps of the circuit to complete today, the breakaway began to form around the halfway point when seven riders attacked and got a gap on the third lap. A chasing group was soon in pursuit of the leaders, joining them and forming a 10-man group.

While they built a gap of close to one minute, a chasing group of five – which included Ireland’s Tutty – got across to them on the last lap, setting up the sprint for stage honours from an enlarged breakaway group, which was trimmed back a little, to 13, in the closing stages.

The time gained by the breakaway today meant Luongo, the stage 2 winner, took overall victory by four seconds from Otis Engel (Kelly Benefits Cycling), with Thomas Mead (Lee Valley Youth CC) 3rd overall at 10 seconds.

Then came the best Irishman in the final standings, and the best first-year junior, Ulster’s Henry in 4th, also at 10 seconds, and a fine showing by him.

The only other Irish rider in the top 10 in the final general classification was Joseph Mullen (Cycling Leinster), in 10th at 46 seconds, a result that underlines his potential.

The Irish also took two stage wins from the race, courtesy of Michael Collins (Tarrant Munster) and Max Fitzgerald (Team Ireland), who claimed stages 3 an 5 respectively. Collins took a great win with a solo attack while Fitzgerald reached for, and found, a power bazooka in a bunch sprint victory.

Stage 6 | Ennis Circuit (74.4km)

1. Bergeron, Antoine Ignite Canada 1h37m54s
2. Engel, Otis Kelly Benefits Cycling 1h37m54s
3. Abraham, Charlie Lee Valley Youth CC team 1 1h37m54s
4. Tutty, Cal Cycling Ireland 1h37m54s
5. Luongo, Brendan Hot Tubes 1 1h37m54s
6. Henry, Cameron Cycling Ulster 1h37m54s
7. Opie, Paul Lee Valley Youth CC team 1 1h37m54s
8. Sorby, Ivan Utmost-Mezzo Isle of Man 1h37m54s
9. Mannings, Luke Halesowen Academy 1 1h37m54s
10. Beshore, Garrett Boulder Junior Cycling 1h37m54s
11. Mead, Thomas Lee Valley Youth CC team 1 1h37m54s
12. O’Brien, Killian Cycling Leinster 1h37m54s
13. Pittman, Reece Lee Valley Youth CC team 1 1h37m54s
14. Grubb, Jack Team California 2 1h38m08s @14s
15. Callaly, Josh Cycling Ireland 1h38m30s @36s
16. Makin, Nick Mid Devon RC 1h38m30s @ s/t
17. Edmonds, Enzo Hot Tubes 1 1h38m30s @ s/t
18. Lattimore, Eoghan E. Tarrant & Sons Skoda Munster 1h38m30s @ s/t
19. Tilli, Gabriel Ignite Canada 1h38m30s @ s/t
20. Che, Alejandro Hot Tubes 2 1h38m30s @ s/t

Final General Classification

1. Luongo, Brendan Hot Tubes 1 13h21m13s
2. Engel, Otis Kelly Benefits Cycling 13h21m17s @4s
3. Mead, Thomas Lee Valley Youth CC team 1 13h21m23s @10s
4. Henry, Cameron Cycling Ulster 13h21m23s @s/t
5. Bergeron, Antoine Ignite Canada 13h21m40s @27s
6. Budd, Caden Hot Tubes 1 13h21m47s @34s
7. Freyre, Caden Kelly Benefits Cycling 13h21m55s @42s
8. Rohde, Jade Team Velosport 13h21m59s @46s
9. Lapierre, David Hot Tubes 1 13h21m59s @s/t
10. Mullen, Joseph Cycling Leinster 13h21m59s @s/t
11. Erasmus, Alexander South Africa On Track 13h21m59s @s/t
12. Murphy, Conor Cycling Ireland 13h21m59s @s/t
13. Noori, James DDP Elite Cycling 13h22m03s @50s
14. Condon, Rory E. Tarrant & Sons Skoda Munster 13h22m03s @s/t
15. Opie, Paul Lee Valley Youth CC team 1 13h23m08s @1m55s
16. Scopinich Burgel, Alexander Kelly Benefits Cycling 13h23m26s @2m13s
17. Sorby, Ivan Utmost-Mezzo Isle of Man 13h24m13s @3m00s
18. Collins, Michael E. Tarrant & Sons Skoda Munster 13h24m26s @3m13s
19. Oldfield, Ryan Halesowen Academy 1 13h24m36s @3m23s
20. O’Connor, Willem E. Tarrant & Sons Skoda Munster 13h24m44s @3m31s