Neil Hodges from Allihies was to the fore as West Cork had a good showing at the traditional end-of-season Charleville Two-Day stage race recently.
BY CARINA MCNALLY
NEIL Hodges from Allihies was to the fore as West Cork had a good showing at the traditional end-of-season Charleville Two-Day stage race recently.
The main A2/A3 race took place over two days and three stages. On Saturday, there was an 80km road race and Neil, riding for Kanturk O’Leary Stone, was 24 seconds behind the winner.
On Sunday morning, the 6km time-trial took place and Neil gained momentum, reaching the top 20.
Stage three was a tough climber’s circuit of 90km. Neil was leading again and pushed hard on the climbs, ending up in a three-man break.
This culminated in a 38-second lead at the end, and third-place rider Tom Shanahan from Limerick was two seconds slower than Neil, leaving him the winner in general classification by only one second.
Jeremy Canty, from Bantry and representing Bandon Cycling Club, won the final stage. In the A4 race Den Batt O’Sullivan of Urhan, was in the winning race team, representing De Ronde Cycling Club from Cork city.
