VICTORY for 19-year-old Adam Stenson in last weekend's Men's National Road Series penultimate round has blown the competition wide open, as the countdown begins to the final in Wicklow.
The Bikeworx Celbridge rider put behind him 18 months of injuries and setbacks to record a decisive win in the John Beggs Memorial from a quality breakaway, including last year's National Road Series winner Sean Lacey and Shay Elliott runner-up Angus Fyffe.
Having escaped from a 14-man selection that was several minutes clear of the pack, the four-man group went into the final 10 miles certain of staying away.
Fyffe went first, but Stenson covered the move and attacked the lone rider, powering clear to achieve a solo success, Fyffe then getting caught by Lacey to finish third.
Stenson's win moves him into the top 10 in the series.
The absence of leaders Mark Dowling and Matteo Cigala, and the double points on offer at the Friends First Laragh Classic on Saturday, September 2, means now any rider in the top 15 could win this year’s National Road Series.
The Laragh Classic's double points could also cause an upset in the Women's National Road Series, as Team Madigan's uber consistent Katharine Smyth once again ran the leader Eve McCrystal to the line.
McCrystal has won four of the six races, finishing second to Smyth at the Brian McNamara GP and to Sinnead Oakes in the Mullingar GP.
Her vast lead of 230 means she only needs to finish 15th in the finale to become this year’s Champion, Smyth needing a win or second, along with a below par result from McCrystal to pass out the Olympic medallist.
If both perform to their best, the top two places are secured, but the final podium spot is between newcomer Orla Walsh, Mullingar GP winner Sinnead Oakes, and comeback queen Fiona Guihen.
Last year's winner Claire McIlwaine could also still make it onto the podium, being just 20 points adrift of Walsh, who moved into that spot with third on Saturday.