George Kimber stormed to overall victory at the Rás Tailteann securing Cycling Club Isle of Man the biggest win in its four-year history.
Thanks to some superb work by Manx teammates Ivan Sorby and Callum Salisbury the 25-year-old held onto his five-second GC lead in a dramatic final stage.
“I don’t know how we did it to be honest. We’ve got a young team here, two guys straight out of juniors pretty much.
“We had to play it patiently. I didn’t think it would be that hard. It was splitting all over the place and I just had to bridge so many gaps on my own.
“At one point I didn’t think I’d make it, but I just kept going for the pride of the jersey. They must have eased up and I managed to get over, but I honestly don’t know how,” said Kimber.
Rás Tailteann Win
Kimber went into the last day of action with a slim advantage in the overall classification after a hard-earned stage win a day earlier into Mountrath.
With the local teams keen to unseat the Cycling Club Isle of Man rider and keep the spoils for themselves, the squad knew they had a difficult challenge ahead of them to retain the leader’s yellow jersey.
However, Salisbury and Sorby raced well above their years in a very experienced bunch to keep Kimber at the front of the race as the group broke up over the relentlessly hilly roads.
Meanwhile, Kimber kept his cool and paced himself perfectly to keep in touch with his closest rivals.
Just 32 riders remained at the head of the race as the group rode into Bective, with Kimber amongst their number it was enough to seal victory in the general classification.
Team Effort
It was a huge team effort from all sides and cheering on from the sidelines were teammates Michael Faid and Dexter Mansel-Thomas.
The pair had been forced to quit the race earlier in the week after doing a huge amount of work to keep the team in a strong position in the opening days.
Only one person can ultimately win a race, but cycling is a team sport and the whole squad raced superbly throughout the week of action.
Support on The Journey
The team would like to say a massive thank you to all of its sponsors who have supported them through this journey and without which they wouldn’t have been able to achieve this prestigious victory.
Their primary sponsor Group Eleven, who have been with them since the beginning, their car sponsor Motormall Isle of Man, nutrition partner N-Fuse Sports, technical partners Bikestyle Isle of Man and Cycle 360, and kit supplier Pro Vision.
The team said: “this victory is for you!”
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