National Championships: podium finishes for Neilands, Vernon, and Casey

Krists Neilands gave another indication of his Tour de France form as he finished second in the Latvian road race championships, one of three podium finishes for IPT riders on Sunday.

Neilands, who will start his fifth Tour for IPT next Saturday, found himself in a two-way showdown for the jersey with eventual winner Toms Skujiņš (LTK) for much of the race, which forms part of a wider event for the Baltic countries that also incorporates the Estonian and Lithuanian championships.

Skujiņš attacked with one lap of the circuit around the town of Cesu Novad remaining, but Neilands – who was also the runner-up in Wednesday’s TT Championships – finished safely to take the silver medal.

“The feelings were good on the bike today,” says Neilands. “The race exploded in the first 5 kilometers – a big group got away, with me, Toms, and some other Lativans included. We decided to split the group again some kilometers later as there weren’t many guys who wanted to ride with us.

“After this, it was just mano a mano, Toms and I. Chapeau to Toms, he was stronger, I have nothing to complain about – I wasn’t able to follow him. But this was the first time in a long time at Nationals that we could play it out fairly and see who was stronger.”

Ethan Vernon sprinted to the bronze medal in the British championships in Aberystwyth, Wales. After Sam Watson (IGD) launched his race-winning move with 12 kilometers remaining, Vernon’s teammates Joe Blackmore and Jake Stewart committed in support of him, but were unable to bring back the solo rider following a combative day of racing on undulating roads. Vernon was pipped in the bunch sprint for second by Matthew Brennan (TVL).

Blackmore, who also features in IPT’s Tour de France team, finished 10th.

The third medal of the day was taken by IPT Academy rider Patrick Casey, who produced one of the best rides of his career to date to take bronze in the Irish championships.

Casey, 19, was part of a four-rider group that contested the finish of the race, which was won by Rory Townsend (Q36).

Photos: Sprint Cycling, SWpix.com / British Cycling