Jamie Meehan (AVC Aix-en-Provence) has taken his best result since stepping up to UCI Continental level this year and told stickybottle he may have taken his first victory had he adopted a more aggressive approach in the final of Le Poinçonnet-Panazol Limoges Métropole the former Irish U23 road race champion still shrugged off very wet conditions late in the race to go on the attack over the final climbs He made the key split of about eight off the front and then had the legs to leave those he was with as part of a two-man move Meehan attacked off the front and rode clear with France’s Tom Lambert Wetzel (Vélo Club Villefranche Beaujolais) with the duo finishing 58 seconds up on a seven-rider chase group; Lambert Wetzel winning it in a two-up sprint “I think I gave up a win,” Meehan told stickybottle “I definitely felt strong and he told me afterwards that he was dead And there was a good climb with 10k to go and if I’d gone there “But I’m pretty happy with the shape; how the legs were how the body was considering my map wasn’t working my power meter wasn’t working in the rain And I know what to watch out for going forward Meehan said with a climb some 106km into the 158km race adding after the flat opening section of the race And with about 60-70km completed it was clear to him the conditions were starting to impact morale in the bunch “Heads were dropping but it didn’t really phase me too much with being where I’m from,” laughed the Donegal man the head for the front and when I saw it was in one line I attacked.” had a strong squad out on the day and they rode the climb hard with Meehan cresting the first peak of the climb in a group of eight They started to work and when they reached the top of the climb proper the Irish rider took the climbers’ prime before his group swelled close to 20 riders eventual winner Lambert Wetzel attacked and when the riders at the front couldn’t hold him Meehan jumped across to the leader to form the winning two-man move and we just went for it from there,” he said I put in an attack with maybe 3k to go but he saw that coming I ended up leading in the sprint and really he just had more power in the sprint.” We’re determined to make stickybottle.com much better for your enjoyment So become a ‘Stickybottle Supporter’ now from just €5 per month We’ve grown our audience significantly in recent years but the advertising market has become harder and harder each year In order to survive and grow – and create much better content – we need to develop an income from our readers By signing up to become a ‘Stickybottle Supporter’ you’ll be helping to secure independent coverage of Irish cycling for years to come Every cent collected from readers will be used to directly fund content Sign Up Kaden Hopkins and his Vendee U Cycling teammates won the Tour des 4B Sud Charente Hopkins teammate Nicola Marcerou won the fourth edition of the Tour des 4B Sud Charente [National Elite] contested over 151.1 kilometers around Brossac [Charente] clocking a time of 3:39:48 He was ahead of Oliver Knight [AVC Aix-en-Provence] and Maxime Jarnet [Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole] Hopkins finished 15th overall clocking a time of 3:40:24 Hopkins had finished 24th competing in the 11th edition of the classic Le Poinçonnet-Panazol Limoges Métropole [Élite Nationale] Hopkins clocked a time of 3:53:55 over 159.6 kilometers between Le Poinçonnet [Indre] and Panazol [Haute-Vienne] Category: All, Sports Kaden Hopkins helped French team Vendée U maintain their strong form as his team-mate Nicola Marcerou claimed victory in the fourth edition of the Tour des 4B Sud Charente race on Sunday the 22-year-old gave an astute ride over the 151.1 kilometre course in Brossac as Marcerou went on to clinch the win in a time of 3hr 39min 48sec Hopkins ultimately crossed the line in 3:40:24 to finish 15th and that performance came just a day after the Bermudian rider finished in 24th-place in the eleventh edition of the Le Poinçonnet-Panazol Limoges Métropole race Taking on a challenging 159.6km course between the suburbs of Le Poinçonnet and Panazol slightly more than two minutes adrift of race winner Killian Theot and finished as the second Vendée U rider over the line You must be Registered or to post comment or to vote Which of the Throne Speech promises is the Government best equipped to deliver on View Results