Damien Shaw created a surprise when he came away with the victory in the Irish road race championships. Having made his way into the early break, he escaped with Eddie Dunbar (NFTO) before he distanced his companion a few kilometres from the finish, riding away to a solo win. Connor Dunne (Sean Kelly) completed the podium.

Damien Shaw benefited from the absence of top names Phlip Deignan, Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin to claim his first Irish road race championships, confirming the fantastic condition he showed in the An Post Ras a few weeks ago. Shaw rode an aggressive race and did everything perfectly in the finale.

Shaw was part of an early breakaway that managed to hold off the peloton and so the race turned into an elimination race from the front group. Here Shaw escaped with young talent Eddie Dunbar and those two riders would decide the race.

Shaw didn't want to wait for a sprint and he distanced Dunbar a few kilometres from the finish, taking the win with an advantage of 1.02 on the 168km course in Omagh. Connor Dunne who was also in the early break finished third with a time loss of 2.40.

Shaw is not riding for a UCI team and so will have limited oportunities to show off his jersey outside his home country.