Fergal Lemire is gone. Another great has retired. Perhaps, ‘retired’ is a little premature given that he is still on the market looking for a team. But, his best days are almost certainly over and it seems that he is too far over the hill for any team to show an interest. Lemire was, in his day, the man to be feared in sprinting races, and this is demonstrated in his feats that span over seven seasons. The new Fergal Lemires have replaced him over the last couple of season and the Englishman hasn’t quite been at his best. So whilst, he hangs up his inner tubes and puts his bidons to one side, let’s look back at the career of Fergal.
  
  His early days
  
  Lemire started his career as a fresh-faced 24 year at the English team, cway, now one of the biggest sprinting specialists in OCM. Making his debut in Season 3, Lemire served his team well as a leadout for two seasons until, in Season 6, Danish outfit Team Elfenberg chose to invest in the rider. Season 7 was his breakthrough season as he showed his class in the Tours – a stage win in Germany, second places in Perm and Essex and even 2nd place in the Perm General Classification.
  
  Clearly, his star was rising, but at the same time the Englishman was missing home and a big money move back to cway was arranged. This move started a period of dominance as the sprinter notched up 39 results (including a staggering 15 victories) in just four seasons. He was ranked the Number 1 rider in OCM on numerous occasions, most notably in Season 9 when he finished the Season as the highest ranked rider.
  
  Highs

and Lows
  
  In a career which features so many highs, it’s difficult to pick out the best moment. Winning three races in quick succession after moving back to cway is surely one of those. One stage win and three podium places in the Season 9 Germany Tour must also come close. However, Lemire himself will probably admit that his proudest moment was the Season 10 Perm Tour, where he was the King of the Sprinters, dominating both of the sprints to walk away with the Green Jersey.
  
  This was, however, his only major Tour success and this was not for want of trying. It is somewhat surprising that for a rider who dominated one day sprint racing over a number of seasons, one Green Jersey and four stage victories represents his total Tour return. Looking at such a rider’s career regrets is perhaps somewhat unfair, but Lemire will surely love to have had more success in his native England. No doubt he would swap a number of his overseas victories for success in Norwich-London or the Essex Tour.
  
  The National Team
  
  Lermie’s retirement is a massive blow to the England national team. He has long been one of the strongest members of the squad and one of the top points scorers for his country in the annual Clash of Nations competition. New England manager Didier Brunel of Telek@m had a tough choice for this season’s competition – to include him or not. Lemire was eventually given the nod but in the few weeks between being released by cway and the CoN, Lemire lost race fitness and so has been riding as a leadout. This has also given some of the

younger members of the squad a chance to ride as captain.
  
  The choice of who would take over from Lemire has been a difficult one. It’s been made worse due to last season’s retirement of Chris Dell, another England sprinting legend. Louis Dorris (Eurostar) has taken over from Lemire as the man for the hilly sprints and has done well in the recent competition taking a 3rd in Sydney. However, at 30, Dorris will only ever be a short term replacement. Taking over the flat sprints is current World Number 2 and holder of Germany’s Green Jersey, Kyle Abston, though the sprinter still has to prove that he can maintain such form over the long term. Indeed, the fact that there is no obvious choice of rider to take over from Lemire highlights the dearth of new talent coming through the English ranks.
  
  The Fergal Lemire trophy
  
  Fergal will, however, not be forgotten. At this season’s award ceremony, the Fergal Lemire trophy will be presented to the Season’s Best Sprinter. As always, this award will be hotly contested with a number of riders in line for the Award. Current favourite to get their hands on Fergal at the end of the season is World Number 1, Jens Waesbergen (Cyklista). The Dutchman has already won three races this season, including the prestigious Norwich-London Classic and, with his win in Helsinki last Season, now holds both Division 1 Sprinting Classics.
  
  
  For a closer look at the career of Fergal Lemire, please click here