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Last Updated: Jan 31st, 2008 - 16:25:03 |
The promising young Irish downhill riders Ben Reid and Seanan O’Riordan showed their ability when they both finished in excellent fourteenth places in the their respective categories at the world mountainbike championships today.
Irish national senior champ Reid clocked a time of 5 minutes 5.4 seconds en route to that high finish. This was 13.4 seconds off the winning time of Samuel Hill (Australia), nine away from a bronze medal and just 3.4” outside the top ten.
Fabien Barel (France) and Gee Atherton (Great Britain) were second and third, joining Hill on the podium.
Reid showed his good form earlier this season when he finished 6th in the European championships plus 10th and 11th respectively in the Austrian and Chambery World Cup rounds. Today’s showing confirms his talent and as he is just 21, he can place even higher in future years.
Four other Irish riders also took part. Daniel Wolfe was 42nd, Greg O’Keefe was two places further back and Gerard Wolfe and Darren Quille were 51st and 68th.
Meanwhile Seanan O’Riordan also finished 14th, netting the excellent placing in the junior competition. Ruaridh Cunningham (Great Britain) beat John Swanguen (United States Of America) and Matthew Scoles (New Zealand) to take gold, clocking a time of 5 minutes 6.82 seconds. O’Riordan covered the distance 16.27 seconds slower and, like Reid, is one for the future.
Ewan Doherty finished in the first half of the field, placing a solid 27th. Karl O’Sullivan and Jason Murphy were 35th and 39th respectively.
Yesterday saw three Irish riders take part in the Elite cross-country events. National champion Beth McCluskey and Tarja Owens were 55th and 58th respectively, crossing the line over 19 minutes off the winning time of Irina Kalentieva.
Sabine Spitz (Germany) was 39 seconds behind the Russian while Jingjing Wang (China) was 1 minute 42 seconds back, taking bronze.
Julien Absalon (France) won the men’s gold medal, covering the 51.4 kilometre distance in 2 hours 17 minutes and 6 seconds. Ralph Näf (Switzerland) was 25 seconds back while Florian Vogel (Switzerland) completed the podium when he finished a further 29 seconds down in third.
The sole Irish entrant Robin Seymour was listed as a non-finisher.
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Mountain Bike World Championships, Fort William, Scotland (September 4-9)
Race 17 - September 9, Elite men downhill finals:
1, Samuel Hill (Australia) 4 mins 52 secs
2, Fabien Barel (France) 4 mins 52.6 secs
3, Gee Atherton (Great Britain) 4 mins 56.4 secs
4, Greg Minnaar (South Africa) 5 mins
5, Pasqual Canals Flix (Spain) 5 mins 0.3 secs
6, Matti Lehikoinen (Finland) 5 mins 0.9 secs
Other:
14, Ben Reid (Ireland) 5 mins 5.4 secs
42, Daniel Wolfe (Ireland) 5 mins 20.4 secs
44, Greg O’Keefe (Ireland) 5 mins 20.7 secs
51, Gerard Wolfe (Ireland) 5 mins 23.9 secs
68, Darren Quille (Ireland) 5 mins 42.7 secs
Elite women downhill finals:
1, Sabrina Jonnier (France) 5 mins 28.35 secs
2, Rachel Atherton (Great Britain) 5 mins 32.36 secs
3, Tracey Hannah (Australia) 5 mins 39.89 secs
4, Tracy Moseley (Great Britain) 5 mins 47.76 secs
5, Fionn Griffiths (Great Britain) 5 mins 48.21 secs
6, Mio Suemasa (Japan) 5 mins 48.62 secs
(No Irish competitors)
Junior men:
1, Ruaridh Cunningham (Great Britain) 5 mins 6.82 secs
2, John Swanguen (United States Of America) 5 mins 8.89 secs
3, Matthew Scoles (New Zealand) 5 mins 9.27 secs
4, Mitchell Delfs (Australia) 5 mins 9.63 secs
5, Joel Bain (Australia) 5 mins 13.24 secs
6, James Maltman (Australia) 5 mins 14.72 secs
Other:
14, Seanan O'Riordan (Ireland) 5 mins 23.09 secs
27, Ewan Doherty (Ireland) 5 mins 32.79 secs
35, Karl O'Sullivan (Ireland) mins 5.43.40 secs
39, Jason Murphy (Ireland) mins 5.47.49 secs
Junior Women:
1, Floriane Pugin (France) 5 mins 50.18 secs
2, Katy Curd (Great Britain) 6 mins 17.30 secs
3, Myriam Nicole (France) 6 mins 41.48 secs
4, Aurea Agostinho (Portugal) 6 mins 44.33 secs
5, Holly Kernohan-Smith (New Zealand) 6 mins 53.46 secs
6, Anne Laplante (Canada) 7 mins 1.95 secs
(No Irish competitors)
Elite women cross country:
1, Irina Kalentieva (Russia) 1 hour 44.8 secs
2, Sabine Spitz (Germany) at 39 secs
3, Jingjing Wang (China) at 1 min 42 secs
4, Marie-Helene Premont (Canada) at 3 mins 16 secs
5, Rosara Joseph (New Zealand) at 3 mins 34 secs
6, Catherine Pendrel (Canada) at 4 mins 11 secs
Other:
55, Beth McCluskey (Ireland) at 19 mins 25 secs
58, Tarja Owens (Ireland) at 21 mins 8 secs
Elite men:
1, Julien Absalon (France) 51.4 kilometres in 2 hours 17 mins 6 secs
2, Ralph Näf (Switzerland) at 25 secs
3, Florian Vogel (Switzerland) at 54 secs
4, Fredrik Kessiakoff (Sweden) at 1 min 1 secs
5, Manuel Fumic (Germany) at 1 min 4 secs
6, Christoph Sauser (Switzerland) at 1 min 8 secs
DNF: Robin Seymour (Ireland)
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