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Last Updated: Apr 1st, 2008 - 22:35:27 |
International Line Up For Djouce
Round three of the UCI Class 2 ranked K-Capital Cup Mountain Bike Cross Country Series takes place this weekend at Djouce Woods near Bray in County Wicklow. Promoted by the K-Capital Source/Rocky Mountain Club, the entry for the Elite Mens race is truly International with no less than thirteen visting riders making the trip to Ireland. The race also marks the third and final stage in ‘race to Beijing’ to select the Irish rider for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Team Worc rider Robin Seymour won round two of the series at Moneyscalp Wood in the shadows of the Mourne Mountains, this giving Seymour the Elite Mens leaders jersey and more importantly put him in pole position for Olympic selection. IMBRC’s Niall Davis is the only rider who could steal the Olympic place from Seymour, though it would take a DNF for Seymour and a win for Davis for this to happen. A broken shoulder put the other Olympic hopeful, Conor McConvey (McConvey Cycles) out of the opening round at Kilruddery, however the young Belfast rider entered the fray at round two with a superb ride to third place.
Seymour, Davis and McConvey will face the best ever International entry for an Irish MTB XC event when they line up on the grid at 1.30pm on Sunday. The British Squad make a return, they rode in the opening round, led by British Champion Oli Beckingsale who won race one at Kilruddery. Joining Beckingsale will be Ross Creber, David Fletcher and Ian Bibby. Gareth Montgomery (Colnago) from Scotland is joined by tough riding Welshman Lee Williams with Paul Beales (Orange Monkey) making his debut in the South of Ireland. This British based group will be joined by Swiss rider Christoph Bischof, George Hudeckova from the Czech Republic, young Polish rider Rafal Plucinski, German Jochen Cochonelli and from Sweden Micke Haggquist. Canadian Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain) completes the line up, Kevin attending as a guest of K-Capital sponsor Mark Kenny. Add to these names Irish riders such as Ryan Sherlock, Dave Barry, Richard Felle, Evan Ryan, Graham Boyd and Joe McCall, quite simply, bring it on!
In the Junior Class Banbridge CC’s Liam McGreevy has scored two wins and will be out to make it a treble on Sunday with his challengers including Paul O’Reilly (IMBRC), Neil McGimpsey (XMTB) and Conal Higgins (Sorrento CC). Mel Spath (MAD) won the Elite Ladies class at Moneyscalp, Mel will defend her leaders jersey on Sunday against Beth McLuskey(Epic), Jess Laird (North Down), Ann Duffy (Newry Wheelers) and Ciara McManus (U/A).
The race for honours in the Experts Class could not be closer, only one point separates points leader Oisin Boydell (UCD) from IMBRC’s hard riding Luke Manning. Round two was won by Scottish visitor Jack Richards, if he makes a return it should be a cracker. Other names to look for in the Experts field are Luke Smaul (Epic), Tim James, Neil Summers, Daragh Maloney and hopefully with both contact lenses firmly fixed in, Dave O’Neill from Swords CC. IMBRC rider James McCluskey leads the way in the Masters title race, the Masters class attracting huge entries so far. McCluskey won round two at which first round winner Peter O’Farrell was an absentee. These two will come face to face again on Sunday and will face stiff opposition from Rory Walsh(Epic), Fergal Kilkenny (MAD), Damien Mulchrone (Epic) and a rejuvenated Gordon Lucas(Team Worc). Aidan McDonald of Apollo CT fame leads the Vets points table, the Cooley based MTB legend having won round two ahead of Banbridge CC’s William Mulligan. The Banbridge rider will miss round three as he will be chasing lions round Kenya, so it will be up to the McCabe brothers Gerry and Johnny to provide the main threat to McDonald. Ulster based riders Andy Burns (Juiced Orchard) and Paul McMenamin (Leisure Lakes) are more than capable of scoring top three finishes as are Wicklow riders John O’Reilly(Epic), John Dorris (Sorrento) and Ken Farrar (Team Worc).
The Sports Class has produced both brilliant entries and action at the two rounds held so far. In the Mens Class Mark Solon and Sean Connolly tie for the lead on 35 points, closely followed by Douglas Shearer and Matt Hicknott on 30. Within striking distance of this quartet are Alan Ryan, David Askin, Matt Casey and Justin Reid. Sorrento’s Linda Haug tops the Ladies table with her main rivals being Rachel Wisdom and Aisling Corkery. Supporting the senior classes will be a full program of Youth events from Under 8 up to Under 16.
Racing on Sunday begins with the U-8 and U-10 events at 11am followed by the U-12 race at 11.30am. At noon the U-16 riders go into action, closely followed by the Sports and U-14 riders. At 1.30pm the Elite Men set off followed at one minute intervals by the Juniors/Elite Women, Experts, Masters and Vets. The course at Djouce Woods will be signposted from Kilmacanogue on the N11. Be there!
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