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Last Updated: Apr 9th, 2008 - 08:45:31 |
K-Capital Cup – Round 3- Djouce Woods – 06/04/2008
Seymour Confirms Olympic Place
Robin Seymour (Team Worc) confirmed his place for the Beijing Olympics by finishing runner up to BCF rider Ian Bibby at Djouce Woods in County Wicklow on Sunday. The event was the third round of the International K-Capital Cup Series, though more importantly for Seymour it was the last of three Olympic selections races. The thoughts of the stifling heat that will greet Olympians in China was far from most peoples thoughts on Sunday as Djouce Woods saw a mixture of weather conditions ranging from sunshine to heavy hail showers. Inspite of clashing with the opening round of the Irish DH NPS at Rostrevor, the K-Capital event attracted an excellent entry of 225.
The Elite Mens race was robbed of another Robin Seymour, Oli Beckingsale clash after Beckingsale flew home on Sunday morning with a heavy cold. However the entry was still of a very high calibre featuring the BCF Squad plus riders from Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic and Germany. From the start of the four lapper Seymour blasted into the lead, the 14 times Irish Champion leading on his own at the end of the opening lap from Ian Bibby (BCF),Conor McConvey (McConvey Cycles), David Fletcher (BCF), Niall Davis (IMBRC) and Christof Bischof (Switzerland). There was major disappointment on the fist lap for Canadian rider Kevin Calhoun (Rocky Mountain), he was forced out of the race after his rear mech was ripped off.
Lap two saw even more drama as McConvey struggled into the tech zone with a rear wheel puncture, this dropping him from third to seventh. At the front of the race Seymour still led the way from Bibby as Davis enjoyed a great battle with Fletcher for third. The end of lap two brought the retirement of tough riding Welshman Lee Williams, he was forced out with a combination of a wrist injury and a broken rear brake. The second half of the race saw Bibby up the pace to not only close in on Seymour but to eventually take the lead on the final lap. It was an overjoyed Bibby that swept through the uphill finish zone to take the chequered flag, giving the BCF Squad their second win of the series, Beckingsale having taken the opening round.
Seymour crossed the line just over a minute down on Bibby, disappointed not to have won, but spurred on by the fact that he had just qualified for his third Olympics! In what had been a superb battle for third over the last two laps, Fletcher just did enough to hold off Davis. Swiss visitor Bischof took fifth, he had to work hard over the final circuit to fend off talented Scottish rider Ross Creber (BCF). The unfortunate McConvey, still riding with a broken shoulder, slavaged some UCI ranking points by finishing in 7th. Ryan Sherlock (MAD) produced another fine ride to take 8th, with the ageless Joe McCall (Rocky Mountain/K-Capital Source) finishing 9th. The final ranking point went to Czech rider George Hudekova who was totally in awe of the course.
Mel Spath (MAD) notched up her second win of the series as she beat former Irish Champion Tarja Owens (Team Worc) to claim victory in the Elite Womens race, Mel going into the final round in Castlwellan still in the class leaders jersey. Fiona Barrett was third with Newry’s Ann Duffy a great 4th. The Junior race saw two of the main contenders suffer early retirements. Having swept into a commanding lead on the opening lap that saw him amongst the Elite Men, Banbridge CC’s Liam McGreevy was forced to retire following a heavy crash. The young rider sustained a cut thigh and a bruised knee. His arch rival, IMBRC’s Paul O’Reilly retied at the end of the opening lap, a lap that saw him suffer a puncture and a broken chain. The demise of the top two left the door open for XMTB’s Neil McGimpsey, the Belfast based rider eventually scoring an emphatic win over Sorrento’s Conal Higgins Jr and IMBRC’s Tadgh Griffin.
Oisin Boydell (UCD) scored his second win in a row to maintain his grip on the Experts Class. Boydell was in total control throughout the 3 laps, crossing the line with three minutes to spare over runner up Donacha O’Brien and third placed Tim James. Michael Holland (Leisure Lakes) returned to form by finishing 4th. IMBRC’s Luke Manning has looked to be the only rider able to threaten Boydell in the early stages, however Manning dropped off the pace on the last lap to finish 5th. Happiest finisher of all was Swords CC’s Dave O’Neill, taking 6th with his new glasses, this after he retired from round 2 after loosing a contact lens!
The Masters race once again attracted a quality entry, though once again it was IMBRC’s James McCluskey who dominated proceedings. At the end of the 3 laps, McCluskey had almost a three minute advantage over Mark Allen (Swords CC). Peter O’Farrell returned to action after having missed round 2 to take third with John Mason a very close 4th. Epic’s Rory Walsh gave another excellent performance to finish in 5th with Team Worc’s Stuart Galloway showing that his form is returning as he took 6th place. Mr. K-Capital, Mark Kenny, the main series sponsor, enjoyed the big race atmosphere as he finished 25th.
Aidan McDonald (Apollo CT) took the honours in the 2 lap Vets race and should wrap up the Vets title in the final round, the Cooley based rider having scored two wins and a second place. Paul McMenamin (Leisure Lakes) looked very strong as he finished runner. IMBRC’s Mick Jordan, also one of the K-Capital sponsors, had an excellent ride to 3rd place though Sorrento’s John Dorris was a very close 4th, just six seconds between the two rivals. Ken Farrar took 5th and Padraig Bonny 6th.
The Sports event attracted another brilliant entry with over 80 riders taking part. In the Sports Mens class Kevin Stanley was a start to finish winner with Mathew Hicknott, he won the opening race at Kilruddery, just over a minute down in second. Mathew also took over the leaders jersey for the Sports Mens class with a mere two point lead over Mark Solon. Alan Ryan kept up his fine form with third place, Alan having taken runner up in round one. In the Sports Women class Rachel Wisdom (Team Worc) scored her first win of the series to take over the coveted leaders jersey. Silvia Gallagher was runner up as Aisling Corkery finished in third, Aisling holding second overall in the points table.
Banbridge CC’s Matthew Adair notched up his third win in a row in the Under 16 race which took in three laps of the course used by the Sports riders. Once again Matthews’s main challenge came from William Boyd of XMTB, William riding to a strong second. Team Worc’s Robert Scanlon is rapidly finding form, Robert finishing third at Djouce and before long will be challenging the top two. In the U-14 event, Orchard Juiced rider Robert Anderson took command once again, the all action, non stop talker taking his second win of the series to strengthen his grip in the points table. Banbridge CC’s Dan Runciman produced his best finish of the series to take second with XMTB’s Chris Oakley in third.
James Curry once again took the honours in the U-12 event, the Banbridge rider scoring win number three and a clear favourite for overall victory. Darragh Long rode well to take second with Jamie Thomas in third. John Buller (Banbridge CC) led from start to finish to win the U-10 race, John having to fend off a tough challenge from fellow Banbridge rider Richard Baird in the closing stages/ Newry’s Cain McConvey was third. Completing a good day for Banbridge CC, Stuart Dunlop won the U-8 event with fellow Bann riders Mark Buller and Shenna McKiverigan second and third.
The final round of the 2008 K-Capital Cup takes place on 20th April at XMTB’s excellent course situated in Castlewellan Forest Park. Details of the race can be found on the series website, www.kcapitalcup.com……BE THERE!
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