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Last Updated: 4 Apr 2018 - 3:13:57 PM |
Irish National Cycling Championships Heading to Kildare
By Declan Quigley
11 Jun 2016,
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National Road and Time Trial Championships - Kilcullen 23-26 June
Tour de France riders, international stars and the cream of local cycle racing talent are set to do battle on the roads of Kildare in the Irish National Road Race Championships at the end of June.
After a period of uncertainty, Dublin club Scott Orwell Wheelers have stepped in to promote Ireland’s flagship cycle racing festival from a base in Kilcullen, Co Kildare from 23rd to 26th June in a series of time trials and road races to decide which riders win the coveted national champions jerseys.
Tour de France star Nicolas Roche, an honorary life member of Orwell Wheelers, has stated his intention to try to win the back the Men’s Senior National Road Race title that he took for the first time in 2009.
Ranged against the Team Sky professional star will be the best of Irish riders racing at home and abroad including reigning national road race champion Damien Shaw from the Belgian-based An Post CRC Seán Kelly team.
The Men’s race on Sunday 26th will run on the same 31km circuit as the Women’s Elite Road Race Championships where Nottingham-based Dubliner Lydia Boylan will defend the title she won on the roads around Omagh, County Tyrone 12 months ago.
The final confirmation of Kilcullen as a venue comes following a number of cancellations in recent months.
Originally scheduled for the Phoenix Park, the championships had to be reorganised at short notice when the visit of America Vice President Joe Biden meant that the Park will be unavailable for security reasons.
An alternative location in Blessington had to be abandoned due to a clash with a local long-standing charity event that wasn't flagged during the usual checks.
Speaking at the launch of the event at Murphy & Gunn BMW, Milltown, Dublin, Orwell Wheelers Vice President Damien Long paid tribute to the legion of volunteers who have helped bring the event to fruition.
“This has been a long road travelled in a very short space of time for the club and it is thanks to the support of everyone in the Irish cycling community that we’ve got this great new location in Kildare for the event,” said Long.
“Race Organiser Stephen O’Shea has worked tirelessly in the past few months with Cycling Ireland to make sure Ireland’s top one-day bike races have the proper occasion their status demand and we would like to pay tribute to Liam Walker and all in Murphy Suveys Kilcullen CC for their intervention and assistance in bringing the event to their home town.”
Kilcullen promises challenging racing, with the time trial events kicking off affairs on Thursday evening. Para-athletes will tackle a lumpy 20km route from Kilcullen to Athy, while the senior and U23 men and women will also take on the return leg for a 40km test.
The Men's Masters races take place on the Saturday, with M40, M50 and M60 categories all battling it out on a sporting 26km circuit.
The Women's Masters members will fight alongside the Elite and U23 categories on Sunday morning on a tougher 31km lap.
The Men's Elite and Espoir racers will use the same lap later in the day. Much of it overlaps with the Saturday course, but it diverts onto a demanding climb near the appropriately named Ballyhurtin.
The new location is readily accessible via the motorway network along the M7 and M9.
The organisers are grateful to local club Murphy Surveys Kilcullen CC and Cycling Ireland for their assistance in re-locating the race at short notice.
Murphy & Gunn BMW, Milltown are the official race vehicle supplier to the 2016 Irish National Cycling Championships.
Full routes and schedule for the Irish National Cycling Championships are available on www.orwellwheelers.org
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| Stephen Murphy (Murphy & Gunn), Emily Brick (Scott Orwell Wheelers) and Brian McArdle (Scott Orwell Wheelers) at the launch of the Irish National Cycling Championships. |
About Scott Orwell Wheelers
Founded in 1948, Orwell Wheelers is amongst the biggest and most famous cycling clubs in Ireland. Based in Dublin, the club caters to all levels of fitness and ability - from beginners to elite riders, male and female from youth to veteran. The club has traditionally had a strong focus on road racing and is also very active in many other areas including leisure riding, randonnée events and track racing. The club runs organised weekly training spins most of the year.
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