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Last Updated: 29 Sep 2019 - 6:53:20 PM |
SMYTH CLINCHES NATIONAL ROAD SERIES TITLE
By Scott Graham, Marketing & Communications Manager
23 Sep 2019,
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Katharine Smyth (Ballymena Road Club) continued her excellent season by becoming the 2019 National Road Series champion in Whitechurch, Cork.
Agnieszka Wozniak (Strata3VeloRev) took the win at the Cork GP as she out-sprinted Eileen Burns (Ballymena RC) in a two-up sprint to the line, with the pair having been away all day. However it was Smyth who topped the overall points ranking after seven races.
“It was an exciting one that’s for sure, said Smyth. “It started off quite slow as we had a headwind.Then about 10km into the race we had a crash which left me with a bent derailleur and I was stuck in the biggest gear for the rest of the race. I had my teammate Eileen (Burns) up the road in the breakaway and my intention was to get across but she was too strong.”
Smyth is the current All-Ireland Masters champion and this result caps off an excellent year for the Ballymena Road Club rider.
“It’s been a great year for me and I’m delighted to finish the year on a high so I’m really happy.”
Meanwhile Conor Hennebry (Dan Morrissey/MIG/Pactimo) successfully defended his title as winner of the men’s series with the Waterford native holding off his nearest rivals James Curry (Dan Morrissey/MIG/Pactimo) and Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles) to take the overall win.
Omagh man Angus Fyffe (Caldwell Cycles) took the win on the day having broken away from a twenty man group on the final lap with James Davenport (Strata3VeloRev), before pipping the Dubliner in the sprint to win the Cork GP.
Speaking after the finish, series winner Hennebry admitted he was more concerned about marking his rivals than the result on the day.
“It was a strange race. It was quite negative tactics as there were a couple of guys like Darnell Moore who were close to me on points coming into the race. I was really only watching a few guys I knew were close to me in the overall series.”
A delighted Hennebry says it was a major goal since the beginning of the season.
“It was a big goal of mine coming into this year. A former teammate of mine Sean Lacey defended his title two years in a row and it shows that you can be consistent throughout the whole year. I’m done now for the season so I’ll take a good break before I start thinking about next year.”
Ballymena Road club were the winners of the ladies team competition while Dan Morrissey/MIG/Pactimo were the best men’s team over the seven races.
WOMEN’S RESULTS, CORK GP
1. Agnieszka Wozniak (Strata3VeloRev)
2. Eileen Burns (Ballymena RC)
3. Katharine Smyth (Ballymena RC)
4. Lucy O’Donnell (Verge IRL)
5. Eve McCrystal (Strata3VeloRev)
6. Maura Claffey (UCD)
7. Yvonne Doran (Scott Orwell)
8. Laura Campbell (BRC)
9. Niamh O’Dwyer (TCRacing)
10. Nessa Rochford (DeRonde Cork)
MEN’S RESULTS, CORK GP
1. Angus Fyffe (Caldwell Cycles)
2. James Davenport (Stata3VeloRev)
3. Charles Prendergast (Castlebar CC)
4. Andy Maguire (Bioracer-DHL)
5. John Buller (Bioracer-DHL)
6. Matthew Sparrow (Dan Morrissey/MIG/Pactimo)
7. Luke Smith (Bioracer-DHL)
8. Gareth O’Neill (Newry)
9. Jason Kenny (UCD)
10. Colm Sheahan (Blarney)
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