March 2002 |
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TOUR OF THE NORTH Stages 3 & 4: (By Jim Trainor Mar 31) With four stages completed of the P&O Irish Sea Tour of the North, Bill Nickson (Scotland), who took over the yellow jersey on Saturday, still has a slender lead of 7 seconds over Banbridge's Tommy Evans (NI Commonwealth Selection). On Saturday's 69 miles stage at Downpatrick, Nickson outsprinted Evans and Brian Stewart (Northern Dave Kane-Provision) to take the stage and the overall lead. Nickson attacked with Duncan Urquhart (Scottish CU) at Clough and at Castlewellan (11 miles) he took the first AA King of the Hills prime ahead of Urquhart who in turn took the prime at Rathfriland. By Castlewellan on the way back there were 16 in the lead group but on the finishing circuit at Downpatrick this was reduced to nine riders who contested the sprint. There was a surprise winner of yesterday morning's 7.2 miles time-trial in Enniskillen when young Ben Morrow of the NICF team took the scalps of several established time-trial stars. Second was '97 winner Jason McIntyre (Scottish CU), 3 seconds slower with TT favourite Michael Hutchinson (Banbridge CC) third 11 seconds behind the winner. The afternoon's flat 55 miles stage round Lough Erne provided no change to the overall positions as they all finished together in a big bunch sprint which went to Dutchman Dennis Raadtgever riding for the Orchard Wheelers team. A 13-man group went away at Kesh which included McIntyre who became leader on the road when the gap went to 52 but this stirred the bunch and they all came together again after Belleek. P&O Irish Sea Tour of the North, Stage 3, 7.2m. TT, Enniskillen: 1, Ben Morrow (NICF) 15.18; 2, J. McIntyre (Scottish CU) 15.21; 3, M. Hutchinson (Banbridge CC) 15.29; 4, J. Dempsey (Classic Walls) 15.38; 5 eq., T. Evans and G. McKeegan (both NI Commonwealth Sel.)15.50. Stage 4, 55m. Enniskillen: 1, Dennis Raadtgever (Orchard Whs.) 2.15.00; 2, S. Hanna (Banbridge CC); 3, M. Freeman (BCF Central); 4, D. Easton (Totao Cycling.com); 5, D. Gardiner (Apollo CRT); 6, T. Evans (NI Commonwealth Sel.); 7, K. Gallagher (Orchard Whs.); 8, B. Stewart (Northern Dave Kane Provision); 9,, R. Blayney (NICF); 10, J. McIntyre (Scottish CU) all same time. General Classification: 1, B. Nickson 5.10.35; 2, T. Evans at 7 secs; 3, B. Doherty at 21 secs; 4, B. Morrow at 31 secs; 5, B. Stewart at 35 secs; 6, J. McIntyre at 38 secs; 7, J. Dempsey at 46 secs; 8, M. Hutchinson at 54 secs; 9, D. Gardiner at 55 secs; 10, D. Raadtgever at 1.04. DAWSON DOMINATES IN KERRY: (By Shane Stokes Mar 31) With just tomorrow’s stage remaining in the Fexco/Credit Union Ras Mumhan race in Kerry, the UK visitors Kevin Dawson and Mark Lovatt seem assured of taking the top two postitions overall. Both Team Compensation riders had finished outside the placings in Friday’s prologue time trial, but they left their Irish competitors in little doubt as to their strength on Saturday when they powered clear towards the end of the 103 mile second stage around the Ring of Kerry. Race leader Phil Cassidy had put up a brave defence of his yellow jersey but had no answer to the effort of Dawson and Lovatt, who stormed ahead with 40 miles remaining and finished a massive four minutes clear of the rest of the field. At the finish in Killorglin Lovatt narrowly outsprinted Dawson, who took yellow, but the latter had his turn for stage honours at the end of today’s tough 95 mile third leg of the race. The action was started by Cassidy when he went clear alone in the early miles, but he was joined by four others before the ascent of the Conor Pass, with a general regrouping taking place later in the stage. On the final climb of the day Brian Kenneally forged ahead, was matched by Dawson, and then out-sprinted at the finish. Fexco/Credit Union Ras Mumhan, Kerry. Stage 2: 1 Mark Lovatt, (Team Compensation); 2, K. Dawson (Team Compensation); 3, M. Forde (Linconshire); 4, J. Tanner (Team Compensation); 5, B. Kenneally (Cidona Carrick Wheelers); 6, T. Hogan (Earl of Desmond CC) Stage 3: 1, Dawson; 2, Kenneally; 3, Lovatt; 4, Tanner; 5, R. Holden (Isle of Man); 6, T. Barry (Cidona Carrick Wheelers) Overall: 1, Dawson, 8 hours 4 mins 28 secs; 2, Lovatt, at 26 secs; 3, Kenneally, at 4 mins 3 secs; 4, Tanner, at 4 mins 34 secs; 5, Barry, at 4 mins 35 secs; 6, P. Moriarty (Dublin Skip) at 6 mins 28 secs TOUR OF THE NORTH STAGE 2: (By Jim Trainor Mar 30) Bill Nickson (Scotland) won the second stage of the P&O Irish Sea Tour of the North, a 69 miles loop through County Down starting and finishing at Downpatrick. He won in a sprint from nine-man group ahead of Tommy Evans (NI Commonwealth Selection) and Brian Stewart (Northern Dave Kane-Provision). The 22-year-old Scot, a son of former British Milk Race winner and Tour de France rider Bill Nickson, was only 1 second behind Jonathan Dempsey in the opening prologue time-trial at Stormont and he takes over the yellow jersey with a 12 second advantage over Tommy Evans going into tomorrow morning's 7.2 miles time-trial at Enniskillen. Nickson was in all the moves and was in an attack with Duncan Urquhart (Scottish CU) at Clough, only 5 miles into the stage. At Castlewellan (11 miles) he took the first AA King of the Hills prime ahead of Urquhart but the positions were reversed at the second KOH prime at Rathfriland (20 miles) where Urquhart led Nickson and Brendan Doherty (VC Glendale/Total Cycling.com). Several rider made their way up to the leaders and there was a leading group of six chased by a larger group containing Evans and by Castlewellan on the way back there were 16 at the front. There were several attacks on the finishing circuit at Downpatrick but they were all brought back and nine riders survived to contest the sprint. P&O Irish Sea Tour of the North, Stage 2, 69m., Downpatrick: 1, Bill Nickson (Scotland) 2.37.44; 2, T. Evans (NI Commonwealth Sel.); 3, B. Stewart (Northern Dave Kane Provision); 4, Denis Easton (VC Glendale/Total Cycling.com); 5, D. Gardiner (Apollo CRT); 6, B. Doherty (VC Glendale/Total Cycling.com) all same time. General Classification: 1, B. Nickson 2.39.48; 2, T. Evans at 12 secs; 3, B. Stewart at 15 secs; 4, B. Doherty at 19 secs; 5, D. Gardiner at 24 secs; 6, D. Easton at 26 secs. CASSIDY
DOMINATES OPENING TIME TRIAL OF FEXCO/CREDIT UNION RAS
MUMHAN: (By
Shane Stokes Mar
29) For the second year in succession, Phil Cassidy of
the Cycleways Lee Strand team proved fastest in the
prologue time trial of the Fexco/Credit Union Rás
Mumhan in Killorglin this evening. The Cycleways Lee
Strand rider covered the 2.6 mile test almost seven full
seconds faster than second-placed rider Brian Kenneally
of the Cidona Carrick Wheelers, with Kenneally's
team-mate Eddie O'Donoghue placing third. The defending
race champion Eugene Moriarty (Cycleways Lee Strand) was
a further seven seconds back in sixth place. The race continues tomorrow with a
mountainous 104 mile road stage. TOUR OF THE NORTH (STAGE 1 - 1.2ml. TT): (By Jim Traynor Mar 29) Jonathan Dempsey (Classic Walls), a past Irish 10 miles time-trial champion, put his skills against the watch to good use yesterday evening to win the prologue time-trial in the P&O Irish Sea Tour of the North. Although only 1.2 miles long, the course was a very testing one climbing almost all the way from the gates of Stormont at the Newtownards Road up to the front of Parliament Buildings. Pre-rece favourites Tommy Evans (NI Commonwealth Games Selection) and time-trial ace Michael Hutchinson finished outside the top ten, Evans 8 seconds off the pace with 2.17 while Hutchinson, who should be better suited with Sunday morning's 7.2 miles TT course at Enniskillen, was another 5 seconds slower. First rider off Paul Kane (Northern Dave
Kane Provision) recorded 2.16 which was good enough to
give him 12th place after another 111 riders had
completed the course. However his young teammate Owen
Jeffries, off no. 2 recorded 2.10 which held the lead
for half an hour until Dempsey came homne 1 second
faster. Dempsey had an anxious wait for almost an
hour until all the favourites had completed their run
until he was sure he would take the first yellow jersey
when the race starts in Downpatrick tomorrow from the
Leisure Centre at 10 a.m. The finish is at the Abbey
Lodge Hotel, Downpatrick around 12.45. CYCLISTS SHOW WORRYING BONE DENSITY: (By Shane Stokes Mar 29) Research currently being conducted in Trinity College has shown that some Irish cyclists have worryingly low bone density levels, with some hip and spine scans revealing osteoporotic conditions typical of elderly patients. According to Dr JJ Gillooly, who together with Dr Oran Rigby is carrying out the research, about ten percent of the 140 cyclists they have seen thus far have bone density levels which are a serious cause for concern, while a large proportion of the remaining riders fall within the lower end of the acceptable range. <Read More Here> BIG CLASHES IN STORE IN EASTER STAGE RACES: (By Shane Stokes Mar 28) The organisers of both of this weekend’s stage races have said that they are expecting exciting and hard-fought contests, with foreign competitors and big Irish names due to clash in both the Fexco/Credit Union Ras Mumhan and the Dublin Skip Gorey 3 day. The Kerry event begins tomorrow with a 2.6 mile time trial in Killorglin, and continues with three tough mountainous road stages of 104, 94 and 58 miles over the Easter weekend. Race organiser Sean O’Callaghan has said that the Fexco/Credit Union Rás Mumhan will feature one of its strongest ever fields, with competitors from the UK, the Isle of Man and Brittany due to take part. These foreign riders include FBD Milk Rás regulars Mark Lovatt, John Tanner and Kevin Dawson, who are all strong and experienced enough to be in the thick of the hunt for overall honours. Former FBD Milk Rás winner Andy Roche is also a threat, and will be at the helm of the Isle of Man team. Tom Anderson, who spent 4 years racing on the continent, heads the Lincolnshire squad while Surrey League are also due to take part. The home charge will be led by last year’s winner Eugene Moriarty, fired up to defend his title, and the rest of the Cycleways Lee Strand team, although they may have a tough task dealing with the dominant Cidona Carrick Wheelers squad who monopolised the top placings last week in the Des Hanlon Memorial. Meanwhile former Cycling Great Sean Kelly is confirmed as a starter in the Dublin Skip Gorey 3 Day event for Senior 2 and 3 riders, juniors and veterans, which begins in Brittas on Saturday. The Tour de France star will compete as a guest rider with the Mayo Wheelers team in the race, while another former professional Laurence Roche is due to line out in the colours of the BH Racing Team. Neil Martin (On the Edge Racing Team) leads the charge of those in attendance from the UK; riders from the North Buck road club in Milton Keanes are also travelling. The race starts on the outskirts of Dublin this Saturday with a road stage down to the Wexford town of Gorey. A time trial and circuit race follow on Sunday, before a mainly flat road stage brings the riders back towards the capital on Easter Monday. Race organiser Sam Darcy reports that there has been a huge amount of interest in the event. ‘We have a full field this year and in fact have had to turn away some riders because so many want to take part. It should be a great race, especially with Sean and Laurence riding.’
KENNEALLY HEADS CIDONA DOMINATION: (By Shane Stokes Mar 24) Former Team Ireland international Brian Kenneally displayed a stylish return to form yesterday when he dominated the tough Des Hanlon memorial race in Carlow. The event, held over a strength-sapping mountainous circuit, brought considerable success for Munster riders, with Cidona Carrick Wheelers taking the first three places in the senior 1 competition and Kanturk’s Paudi O’Brien winning the junior/senior 3 race. Kenneally’s team mate Eddie O’Donoghue was aiming to take his third straight win in the senior 1 competition and started off on a strong note when he went clear with seven others on the first of three laps. This group built a lead over the fragmenting main bunch but were eventually reeled back in after the halfway point, paving the way for a counterattack by Kenneally and Stephen Gallagher of the Ulster Cycling Federation squad. Going onto the final lap, the leading duo had an advantage of 1 minute and 10 seconds; Kenneally attacked and dropped Gallagher, who slipped back to the small group in pursuit behind. Cidona Carrick Wheeler rider Timmy Barry raced clear on the run in to the line to finish over a minute down on his team-mate, while O’Donoghue easily outsprinted the rest to ensure a clean sweep of the top placings for the club. A storming solo ride also settled the
junior/senior 3 event with O’Brien going clear early
in the race and finishing almost three minutes clear of
Usher IRC rider David Dukes to take his fourth win of
the season. Avonmore Navan’s Paddy Sweeney
convincingly won the two-up sprint which decided the
senior 2 contest, outpacing John O’Shea (Cidona
Carrick Wheelers) in the dash to the line. PHOENIX GRAND PRIX: (By Jim Trainor Mar 24) Omagh Veteran Mickey Gallen (Omagh Whs.) won Phoenix CC's 52 miles handicap at Nutts Corner outsprinting 3 other vets. after six laps run off in atrocious conditions which saw the 80 strong field reduced to less than 30 at the finish. The field was sent off in two groups with the vets., juniors and 3rds in the limit bunch which was in receipt of 6 minutes handicap on the scratch group of 1st and 2nd cat. riders including surprise started Tommy Evans (La Pomme), winner of the Tour of Ards the previous day. Six riders broke away from the first group:
Gallen, Newry pair Eddie Crory and Con Shortt; Jim
McConnell (Kings Moss), Alex Carey (Eire Og, Sligo) and
Ryan Connor (Ballymena Scott RC). The scratchmen
took nearly five laps to catch everybody except this
leading sextet who lost first Connor on the penultimate
lap and Carey who lost contact on the final
circuit. Evans and Norman Campbell (unatt.) broke
away from the bunch in pursuit but although they caught
and passed Carey, they were still a minute behind the
four from which Gallen won the sprint.
The 11 riders had gone clear early on at Donaghadee as the 76-strong field battled into a fierce headwind down the Co. Down coast and they soon established a substantial gap which increased all the way with the bunch eventually coming come 9 minutes behind the winner. As they turned into a tailwind for the run back up the Ards Peninsula to the finish in Newtownards Evans went away and although he never got more than 40 seconds advantage he never looked like being caught. Davy Gardiner (Apollo CT) led in Denis
Easton (Total Cycling.com) and Brian Stewart (Northern
Dave Kane Provision) 26 seconds later with the remainder
of the break coming in a further 11 seconds back. CHRISTY McMANUS MEMORIAL: (Mar 23 Roundwood) Results: 1 S. Bracken, Usher IRC 2 P Sweeney, Avonmore Navan R.C. 3 J. Mason, BH Racing 4 D. Ryan, Stagg Lucan C.C. 5 K. Sexton, Bray Wheelers C.C. 6. K. Norgrove, Dublin Wheelers C.C. 1st Junior: S. Enright, Usher IRC 2nd Junior: T. Duggan, Bray Wheelers C.C. 1st: Vet: D. Woods, Usher IRC 1st 'C': J. Cruise, Bray Wheelers C.C. 1st: Lady: G. McDarby, IMBRC Irish
Going Well in Saudi: (Mar
21) Three Irish cyclists, Paul griffin, martin
o'loughlin and ray Clarke made the long journey to Saudi
Arabia as part of an Anglo Irish 5-man team to compete
in the tour of Saudi. They have excelled in the opening
stages with the following results: LAVERY WINS DUBLIN - DROGHEDA H/Cap RR. Results: 1 Tosh Lavery, First Legal/Garda C.C. 2 S. Bracken, Usher I.R.C. 3 R. Connor, Ballymena C.C. 4 S. Enright, Usher I.R.C. 5 A. McQuaid, Emerald C.C. 1st Lady: Susan O'Meara, 1st 3rd Cat: J. Cruise, Bray Wheelers C.C. 1st: Senior 2: L. Roche, BH Racing Team. Fastest Time: 1st Shane Baker, Usher IRC 2nd: T. Brady, Avonmore Navan. <See Pictures Here> SCANLON WINS REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: (By Shane Stokes Mar 17) In form rider Mark Scanlon won the first round of the French South-East regional championship series on Saturday, breaking clear towards the end of the Les Monts de Luberon race and finishing over a minute clear of second-placed Vassili Iniokhin. Scanlon's Irish team-mate Tommy Evans was 4th, one place ahead of fellow VC La Pomme rider Martial Ricci-Poggi, handing the Marseilles squad the lead in the series. With just the final stage remaining in the Redlands Classic race in California, neo-pro David O'Loughlin is lying in an excellent 3rd place overall in the mountains classification. The Mayo rider was part of a six man breakaway which went clear early in the 174 kilometre 3rd stage to Oak Glen and scored well over the climbs before being reeled in before the last ascent. He is 66th overall, with Ciaran Power 11th in the Sprints classification and 86th in the General Classification. Redlands
Classic, stage 3: 1, Roland Green (Canadian National
Team) 174 kilometres in 4 hours 17 mins 3 secs; 2, C.
Horner (Prime Alliance) same time; 3, S. Petersen
(Saturn) at 29 secs; 4, D. Zabriske (US Postal Service)
at 31 secs; 5, T. Klasna (Saturn) at 40 secs; 6, C.
McRae (US Postal Service) at 1 min 24 secs. Irish:
103, David O'Loughlin (OFOTO-Lombardi) at 10 mins 37;
123, Ciaran Power (Navigators) at 14 mins 50 secs. See the latest Rider Rankings on the Cycling Ireland website - <Go Here> O'DONOGHUE
BEST IN HOMETOWN: (Mar
17) In a wind and rain-lashed Carrick-on-Suir, Eddie
O'Donoghue from the promoting club Carrick Cidona got
sweet revenge over the ironman from Meath Philip Cassidy
from Cycleways. Last Sunday in similiar conditions
Cassidy beat O'Donoghue, but in today's race which
covered 5 laps of a 13 mile circuit, Cassidy had to
contend with 3 Carrick Cidona men in a leading break of
6 riders who broke away from the main field as the race
entered it's 2nd last lap. Try, as Cassidy did, to get
rid of all opposition, his valiant efforts failed. As
these six riders entered the final finishing straight,
it was the rapid sprint of O'Donoghue who claimed his
2nd victory of the season. Conditions for the race were
described by race organisor Paul Lonergan as the worst
seen in over 20 years. ST. PATRICK'S DAY RACE: (By JIM TRAYNOR Mar 17, Downpatrick) Irish road race champion, David McCann (Phoenix CC) has not had a very good year to date with his new professional team folding and a nagging ligament injury but he gave himself a birthday present when he won the St. Patrick's Day race at Downpatrick on his first outing of the year. It was his 29th birthday and the Belfast rider said he started the race to test if his injury had fully cleared up. There were 109 starters in the UCPC promotion and McCann was in the 35-strong 1st category scratch group which gave away 8.15, the maximum possible on the 3.76m. circuit which was covered 14 times. It only took the scratchmen two laps to pull back
4.15 on the middlemarkers and two laps later they were
all together. For the next 7 laps they all stayed
together but with two laps to go five riders had managed
to open a 25 second gap. At bell McCann had
managed to cross to the leaders but the huge bunch was
right behind only 15 seconds behind. However the break
just managed to hold off the fast closing bunch and
McCann too the sprint from Stephen Morrow (Orchard Whs.)
The 55-man field were set off in three groups with the limit bunch getting 8 minutes on the scratchmen but after only one lap of the 5-lap race this had been cut to half and a lap later they were all together. At the start of the third lap five riders had a gap of 15 seconds and by the bell this had grown to 35. On the final lap last week's winner Brendan Doherty (Total Cycling.com) went clear on his own but he was caught at the final corner. However his effort gave teammate Easton an armchair ride to the finish where he took the sprint from Shaun Turner (Bann Valley CC) with Roger AIken (Banbridge CC) third, despite riding the race in trainers having forgotten his cycling shoes. Cicli Sport G.P., 70kms: 1, Denis Easton (Total Cycling.com) 1.48.50; 2, S. Turner (Bann Valley CC); 3, R. Aiken (Banbridge CC); 4, B. Morrow (East Antrim CC) all same time; 5, B. Doherty (Total Cycling.com) at 4 secs; 6, P. Deignam (Total Cycling.com) at 15 secs; 7, J. Dempsey (Classic Walls) s.t.; 8, R. Patton (unatt.) at 20 secs; 9, G. Rodgers (Banbridge CC); 10, S. Wright (Ballymena Scott CC) all same time. Junior: S. Turner., 2nd cat.: R. Patton., 3rd cat.: S. Gray (Harps CC). Vet. Norman Campbell (unatt.) Leinster
League Race 3:
(Mar 16) There was 133 starters and the weather was dry
and sunny. It was 3 laps of the Batters town /Mullagh
circuit 38
miles. <Read More
Here> NICF CYCLING AT BALLYFORE: (Mar 16) Ryan Connor from Ahoghill won today’s Northern Ireland Cycling Federation handicap road race league event over 51 miles at Ballyfore in Co Antrim . . . his second successive victory in the league. The 17 year old finished well ahead of runner-up Mark Lyttle with his Roadstars Crumlin teammate, Matthew Ward, third. The field had been split into three groups, but Connor and Lyttle nudged ahead on the second of nine laps of a 5.7-mile circuit and never looked back. They stayed together until the last lap when Connor attacked on the final climb to romp home on his own, almost a minute ahead of Lyttle. In the supporting underage events, there
were victories for Andrew Hoey from Ballymena in the
Under-16 class, while Victoria Swann easily won the
Under-14 event. French 1st Cat Rider Looking for place on Team in Rás: <Click Here> LIFE BEGINS AT FORTY FOR CASSIDY: (By Gerard Cromwell Mar 10) Evergreen Cycleways Lee-Strand rider Philip Cassidy added the Coombes-Connor Memorial to his impressive haul of victories when winning the wind-swept event at Drogheda today. <Read More Here> <See Pictures Here> The Vikings are coming !!!!! (By Gerard Cromwell Mar 10) Well, not quite. Yes he may be blonde and wear the word Vallhall (the site where legend has it that Vikings go to die) on his racing jersey but unlike his ancestors, Kristian Hallsten is not about to set fire to our homes or rob our bikes. (I hope!) <Read More Here> Irish Riders at Redlands: (By Gerard Cromwell Mar 14) David O'Loughlin (Ofoto-Lombardia Sports) finished best of the Irish in the first stage time trial of the 5-day Redlands classic, in 56th place @ 57" behind stage winner Chris Horner of Prime Alliance. Navigators' Ciaran Power finished in 73rd place just 08 seconds behind the Mayoman, while Adrian Hedderman (Y2K) finished 199th @ 2'31" Regional Champions? (By Gerard Cromwell Mar 12) Ok, here’s a question for all you cycling buffs out there. Can you name the four current Cycling Ireland Regional Champions? I bet there’s not too many who can, off the top of your head now, no looking it up. <Read More Here> SCANLON 7th IN PRIX MATHIAS NOMBLOT: (By Shane Stokes Mar 11) VC La Pomme rider Mark Scanlon recorded another high placing in a French event yesterday when he placed 7th in the Prix Mathias Nomblot, near Lyon. The Sligoman finished third of a group of nine which crossed the line 5 seconds behind winner Michael Buffaz of the VC Lyon squad, with 3 others sandwiched in-between. Denis Lynch rode strongly to finish 17th in the race, 18 seconds off the time of Buffaz, while Tommy Evans was a further 37 seconds back in 22nd place. Meanwhile, Aidan Duff had a strong showing in Saturday’s Tour D’Emeraude race in Brittany. The 23 La Creuse cyclist finished 5th in the event, also ranked 1.12.1, which was won by UCL Hennebont rider Jesus Vilchez JOHN HALDANE MEMORIAL IN NEWRY: (By Jim Traynor Mar 10) Gale force winds persuaded the organisers, Newry Haldane Fisher CC, to cut the John Haldane Memorial at Newry from 60 to 50 miles with the 60-strong bunch set off in two bunches with an 8 minute gap between them. Although the scratch group caught the bunch in front by half-distance, five riders had gone away on the first of the five circuits of the Newry - Warrenpoint dual-carriageway and these five were never in any danger of being caught. In fact after the first lap they had increased their advantage on scratch t0 nine minutes and although they slowed somewhat after that they still had 3.14 in hand at the finish where Shaun Turner (Bann Valley CC) won the sprint from the other junior Ryan Connor (Ballymena RC), who had won the previous day at Ballynure. The next three places were taken by
veterans, Mickey Gallen (Omagh Whs.) ahead of Eddie
Crory and Con Shortt of the promoting club. Alastair
Steele (Bann Valley RC) led in the bunch over 3 minutes
later. VC BANGOR HANDICAP: (By JIM TRAYNOR Mar 9) Brendan Doherty (Total Cycling.com) won VC Bangor's 50 miles handicap on the Bangor - Donaghadee circuit in a two-up sprint from Davy Gardiner (Apollo CT). These two were part of an 11 man group which went away on the start of the fourth of five laps. The 65-strong field had gone off in three groups with a total handicap of 7 minutes but the scratchmen caught the middlemarkers halfway round the second lap and the limit bunch a lap later. At this point 11 riders went away and soon had a commanding lead. At Donaghadee on the final lap Phillip Deignan (Total Cycling.com) went clear on his own and stayed out in front until just before the final corner when he was caught as Doherty and Gardiner broke away from the leaders, eventually finishing 15 seconds ahead. VC Bangor Handicap, 50m., Bangor: 1, Brendan Doherty (Total Cycling.com) 1.55.01; 2, D. Gardiner (Apollo CT) s.t.; 3, D. Easton (Total Cycling.com) at 15 secs; 4, R. Blayney (Toyota North Down); 5, S. Hanna (Banbridge CC); 6, R. Aiken (Banbridge CC); 7, O. Jeffries (Northern Dave Kane); 8, B. Stewart (Northern Dave Kane); 9, G. Kinning (XMTB); 10, P. Deignan (Total Cycling.com); 11, L. Kirk (Ards CC) all same time. NICF Handicap: (Mar 9) Ryan Connor from Ahoghill won today’s 45-mile Northern Ireland Cycling Federation handicap road race, promoted by East Antrim Cycling Club at Ballynure in Co Antrim. Connor, a member of Ballymena Road Club, finished more than two minutes ahead of the promoting club’s Wayne Morrow from Glenarm, with Mark Lyttle (Roadstars Crumlin) third. The field was split into three groups for six laps of a 7.2-mile circuit and 17 year old Connor, who started in the middle group, moved clear of the field on the third lap along with team-mate Chris McCaughan. A lap later Connor was on his own, having dropped McCaughan, and he continued to press his advantage till the finish. Result: 1 R Connor (Ballymena-Scott) 1hr 57mins 14secs; 2 W Morrow (East Antrim/Audi); 3 M Lyttle (Roadstars Crumlin); 4 S Wright (Ballymena/Scott); 5 M Ward (Roadstars Crumlin); 6 J Dempsey (Classic Walls); 7 J McConnell (King’s Moss) all 2mins 2secs behind; 8 J Neill (Team Madigan); 9 T Walsh (Team Madigan); 10 G Currie (Classic Walls) all at 3.50. Under-16 (21.6 miles); 1 K Cromie (Roe Valley); 2 A Hoey (Ballymena/Scott); 3 W Barr (Ballymena/Scotts). Under-14 (14.4 miles): 1 Victoria Swann; 2 Nadine Morris; 3 C Church (all Ballymena Scotts). Lavery Takes Round Two of Leinster League: (By Shane Stokes Mar 9) Garda rider Tosh Lavery took today’s round of the Leinster League at Clonee, winning a race which at one stage looked set to be cancelled due to a fall of snow just one hour before the start. Eighty riders started the second leg of the League, with the junior, veteran, senior 3 and female riders getting a 6 minute handicap on the combined Senior 1/2 group. A concerted effort by the chasers saw a steady erosion of this lead, yet well before the two groups merged Lavery and the Usher duo of Sean Bracken and Stephen Enright slipped clear. The trio had a lead of 1 and a half minutes over a group of 18 riders going through Batterstown for the final time, with this advantage had falling to a fragile 40 seconds at Mullagh. With five miles remaining, Enright lost contact as the gap shrunk to 25 seconds, but a gutsy effort by the leading duo saw them reach the finish ahead. Here, Lavery decisively outsprinted Bracken to take the 12 points, with senior 1 rider Willy Byrne leading home the chasers just 6 seconds later. David Byrne, who won the first round last weekend and was promptly upgraded to the Senior 2 category, placed 8th and continues to lead, albeit on the same points total as Bracken. 1, Tosh Lavery (Garda/Dermot&Coyle) 1 hour 45 mins 30 secs; 2, S. Bracken (Usher IRC) same time; 3, W. Byrne (unattached) at 6 secs; 4, B. Hammond (Usher IRC); 5, J. P. Hilliard (Les Jeunes); 6, E. Murtagh (Finglas Ravens); 7, T. Aherne (UCD); 8, D. Byrne (Usher IRC) all same time League placings after 2
rounds: 1, Byrne, 17 points; 2, Bracken, same; 3,
Lavery, 12 points; 4, W. Byrne, same; 5, I. Ormond (Cidona
Carrick) 11 pts; 6, J. Lawless (Usher IRC), same; 7, A.
McMahon (McNally Swords), 10 pts; 8, J. P. Hilliard,
same; 9, S. Enright (Usher IRC), 9 pts; 10, B. Hammond,
same. <Read More Here>
O’Loughlin makes it two in a row in Navan: (By GERARD CROMWELL Mar 3) Carrick Cidona’s Martin O’Loughlin left it late, in more ways than one, to take his second consecutive victory in the Cycleways Cup in Navan today. The 35-year-old schoolteacher from Carrick-On-Suir almost missed the start of the race while warming up. By the time he made contact with the fleeing bunch the main move of the day had already gone and O’Loughlin had to bide his time in a chase group before launching a blistering attack on the final lap. O’Loughlin closed a 30” gap to the leaders in the final miles of the 72 mile race and joined Carrick Cidona teammate Eddie O’Donoghue, Shane Baker of Usher Insulations and the evergreen Philip Cassidy of Cycleways-Lee Strand at the head of the race. With just five miles to go, the Carrick man attacked instantly and soloed to a fine victory finishing 48” ahead of O’Donoghue, with a tiring Cassidy 3rd and a previously dropped Baker in 4th place. “I missed the start because I was warming up and when I got to the bunch, the break had already gone” said O’Loughlin at the finish. “I rode around in a chase group and decided to leave them on the last lap. I didn’t realise there were only three up the road and Cass and Eddie were just watching each other so I took off. It’s great to win it for the second time!” O’Loughlin now heads to Saudi Arabia in a
fortnights time to ride the 2.5 ranked Tour of Saudi
Arabia with an Anglo-Irish team which also includes Ray
Clarke (Clarkes-Nissan) and Paul griffin (Earl OF
Desmond Tralee). “I’ve been doing some extra
training for that so I’m hoping to ride well.” <See
Pictures Here> <Senior
2 Race Report Here> KEN O'KEEFE MEMORIAL: Sen Results: 1 Richie Cahill Banteer CC, 2 Timmy Barry Carrick Cidona CC, 3 Sean Lacey Earl of Desmond CC, 4 Thomas Hogan Earl of Desmond CC, 5 Paddy Moriarty Dublin Skip CC. Carrick Wheeler: (Feature Report By Gerry McManus) Carrick-on-Suir has a long tradition of producing top class Irish cyclists and in the small town nestling in the shadow of the Slievenamon and Comeragh mountains, Martin 0'Loughlin is one of the current crop who have made it into the senior Irish national squad. Martin tells the story so far to Gerry McManus. <Read More Here> At Least It Wasn't A Volvo: First report of the year - and what a report by David Walsh. It might have been noticed that my reports ceased kind of early last year. I ended up with nerve damage to my wrist, thanks to a driver who overtook me and turned left at the same time... about 1/2 mile from my home. Enough about that. <Read More Here> NORTHERN
REPORT (By Jim
Traynor Mar 3) The Road cycling season got underway at
the weekend in Ulster with races at Aghagallon,
Broughshane and Annaclone, victories going to Norman
Campbell, Jim McConnell and Ashley Patterson. There were
60 starters today at Aghagallon on a new 3-miles circuit
at Lough Neagh where 60 riders went off in two bunches
separated by 7 minutes. The scratchmen were making
inroads into their handicap of about 30 seconds a lap
but after four of the 17 laps there were breakaways from
both the big bunches. Up front Micky Gallen (Omagh
Whs.), Sean Turner (Bann Valley) and John Neill (Team
Madigan) went away and opened up a 2 minute lead while
behind ten riders left the scratch group. For the next
10 laps the three leaders stayed away but started to
tire and on the15th circuit there were joined by a
chasing group of seven. Two dropped back leaving 8
together at the bell and with a couple of miles
remaining Norman Campbell (unatt.) rode away chased by
Chris Greene of the promoting Clann Eireann CC and they
stayed ahead to the finish where Campbell took the
sprint. Ten seconds later Mickey Gallen led in Wayne
Morrow (East Antrim Audi) and they in turn had 6 seconds
in hand over John neill who led in the remainder of the
break. NORTHERN RESULTS (By Jim Traynor Mar 2) The Road cycling season got underway with events at Broughshane and Annaclone, victories going to Jim McConnell and Ashley Patterson. Banbridge CC's traditional season opening 40 miles handicap at Annaclone, sponsored by Travers Engineering, had 48 entries, split into three group with handicaps of 2.5 and 5 mins. but by the end of the first lap the first two groups had merged but the scratchmen hadn't managed to pull back any of their 2.5 minute deficit. A lap later they had brought the gap down to 1.40 but 10 riders had broke away at the front and they stayed together until the final lap when a crash split them up to such an extent that the top 10 riders all had separate times. Ashley Patterson (Northern Dave Kane) was first up the hill to the finish 4 seconds ahead of Ryan Patton (unatt.) with home rider Stephen Hanna (Banbridge CC) third at 5 seconds. At Broughshane 43 riders were set off in four groups over five laps of a 10.2 miles circuit withhandicaps of 2.5, 5 and 5.5 minutes. Jim Mconnell who was second in the NICF Road Race Championship on this circuit at the end of last summer, went off in the first group as this season he has turned veteran. The big Kings Moss rider was too strong for most of the limit men and he went away on the second circuit along with Albert Douglas (Team Madigan) and they were still out in front until the penultimate lap when McConnell went ahead on his own coming home over a minute clear of Sean Wright of the promoting Ballymena Scott RC who outsprinted Mark Lyttle (Crumlin Roadstars) for second place. Annaclone
Handicap, 40m: 1, Ashley Patterson (Northern Dave
Kane) 1.41.32; 2, R. Patton (Unatt.) at 4 secs; 3, S.
Hanna (Banbridge CC) at 5 secs; 4, R> Blayney (Toyota
North Down) at 9 secs; 5, A. Duffield (Northern Dave
Kane) at 18 secs; 6, E. Smyth (Ards CC) at 51 secs; 7,
F. Duncan (Northern Dave Kane) at 57 secs; 8, S.
Thompson (Maryland Whs.) at 1.08; 9, G. Rodgers
Banbridge CC) at 1.31; 10, D. Travers (Banbridge CC) at
1.34. CYCLISTS WANTED FOR RESEARCH: Dr Oran Rigby in Trinity College is under taking a research on bone density in cyclists and he is looking for cyclists to work with - if you are interested <Click Here> A Bit of Cycling History: This poem on its original paper - from 1964(17/9/64) was kindly given to me by Tommy Burke from my home town Kildare. This is the poem that was read out at his funeral. I don't know the Author as the bottom piece of the sheet was torn. Paddy was a great help and good friend to all the cyclists from the town and surrounding area. -- Brendan Whelan. Secretary: Stagg Lucan CRC <Click Here> |
EVANS
WINS TOUR OF ARDS,
(By Jim Traynor) Tommy Evans (VC La Pomme) had a
convincing victory in Ards CC's Tour of Ards with a 30
miles solo effort which gave him victory by 40
seconds. The Banbridge man, home from France for a
series of races including next weekend's P&O Irish
Sea Tour of the North and the Archer Grand Prix in
England, went away from an 11-strong break half way
through the race and stayed out in front to the finish.
CICLI
SPORT GRAND PRIX:
(By JIM TRAYNOR Mar 16, Moneymore) Denis Easton had his
first win in his new Total Cycling.com colours when he
won the sprint from a five man break at the end of the
70 kms Cicli Sport Grand Prix promoted by RT Autoparts
East Tyrone CC at Moneymore.