The Coombes Connor Memorial cycle race has been going for decades, I was curious about the history of the event and asked the organiser Ger Campbell from Donore. This years event is on next Sunday and to mark the occasion I dug out some pictures of what the event was like 20 years ago.
2005 RESULTS - Coombes Connor Memorial - Donore, Co. Louth 5th May
Senior 1&2 Race Winner: Bill Moore (Stamullen M Donnelly RC)
Senior 3 Race Winner: Stephen Carroll (Cuchulainn CC)
Juniors Race Winner: Tim O’Regan (Navan Avonmore RC)
Veterans Race Winner: Terry Ferris (Murphy & Gunn CC)
The Coombes Connor Memorial event is part of the Cycling Ireland National Single Grade race series - here's a report on the recent event in Munster.
Feeley Bags First Win of the Year in Blarney
From CyclingIreland.ie.The Blarney Cycling Club played hosts to the Donal Crowley and Kay Stratton Memorial races in Cork last weekend.
The C1 race took in 140km, and Burren’s Daire Feeley got his first National Single Grade win of the season. The reigning top ranked domestic rider finished 0.085 seconds ahead of second place Liam Crowley, riding with Orwell Wheelers, with Orwell team-mate Evan Keane taking third, 1 second back. The leading three had just over 15 seconds on the next rider after the 140km.
The C2 podium was dominated by Junior riders. Jack Lawless took top spot, with Newcastle West rider John O’Mahony taking second and O’Leary Stone Kanturk’s Oran O’Callaghan in third. The 90km race was a strong one for the juniors, with five juniors in the top-10.
Two women chose to ride the C2 race over the combined Women/C3 race. Abi Conway took 12th overall, with Linda Kelly taking 20th.
The combined Women and C3 race also took place over 90km. Ruairi Coakley came out on top of the men’s C3 race, followed by Kanturk’s Stephen Gillman in second, for the second week in a row, and M50 rider Shem Cullen in third.
Junior Aoife O’Donovan from Dungarvan took the top spot in the Women’s race. Veronika Krolova and Amy Kinsella took second and third respectively.
Entries are now open for the next National Single Grade race, the Coombes Connor Memorial, hosted by Drogheda Wheelers on March 22nd. If you want to enter the event - click here