Round 2 of the 2025 Ulster Cyclo-cross series was held at Palace Demesne in Armagh on Sunday 19 October. This was the 9th time that host club Square Wheels has ran a race at this venue. As before, the youth races up to Under 12s were held in the gardens of the Palace which is overlooked by the former home of the Archbishop of Armagh. The main course was out on the parkland which is quite far in from the main Friary Road. The event attracted over 180 entries but there was heavy rain forecast for the morning of the race until early afternoon which may have put a few off from attending. Those who did enjoyed some slippery, muddy racing – proper cyclo-cross!!
First race was for the Under 6s with 10 young riders completing two laps of a short circuit. Goodie bags at the finish helped.
The Under 8s race was held over 2 laps. Noah Finnegan (Square Wheels) crossed the line first to win the boys’ race, his second win of the series. Max Beattie (Square Wheels) was second with Charlie McCarter (Un-Attached Connacht) third. Alice Bell (Un-Attached Ulster) also got her second win of the series when she won the girls’ race. Ava Mowbray (Apollo Cycling Team) was second with Hope Corey (Apollo Cycling Team) third and Sally Mowbray (Apollo Cycling Team) fourth.
The Under 10s course was longer than the Under 8s one and they had 3 laps to complete. Despite the girls starting behind the boys, Ríonach Campbell (Square Wheels) managed to pass all the boys and crossed the line first. First boy across the line was James Kavanagh (Lakeland). Naoise Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) was second with Toby Heywood (Un-Attached Ulster) finishing third ahead of Harvey Hume (Dunloy CC). Joining Ríonach on the podium for the girls’ race was Zara Aiken (Banbridge CC) in second and Elianna Logan (Omagh Wheelers Cycling Club) in third.
The Under 12s was the longest of the youth courses in the garden area of the palace. They had 4 laps to complete. Lewis Bell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) stormed around the slippery course taking the win in the boys’ race. Josh Ruddell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) was second with Logan McAreavey (Bellurgan Wheelers) third. It was a full podium in the girls’ race for the host club Square Wheels with Eabha Connolly first,
Ruby Millar (Square Wheels) second and Ciara McCool (Square Wheels) third.
With the rain not stopping it was time to move the timing set up over to the finish line of the main course. The start line for the main course was up on the entrance road on the tarmac near the car parks. Lining up were the Under 16s, Under 14s and Women.
The Under 14s had 3 laps to complete. The top 3 in the boys’ race were the same as Round 1 with Daragh Quigley (Foyle CC) first, Billy Lord (Breffni Wheelers) second and Jack McGahan (Square Wheels) third. Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) was the only entry in the Under 14 girls’ race and would have finished third overall among the boys.
Josh McClune (Team Madigan C.C.) improved on his second place at Round 1 to take the win in Round 2 of the Under 16 boys’ race. Darragh Murphy (Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club) was second with Dylan Finnegan (Square Wheels) third with Rory McCool (Square Wheels) fourth. In the Under 16 girls’ race Ava Baker (Breffni Wheelers) picked up her second win of the series. Aoife Craig (VC Glendale) was second with Aoife Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) third.
In the Women’s 5 lap race Junior rider Emer Heverin (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) had no bike issues this week and went on to take a great win. Rachel Newell (McConvey Cycles) was second with Elena Wallace (Harps CC) taking third on her first race back this season. Catriona Wheeler (Agivey Cycling Club) was fourth with Laura Birley (Un-Attached Ulster) fifth. Claire Henderson (Un-Attached Ulster) was sixth and picked up the first unplaced Masters prize.
It was then the turn of the CX A’ race. This was held over 6 laps. Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles Cycling Club) lead for the first 3 laps before being passed by Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles) who would go on to take his first win of this year’s series, but his third time on the podium this season. Glenn had to settle for second. Darragh McCarter (Spellman-Dublin Port) got himself onto the podium in third place. Barry Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) was fourth and picked up the first unplaced M40 prize. It was great to see the return of Mark McKinley (Newry Wheelers CC) to cyclo-cross races. Mark finished fifth. Peter Morrison (Velo Cafe Magasin) was sixth and was the first unplaced M50. First unplaced Junior was Mark Molloy (Dunloy CC) with the legend Fred Macsorley (Apollo Cycling Team) picking up first unplaced M60. There were not enough teams for a team prize.
The rain had stopped (or paused) for the final race which was for the CX B’ race and the mountain bike support race. Taking a popular win for the host club in the B’ race was Bernard Mackle (Square Wheels). Well deserved. Richard McKeown (North Down CC) was second with Alun Powell (Un-Attached Ulster) making his way up from 6th to finish third. All three riders are now obliged to race in the A’ race for the remainder of the season. Seán Maguire (VC Glendale) was fourth with Pierce Doheny (Cuchulainn CC) fifth. In the MTB support race Gerard Curran (Tir Chonaill Gap CC) was first with Gavin Thompson (VC Glendale) second, Denver Irvine third and Conrad Kettyles (VC Glendale) fourth.
A huge thanks to all at Square Wheels for hosting the event in very challenging conditions. It was a job fixing tape, holding down gazebos all while looking after the riders like house guests. I’m sure everyone was glad to get home, showered and into clean, dry clothing. Next week we are off to the National Cyclo-cross Series at the GAP hosted by EPIC MTB. On Sunday 2 November 2025 we will have Round 3 of the Ulster series up at St. Columb’s Park in L’Derry hosted by Foyle Cycling Club.
Commissaires: Jim Adams, Martin Grimley
Results – here
Overall series table to date – here
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
The Belgian Project (Facebook) – part 1, part 2
Toby Watson (Facebook) – here
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