Date: Sunday 9 January 2011
Event: Irish National Cyclo-cross Championships 2011
Location: Lurgan Park
Host clubs: Banbridge CC, Apollo CT and Dromara CC
The 2011 Irish National Cyclo-Cross Championships took place at Lurgan Park in County Amagh on Sunday 9 January 2011. The park was covered in a thin layer of snow and the early morning wind was bitterly cold. Event organisers were on site from before sunrise laying out the course which had been designed by Stephen Prentice and his team. Three local cycling clubs had come together to pool resourses to hold this prestigious event, Banbridge CC, Apollo CT and Dromara CC. Over 110 riders had pre-registered for the event which incorporated the full range of support races from Under 8s up to Under 16s and a MTB support race for those over 16. Sign on opened at 09:30 and a steady stream of riders showed up from across Ireland. There were a few riders missing from parts of the country where the roads were very icy making for dangerous driving conditions. The recent difficult wintery conditions had put the dampeners on many of the top riders as outdoor training was nearly impossible. This was a factor in the lower than expected turn out on the day.
The main cyclo-cross races took place at 1pm and by this stage the weather had improved to mild conditions. The race start was supervised by UCI commissaire Paul Watson and riders were gridded using the league tables from the Stevens Cup and the Ulster Cyclo-cross series. Last year’s winner Joe McCall was unable to make the event due to injury. The senior riders started first with the junior riders starting one minute later. Deputy Lord Major of Craigavon, Kieran Corr, was on hand to start the race. Riders got away without a hitch with the seniors completing 7 laps and the juniors completing 5. The race had attracted a crowd especially around the wooden planks which were close to the entrance at the Waves Centre. There was a great atmosphere around the course with the sound of cow bells and cheers urging riders on.
As had been predicted Wicklow rider Robin Seymour (Team Worc) set the pace early stretching out a lead over the closest battle of the day between Evan Ryan, also from Team Worc, and Newry Wheeler’s Conor Campbell. Lap after lap Robin kept extending his lead putting on a powerful display of strength and endurance. Behind him Conor and Evan were locked in their battle. Local favourite Roger Aiken (Banbridge CC) was up in the top 5 in the earlier part of the race but dropped off to finish 12th overall. Sean O’Tauthail (Bray Wheelers) had a great race to finish fourth with veteran rider Gerry McCabe (Cuchulainn) 5th overall ahead of Ray Brownfield (North Down) who has had a great cyclo-cross season. Aiden McDonald (BikePure) was the second veteran and finished 7th overall ahead of Alan Cody (St. Tiernans CC). Myles McCorry (BikePure) had a very consistent race holding 10th until the last lap when he moved up into 9th position. Colm Ahern (DTC Orwell Wheelers) took the 10th spot ahead of third veteran Peter McConville (Newry Wheelers). First women was Ciara MacManus who was in a class of her own and finished 24th overall. Gill Smith and Lisa Millar (Dromara CC) were the only other females in the race. The team prize went to Team Worc when Greg May crossed the line in 14th place.
In the Junior championship race there were 6 riders, Matthew Adair, Robert Scanlon (Team Worc), Stuart Ballantine (Xmtb McConvey Cycles), Jack Wilson (UCS-Crabbe-Team Performance), Cormac Clarke (Newry Wheelers) and Claire Oakley (WXC World Racing). Matthew Adair, winner of the Ulster Cyclo-Cross series 2010, took the early lead and set about catching up to the senior riders who had started a minute ahead of him. By lap 3 Matthew had caught all the senior riders apart from Robin Seymour and continued to power on building up a lead ahead of Evan and Conor. On the final lap Matthew had a mechnical problem and chose to run the remainer of the lap pushing his bike. Robert Scanlon was also carving up through the senior riders and was racing amongst the top 10 seniors when he completed his race. Jack Wilson and Cormac Clarke raced side by side until the penultimate lap when Jack pulled away from Cormac who rode exceptionaly well given that he had just up to Juniors at the start of the calendar year.
The first race of the day was for the Under 8s who started at 10:40 with two laps of the tennis pavilion. There were 14 eagar faces on the start line with some close racing between the top 3. Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC) lead the race from start to finish keeping ahead of his close rival Shea O’Kane (Phoenix) with Ellie McNicholl (Carn Wheelers) having an impressive race to finish third overall. Dromara CC pair Lewis Armstrong and Adam McCaughtry exchanged positions during the race with Lewis arriving home ahead of Adam. Charley Dunlop (Banbridge CC) was sixth and first unplaced female.
The Under 10s race took place straight after with 10 riders doing 3 laps of the mini course. Mark Buller (Banbridge) made his return to cyclo-cross racing by leading from start to finish. There was a closer battle for second place between Drew Armstrong (Dromara CC) and Cathir Doyle (Carn Wheelers) with Cathir finishing just ahead of Drew. Daniel Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) moved up into the Under 10s for 2011 and finished strongly in 4th place ahead of Jack Baird (Banbridge CC) who also moved up a category. First girl was Emma Elder (Carn Wheelers) who finished in 6th place.
The Under 12s race also had 10 riders of which 7 had just moved up from Under 10s on 1st January. Craig McCarthy (Castlereagh CC) had no trouble with the extra distance of 5 laps of the mini course maintaining the lead from the start ahead of seasoned under 12 rider Stuart Dunlop (Banbridge CC). Ben Hanna (Dromara CC) was 5th after the first lap but worked his way up to third after 4 laps finishing ahead of his club mate Max Meville. Michael McNicholl was fifth ahead of first girl Kathryn Doyle both of whom are with Carn Wheelers.
The senior mountain bike support race got underway at 11:30 with 22 riders lined up for 4 laps of the main course. Elite rider Sean Donnelly (Dromara CC) unsurprisingly took the lead and finished over a minute ahead of veteran Ray Beers (Xmtb McConvey Cycles). Philip Bremner (Ballymena RC) was third, 30 seconds ahead of Cathal Hendron (Apollo CT) with Declan McCabe (Cuchulainn) 5th and Keith Abraham (BikePure) in 6th. First woman was Andrea Harrower (Dromara CC) with Julie Murphy (Maryland Wheelers) the only other woman to finish.
The Under 14s and Under 16s started one minute behind the MTB support race. The Under 14s had two laps of the main course to complete and the Under 16s had four. In the Under 14s race Aaron Swan (TSC Racing) dominated finishing over 2 minutes ahead of Declan Mulholland (Clann Eireann) with Joseph Baird (Banbridge CC) third and Greg Bell (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) in fourth. First girl was Shannon Buller (Banbridge), fifth overall. In the Under 16s race David Montgomery (Banbridge) held onto his initial lead ahead of Martin McGauley (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) with Aaron Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) in third. Alex Bell was fourth well ahead of club mate Curtis Bell both from Xmtb McConvey Cycles as is Aimee Ogilby, the only female in this category.
When all racing was done the riders were able to enjoy the food laid on by the hard working volunteers in the kitchen at the pavilion. The pavilion’s club rooms were also used to hold the prize giving ceremony which included gifts for the youth riders and spot prizes from the sponsors. Congratulations to all the winners. A big thank you to the lead sponsor KD Kars of Gilford and to the other sponsors: Linwoods, Cycleology, BikePure, Tesco, Stevens cycles, Cycling Ulster and Cycling Ireland Off-Road Commission. The organisers would also like to thank Craigavon Borough Council for the use of the excellent Lurgan Park. An event of this size needs a lot of support from club members and the core team of organisers would like to thank the many who came along to help ensure the event went well.
Commissaires: Paul Watson, Jack Watson, Maurice McAllister
Results here
Report: Martin Grimley
Photos: Gavin Magowan (Dromara CC) and Marian Lamb (Cycling Ulster)
More photographs here
Video here
