Date: Sunday 6 October 2019
Event: Ulster Cyclo-cross 2019 – Round 1
Location: Lurgan Park
Host club: Apollo Cycling Team
This year is the 10th anniversary of the forming of the Ulster Cyclo-cross series. As per 2009, the first round took place at Lurgan Park, hosted by Apollo Cycling Team. Back in 2009 there were less than 100 competitors racing across all categories. Fast forward to 2019 and there were 347 competitors.
Saturday had seen rain from lunch time right through the night. Thankfully on race day the skies had cleared and it remained dry all day with outbreaks of warm autumn sunshine. This year’s course was designed by Kevin Devlin and Andy Layhe and was quite different to previous years with the course kept towards the cricket side of the park and making more use of the wooded area. Despite the rain the course had held up well to make for some fast racing. Sign on took place inside the bowling pavilion where the prize giving and catering took place after the events. The park was very busy with lots of visitors out walking. The popular Junior parkrun was also on which saw almost 50 runners taking park.
As for the cycling, all races started down in the main grass area in the centre of the park. The youth races shared the same course which was based on a loop of the cricket pitches with the dismount obstacles in the chicane near the finish line. The first race of the day was for the Under 6s who had one lap to complete. The 26 young riders received lots of encouragement from the crowd who had gathered to watch the race.
Next up were the Under 8s who were lined up on a wide section of the park. They had two laps to complete. In the boys’ race Daragh Quigley (Foyle CC) took the win ahead of Jack McGahan (Square Wheels) with William Sunderland (Apollo Cycling Team) taking third. Among the girls’ it was Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) who continues her dominance in this category taking another win ahead of Amelia Finnegan (Apollo Cycling Team) with Cassie Rocks (Island Wheelers) third.
The Under 10s had 4 laps of the same course. There was a great battle between Josh McClune (Team Madigan C.C.) and Darragh Murphy (Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club) with the lads finishing in this order. Ryan McBride (Banbridge CC) finished third. Aoife Craig (VC Glendale) won the girls’ race with Clodagh Quigley (Foyle CC) second and Aoife Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) third.
The Under 12s race is always an exciting one with Curtis McKee (Maryland Wheelers) taking the early lead with James Armstrong (Dromara Cycling Club) chasing hard. On the final lap James had taken the lead and was all set for the win but he managed to slip on the mud at the final corner to allow Curtis to get through to take the win. James finished second with Elliot Maitland (Killinchy Cycling Club) third. The girls’ race had no such drama as Cara Suckling (Maryland Wheelers) lead from start to finish. Ffion Dolan (Cuchulainn CC) was just 10 seconds behind with Elisa Sunderland (Apollo Cycling Team) taking third place on the podium.
After a break for prize giving and practice the next races started at 11:45. First away were the Under 16 boys, followed by the Under 14 boys, the Cyclo-cross Women, the Under 14 girls and finally the Women’s mountain bike support race.
In the 3 lap Under 14 boys’ race, Conor Murphy (Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club) finished almost a minute ahead of Reuben Maitland (Killinchy Cycling Club) who was just 3 seconds ahead of Sam Coleman (Orchard CC). Aliyah Rafferty (Island Wheelers) was first girl but also 4th overall. Lucy Brown (Phoenix CC) took the silver with Tori Moffitt (Phoenix CC) taking bronze.
There were no entries for the Under 16 girls’ race. Shane Scullion (Island Wheelers) kept his wits about him to take in the win in the 4 lap Under 16 boys’ race. Conor Gallagher (Errigal Cycling Club) was second with Curtis Neill (Carn Wheelers) third.
Coming off the back of a great win the previous Sunday, Rachel Irvine (The Bike House CC) took the chequered flag in the 5 lap Women’s Cyclo-cross race. Judith Russell (Phoenix CC) finished second with Trudy Brown (VC Glendale) third. First unplaced Master was Gill Smith (Unattached) with first unplaced Junior going to Maia Simmons (The Bike House CC). In the Women’s mountain bike support race Debbie Boyd, from the host club, took a heavy tumble on the starting straight. Leona Farrell (Unattached) crossed the line first ahead of Elizabeth Quigley (Foyle CC) with Karen Wynne (Foyle CC) third.
Next up was the Men’s Cyclo-cross A’ race which saw a strong field of 58 riders lining up across a wide expanse of the park. They had 7 laps to complete. Doing his usual approach Thomas Creighton (McConvey Cycles) lead the way at the end of lap 1 only to retire after lap 2. Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles) took over the lead and kept it to the line. Alan Bingham (Newry Wheelers CC), Barry Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) and Darragh McCarter (Donegal Bay Cycling Club) were battling it out for second place. At the end it finished Barry, Darragh and Alan, 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. Alan picked up the first unplaced Masters M40 prize. Kevin McKinney (Armagh City Cyclists) finished 5th with Paul McCarter (Donegal Bay Cycling Club) 6th. John Bogues (Phoenix CC) was first unplaced M50, Kyle Fisher (Lakeland) first unplaced Espoir. Junior rider Ciaran Dixon (Team Type 1 Junior Team) was looking good around 5th place until lap 6 when he got a mechanical. Callum Richardson (Trail Demons CC) was the first unplaced Junior. The team prize went to Newry Wheelers when Barry Convery and Michael Havern joined Alan Bingham at the finish.
The final race of the day was for the Men’s Cyclo-cross B’race and the Men’s mountain bike support race. The Cyclo-cross race seen the biggest field of the day with 88 riders starting the 5 lap race. Pj Hynes (Cuchulainn CC) took the win with Benny Smyth (Armagh Down CC) second and Jamie Gregg (Dromore CC) third. Colin Deane (Unattached) took 4th with Tomas Knapcok (Clogher Valley Wheelers) 5th. Paul Hamilton (Dromara Cycling Club) just caught his club mate Richard Cowan to take 6th and 7th respectively. In the mountain bike support race, Brian McAuley (Unattached) was back to his winning ways with Garry Cosgrove (Unattached) second and Atilla Toth (Clogher Valley Wheelers) third.
After the races the riders could enjoy some hot soup and sandwiches up at the bowling pavilion. Many thanks to Kevin Devlin, Andy Layhe and the team at Apollo CT for hosting the event. Thanks to Chain Reaction Cycles for sponsoring the event. The next round of the Ulster Cyclo-cross series will be at Necarne, Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh hosted by Lakeland CC on Sunday 13 October 2019. See www.ulstercyclocross.com for details.
Commissaires: Lisa Millar, Jim Adams and Martin Grimley
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
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