Date: Sunday 24 November 2019
Event: Ulster Cyclo-cross 2019 – Round 7
Location: Palace Demesne, Armagh
Host club: Square Wheels
The sixth round of the 2019 Ulster Cyclo-cross series took place at Palace Demesne in Armagh hosted by Square Wheels. This was the last round of the series and we would like to thank all the clubs for hosting the events and to the riders for supporting the events. Looking at the final tally we had between 550-600 individuals taking part. A big thank you also to the supporting families and friends who came along to cheer or help out in the pits.
This was the third year that Square Wheels had hosted a race in this super 300 acre park. Sign on took place inside the 19th century glasshouse where the refreshments were served later on. The youth races (Under 6s to Under 12s) were held in the gardens of the former bishop’s palace (built in 1770). The weather in the lead up to the race had been wet which had meant some course changes for the club. Thanksfully the event went ahead unlike Round 6 which was meant to be held at Delamont Park but had to be cancelled due to being waterlogged.
On race day it remained dry with very light winds. A perfect day out for all the family. The Under 6s race was the first of the day with 11 young riders taking in a long loop of the garden area. The riders were ready for their goodie bags by the time they got back.
The Under 8s used the same circuit but had to complete 2 laps. Daragh Quigley (Foyle CC) won the boy’s race which made it 6 wins out of 6 rounds. Jack McGahan (Square Wheels) finished second which secured him second place in the overall league. Ewan Ewart (Belfast City BMX Club) finished third. Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) made it 5 wins out of 5 appearances in the series. Amelia Finnegan (Apollo Cycling Team) and Cassie Rocks (Island Wheelers) finished second and third in the girls’ race and in the overall series.
The Under 10s used the same course as the Under 8s but had 3 laps to complete. Josh McClune (Team Madigan C.C.) got his fourth win of the series when he finished ahead of Eunan Campbell (Square Wheels) with Ryan McBride (Banbridge CC) third. Darragh Murphy (Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club) finished fourth which was enough to secure him third overall in the series. In the girls’ race Aoife Craig (VC Glendale) made it 6 wins out of 6. Aoife Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) finished second and Clodagh Quigley (Foyle CC) third. This is how it finished for the overall series.
The Under 12s had an extended course which made great use of the hill towards the back of the garden area. The Under 12s had 4 laps to complete. James Armstrong (Dromara Cycling Club) took off from the starting whistle and left all in his wake. Series leader, Curtis McKee (Maryland Wheelers) was the closest rider to James but couldn’t bridge the gap. Elliot Maitland (Killinchy Cycling Club) and Adam Ward (Bann Wheelers CC) battled it out for third place with Adam pulling away to take the third place on the podium. The overall series finished Curtis, James and Elliot taking first to third respectively. In the Under 12 girls’ race Aisha Gannon (Breffni Wheelers) had only her second appearance in the series and improved on her second place back at Round 2 to take the win. Elisa Sunderland (Apollo Cycling Team) finished second with Megan Lavery (Trail Demons CC) third. Series leader Cara Suckling (Maryland Wheelers) finished fourth which was enough to give her the overall series title. Elisa took second overall with Sarah Jane Rocks (Island Wheelers) taking third place for the series.
After the prize ceremony for the Under 8s, 10s and 12s the racing moved over to the main course.
The races were started on the wide grass area, which was beginning to cut up and become rather muddy for the riders. Starting were the Under 14s, Under 16s and women. The Under 14s had 3 laps to complete. Despite an ankle injury Conor Murphy (Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club) crossed the line first to take his fifth win of the series and the overall series title. Second and third place went to Reuben Maitland (Killinchy Cycling Club) and Samuel Coleman (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) who also finished second and third in the overall series. In the Under 14 girls’ race Aine Doherty (VC Glendale) looked set to take another win but fate stepped in and allowed Aliyah Rafferty (Island Wheelers) to get her second win of the series. Tori Moffitt (Phoenix CC) finished third which was enough to secure her the overall series title.
The Under 16 boys also completed 3 laps. Travis Harkness (Carn Wheelers) got his second win of the series when he finished ahead of overall series winner Shane Scullion (Island Wheelers). Curtis Neill (Carn Wheelers) finished third today and third in the overall series. Conor Gallagher (Errigal Cycling Club) finished fourth today and second overall. There was only one entry in the Under 16 girls race with Erin Creighton (McConvey Cycles) pushing hard through the mud to finish strongly.
In the Women’s Cyclo-cross race, held over 4 laps, Niamh McKiverigan (Scott Eurocycles.com) got her fourth win of the series which was enough to secure her the overall series title. Master’s rider Judith Russell (Phoenix CC) powered round the challenging course to take second with Junior rider Darcey Harkness (Carn Wheelers) taking third. Rachel Irvine (The Bike House CC) finished fourth, enough to secure her second place overall in the series with Judith getting third place overall. First unplaced Master went to Trudy Brown (VC Glendale) with first unplaced Junior prize going to Maia Simmons (The Bike House CC). In the Women’s MTB race Janice Hepburn (Square Wheels) made her first appearance in this year’s series by taking the win ahead of series leader Leona Farrell (Unattached) with Debbie-Lee Gaffney (Team Cavan Racing) finishing third.
Next up was the Men’s Cyclo-cross A’ race which was held over 6 laps. The course was getting more and more challenging. As expected Thomas Creighton (McConvey Cycles) set off quickly from the starting whistle but was joined by Junior rider Darren Rafferty (Island Wheelers) in the battle at the front. Ex-champion Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles Omagh) was hot on their heels. During the race the lead did change with Thomas dropping back to third but he managed to recover and get himself back to the front to take the chequered flag. Darren finished second with Darnell third. First unplaced M40 rider was Alan Bingham (Newry Wheelers CC) who finished fourth with first unplaced Espoir, Lee Harvey (VC Glendale) finishing fifth. Barry Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club), who was lying second in the overall series, finished sixth with Darragh McCarter (Donegal Bay Cycling Club) 7th. First unplaced Junior rider, Dean Harvey (VC Glendale), was 8th with first unplaced M50 rider John Bogues (Phoenix CC) 9th. The team prize went to VC Glendale when Brendan Doherty joined Lee and Dean Harvey at the finish. The overall series finished with Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles) taking the title, Barry Kellett second and Daragh McCarter third.
The final race of the day was for the Cyclo-cross Men’s B’ race and the Men’s Mountain Bike support race. Both races were held over 4 laps. The course was even more challenging with the start area so mucky that the start line was moved onto fresh grass. The CX men started with 58 riders charging forward. Pierre-Louis Hagan managed to crash within metres of the start line but recovered to set off after the bunch. The MTB support race started 30 seconds later with Sean McIntyre (Caldwell Cycles Omagh) managing to pass all of the cyclo-cross riders to finish first overall and first mountain biker. The first cyclo-cross rider to finish was David McKee (Maryland Wheelers) who also won the Supermoto NI Winter series the day before. Ivan Reid (Omagh Wheelers Cycling Club) finished second and Edward Kearney (Phoenix CC) third. Peter Campbell (Unattached) was fourth with Andy Layhe (Apollo Cycling Team) fifth and Vinny Mort (Dunloy CC) sixth. Rounding off the Mountain Bike Support race podium was Thomas Hepburn (Island Wheelers) who finished second and Noel Johnson (Square Wheels) who finished third.
After the races the riders could enjoy the soup and sandwiches laid on by the host club in the glass house. There was also the opportunity to get their bikes washed – a very busy day for the pit crews. Many thanks to all the volunteers from Square Wheels for hosting a great event at a great venue. The next cyclo-cross race in Ulster will be the Ulster Championships which will take place on Sunday 8 December 2019 at Ecclesville Centre in Fintona by Omagh Wheelers. Details on www.ulstercyclocross.com
Results here
Overall league table here
Commissaires: Lisa Millar, Jim Adams, Mario Arranz and Martin Grimley
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
Fran Hollywood – Facebook here
Phillip Blair – Facebook here
Toby Watson – Facebook here
Other report link
Belgium Project – here
