Great racing at Dublin World Cup support races

For the second year in a row, Dublin was the venue for a round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup. As per last year the venue was the Sport Ireland Campus in Blanchardstown. On Saturday 25 November 2023 there were support races with the main World Cup races taking place on Sunday. The course set-up was similar to last year but with improvements throughout. The schedule for the day was tight with the official course inspection only finishing at 11:30 and the first race of the day starting at 12:00. All support riders needed to be off the course for the official practice at 2 pm. As per last year it was a cold start to the day but the venue was awash with winter sunshine. The blue skies didn’t stay but it remained dry for all races. The course was muddy in places but didn’t cut up too badly.

The first race of the day was for the Under 16s and Under 14s which saw a combined total of 84 riders lined up. The first wave of riders was the Under 16 boys. They were first to experience the ‘Go’ sign on the start gantry rather than the usual whistle to start the riders. The Under 14 boys started 30 seconds later, then the Under 16 girls and finally the Under 14 girls. In the Under 16 boys’ race the pre-favourite Curtis McKee (Scott Bright Motor Group) punctured and had to run back to the pit. This allowed James Armstrong (VC Glendale) to take the race forward with an impressive win over Caleb McGreevy (VC Glendale) with Hugh Og Mulhearne (Verge Sport PI Cycles) third. Curtis finished fourth with Jack Woods (Carlow RCC) fifth. The Under 14 boys’ race came down to a sprint finish between James Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) and Eoin Davis (Bohermeen CC). Both were side by side coming off the grass onto the tarmac finish straight but James managed to power away from Eoin to take the win. Kieran Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) was third with Corran McCourt (VC Glendale) fourth and Evan Byrne (Carlow RCC) fifth.

In the Under 16 girls’ race Mia Geary (Fermoy Cycling Club) lead from start to finish. Emer Heverin (Kinning Cycles Cycling Club) was second with Aisha Gannon (Breffni Wheelers) third. Aoife O’Donovan (Dungarvan CC) was fourth and Grace O’Rourke (Spellman-Dublin Port) finished fifth. As expected Katie Turner (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) took the win in the Under 14 girls’ race. Naoise Byrne (Carlow RCC) finished second with Aoife Craig (VC Glendale) third, Ava Baker (Breffni Wheelers) fourth and Ciara Flavin (Dungarvan CC) fifth.

Whilst the podium presentations were being done for the Under 14s and Under 16s the next set of riders were getting lined up on the start line. First off were the Seniors then Juniors, M40s, M50s, M60s and Women. Six categories of riders with a total of 163 on course.

In the Senior race Timothy O’Regan (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) has hit a run of form leading to a solid performance today. Finishing second was Kieran Jackson (Comeragh CC) with Eoin Ahern (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) third, Pierce O’Leary (Lucan Cycling Road Club) fourth and Joseph Donworth (Limerick Cycling Club) fifth. In the Junior race David Harrington (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) crossed the line ahead of Jamie Byrne (Carlow RCC) with Donagh O’Connor (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) completing the podium.

Despite not being gridded, Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles Cycling Club) hit the front of the M40 race by the end of lap one and then managed to pass all the Seniors to take the overall win. Marcus Flavin (Dungarvan CC) was second in the M40s with Barry Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) third. Ronan Killeen (Lucan Cycling Road Club) was fourth with Raymond O’Shaughnessy (Cuchulainn CC) fifth and Evan Ryan (Team WORC) sixth.

In the M50s race Alan Bingham (Inspired Cycling) continued his good season with the win in Dublin. Fearghal Regan (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) was second with Trevor Woods (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) third. Declan McEntee (Emyvale CC) was fourth with Des Woods (Inspired Cycling) fifth.

With Johnny McCabe and Paul Birchall not racing, Micheal Corkery (De Ronde Van Cork CC) took full advantage to take the win in the M60s race. Terence O’Neill (EPIC MTB/Expert Cycles) was second with Anthony Talt (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) third.

In the Women’s race it was Elena Wallace (Harps CC) who lead from start to finish. Kate Murphy (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) powered her way up to second place with Rhiannon Dolan (TC Racing) third. Niamh Stephens (Team Giant Dublin) was fourth with Faith Robinson (Bray Wheelers) fifth.

After the podium presentations the course was opened for the official training for World Cup riders. A huge thanks to all the volunteers who helped out with marshalling and registration.

Commissaires: Ronan Fox, Jim Adams, Liz Roche, Martin Grimley

Results here

Report by Martin Grimley

Photos
Cycling Ireland
Toby Watson (Facebook) – here
Sean Rowe / Sportsphotos Ireland (Facebook) – here
John Hammer (Facebook) – here
The Belgian Project / Damian Faulkner (Facebook) – here
Caroline Kerley (Facebook) – here