Round 3 of the National Cyclo-cross Series took place on Sunday 24 November 2024 at the Technological University of the Shannon in Thurles, County Tipperary. This was Upperchurch Drombane’s second time at this venue and they had made some improvements to the course from last year. This year the course was also in better condition due to having reasonable dry weather over the last month. Storm Bert has passed through the area the day before but thankfully Thurles didn’t suffer as bad as other areas with regards to rainfall. It was still a windy day with some strong gusts. Enough to concern the organisers about how well they had strapped down the gazebos. The day remained dry but cool with some outbreaks of warm winter sunshine. The event village was kept compact with the start and finish lines within sight of each other, race registration, Barry and his Bobble Hats, Paul Joyce on the microphone providing race commentary and a horse box café providing the hot drinks all in close proximity. Barry was also providing the vuvuzelas (plastic trumpets) to add to the noise around the course.
There were no Under 6s signed up for this race. This meant that the Under 8s race was the first of the day. They had a longer course than last year which left them with 5 laps to complete. Taking his third win of the series in the boys’ race was Evan McTavish (Western Lakes CC) with Alex Topfer (Un-Attached Munster) second and Fiachra Connolly (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) third. Aoibhín Collins (Un-Attached Munster) repeated her win from Round 2 in the girls’ race. Skylabelle Oakley (Galway MTB) was second with Sol Lally (Ballinasloe Cycling Club) third.
The Under 10s course took them out into the main field, past the pits, through the trees and back round to the finish line. They had two laps to complete. At the front of the boys’ race was the usual battle between Jaxon Jennings (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) and Lorcan Lamont (Ilkeston Cycle Club) with Jaxon finishing ahead of Lorcan for the third time this season. Ryley Dempsey (Western Lakes CC) completed the podium for the boys. In the girls’ race Ríonach Campbell (Square Wheels) stormed around finishing just behind the first two boys. Marian Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) was second girl, Emily O’Mahony (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) third and Robyn McDermott (Un-Attached Leinster) fourth.
The Under 12s used the same course as the Under 10s but they had an additional lap to complete. The lead in the boys’ race changed each lap but at the finish it was Josh Turner (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) who took the chequered flag. Cathal O’Sullivan (Greenmount CA) was second with Daniel O’Sullivan (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) third. In the girls’ race the winner of Rounds 1 and 2 Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) started the race but pulled out due to illness. This opened the door for Molly Turner (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) to take the top step on the podium. Caroline Collins (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) was second with Emilia Tyszecka (MBCC) third.
After a break for podium presentations, course practice and refreshments it was time for the Under 14s, Under 16s and women to race.
In the Under 14s races James Cunningham (Team WORC) and Ava Baker (Breffni Wheelers) got their third win from three rounds in the boys’ and girls’ races respectively. Joining James on the boys’ podium was Rory McCool (Square Wheels) who finished second and Tomás Connolly (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) who was third. Joining Ava on the girls’ podium was Lilly McDermott (TC Racing) who was second and Ciara O’Connor (Drogheda Wheelers) who finished third.
The Under 16 boys’ race Caleb McGreevy (VC Glendale) was again well out in front of the chasers. He took his third win of the series. Second and third went to Shane O’Brien (Fermoy Cycling Club) and Eoin Davis (Bohermeen CC) respectively. In the Under 16 girls’ race
Katie Turner (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) finished well clear of Orla Mulhearne (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) with Naoise Byrne (TC Racing) third and Ciara Flavin (Dungarvan CC) fourth.
With the absence of Greta Lawless and Caoimhe May, Doireann Killeen (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) took the advantage and lead from start to finish. Junior rider Aoife O’Donovan (Dungarvan CC) was never far behind and finished just 9 seconds behind Doireann to take second place. Stephanie Roche (Scott Racing IRL) was third with Junior rider Ami Flavin (Dungarvan CC) fourth and Rachel Newell (McConvey Cycles) fifth. The women’s podiums were split into three. The top 3 senior riders were Doireann Killeen, Stephanie Roche and Rachel Newell. The Junior podium had Aoife O’Donovan and Ami Flavin. The Masters women saw Jean Wilson (EPIC MTB Expert Cycles) on the top step, Aishling O’Connor (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) taking the second step and Sally Drennan (Midleton CTC) the third step.
After another break it was time for the M50 men, M60 men and the support race for non-cyclo-cross bikes.
In the 7 lap M50s race Declan McEntee (Emyvale CC) and Trevor Woods (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) had some close racing early on but by lap 5 Declan had pulled clear and kept the gap to the finish. Trevor had to settle for second. Barry Convery (Newry Wheelers CC) was out on his own in third place. Fearghal Regan (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) was back at the front end of the M50s, after his recovery from surgery, to finish fourth with Chris Byrne (Park Wheelers) fifth. In the M60s race World Champion Johnny McCabe (Cuchulainn CC) took the expected win with Declan Hanrahan (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) second, Micheal Corkery (De Ronde Van Cork CC) third and Glenn Watson (Galway Bay CC) fourth. In the support race David Donovan (Upperchurch Drombane Cycling) was first across the line, Andrew Smith (De Ronde Van Cork CC) was second with John Healy (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) third and
Jamie Donovan (Upperchurch Drombane Cycling) fourth.
The final race of the day was for the Seniors, Juniors and M40s. The Seniors had 10 laps, M40s had 9 with the Juniors having 7 laps to complete.
In the Junior race Curtis McKee (Spellman-Dublin Port) lead from start to finish and picked up his second win of the series. James Armstrong (VC Glendale) was second with Ryan Daly (Scott Racing IRL) third and Hugh Og Mulhearne (Verge Sport PI Cycles) fourth.
Ronan O’Flynn (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) was again dominating the M40s race taking his third win of the series. Marcus Flavin (Dungarvan CC) was second with Ronan Killeen (Lucan Cycling Road Club) third, Trevor Costello (Islandeady Cycling Club) fourth and Joseph Donworth (Greenmount CA) fifth.
The Senior open race did see some close racing early on between Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing), Tadhg Killeen (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) and Travis Harkness (Spellman-Dublin Port) but as the racing went on Dean pulled away from the other three to take the win. Tadhg was second which keeps him at the top of the series. Travis was third with Richard Barry (St. Finbarrs CC) fourth,
Michael Collins (Newcastle West Cycling Club) fifth and Tim O’Regan (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) sixth.
A massive thanks to Upperchurch Drombane Cycling Club for hosting the event. It felt like a very slick operation. The fourth and final round of the series will take place on Sunday 5 January 2025 at the McCrystal Track in County Louth, hosted by Bellurgan Wheelers. We now look forward to the World Cup in Dublin this coming weekend (30 November – 1 December).
Commissaires: Roddy Keane, Mike Twomey, Martin Grimley
Results here
Series table after 3 rounds here
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
Sean Rowe (Facebook) – here, here, here
Upperchurch Drombane (Facebook) – here
Videos
Keith Colville (Facebook) – here
