Report from Day 1 of the National XC Championships
Day 1 of the 2024 National Cross-country Mountain Bike Championships took place at Tonygarrow in County Wicklow. This was host club Team WORC’s second time using the venue which is tucked away in the Wicklow hills. A big thanks to the landowner for the use of the site. Taking place today were the youth support races. It was a day of light rain showers. This did help to keep down the midget and flies. When the clouds did lift there were great views of the Wicklow hills. Team WORC had the event village well set up with a wide start/finish area lined with pedestrian barriers. The youth course took in a tricky chicane made of drainage pipes before heading to the bottom of the field for a 180 degree turn to race to the finish line.
Racing began at 4 pm with the Under 6s. They had 2 laps of a short course through the chicanes. Well done to the five young riders and to the parents running along with them.
The Under 8s course took them into the forest for a short loop before returning to the main event field, through the chicanes and up the drag to the finish. They had 6 laps to complete. Despite starting behind the boys it was Ríonach Campbell (Square Wheels) who was the first to cross the line to take the win in the girls’ race. Marian Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) was the second girl with Elisa Tyszecka (Un-Attached Munster) completing the girls’ podium. In the boys’ race Bobby Campbell (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) took the win finishing just behind Ríonach. Evan McTavish (Western Lakes CC) was second with Scottie Lockhart (Un-Attached Leinster) third and Jack Burton (Team WORC) fourth.
The Under 10s had a longer loop through the forest and also had 6 laps to complete. Lewis Bell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) set off at a blistering pace and took a comfortable win in the boys’ race. Logan McAreavey (Bellurgan Wheelers) was second with Finn McTavish (Western Lakes CC) third and Daniel McGrath (Fermoy Cycling Club) fourth. Emilia Tyszecka (MBCC) was the only entry in the girls’ race but managed to finish third overall.
The final race of the day was for the Under 12s. Their course was longer than the Under 10s and included an additional climb. They had 8 laps to complete. Coming around at the end of lap 1 was Jake McKee (VC Glendale) which was unexpected. By the end of lap 2 Jake had dropped back to 6th. Taking over the front of the race was Benjamin Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) who put in a strong race to stay away from the battle going on behind him. That battle was lead by Rían Watkins (Galway MTB) who had to work hard to keep Billy Lord (Breffni Wheelers) and Fabian Drwal (Un-Attached Connacht) from catching him. Fabian did make a burst to get onto the podium in laps 3 and 4 but the ever cool Billy Lord took over third place and was set to close the gap on Rían. The gap did close and on the final sprint Billy was almost level with Rían but Rían managed to hold onto second spot. Meanwhile in the girls’ race Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) managed to make her way up through the boys and was just 11 seconds behind Billy Lord at the finish. Laoise Crinion (IMBRC) was the second girl with Aoife Killeen (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) completing the podium in third place.
Presenting the medals for the Under 8s, 10s and 12s was President of Cycling Ireland Tom Daly.
Well done to all the riders and the supporting parents. A big thanks to Team WORC for hosting today’s event. Now all eyes are on tomorrow for the Under 14s, Under 16s, Junior men, Women, Seniors, M30s, M40s, M50s and M60s.
Commissaire: Martin Grimley
Results here
Report and podium photos by Martin Grimley
