Cuchulainn riders preparing for An Post Rás

Sean Loughrane, who will be making his Rás debut on May 18th, finishing stage 2 of the Tour of Ulster, ahead of Ciaran Power, Rás winner in 1998 and 2002

Sunday May 18th sees the An Post Rás roll out from Dunboyne, from where the riders will cover 1,260km over 8 stages with 36 categorised climbs. Unfortunately the route will not be coming close to the North East, with the closest being the eighth and final stage which finishes in Skerries on May 25th.

As always the race has attracted a stellar international field with over half of the 180 strong peleton made up of professional teams from Europe and the UK. The remaining 90 riders constitutes the best of the Irish domestic cyclists, who will be going toe to toe with the professionals.

For the third year running Cuchullainn Cycling Club will be entering a team. The Louth team consists of local riders Ray O’Shaughnessey, Michael Barry, Niall Clarke, Alan Grey, Sean Loughrane and Liam Dolan. They will be joined on the 10 man team by Newry’s Roger Aiken, Cormac Clarke and Des Wood. The final rider is Bohermeen’s Chris Reilly. The team is a mix of veterans and first timers, with the undoubted star being Roger Aiken. Aiken won a stage for Louth back in 2005 and was one of the standout performers in the 2013 race. The club men have been racing the length and breath of the country since late February and have tackled events such as the 4 day Rás Mumhan in Kerry at Easter and the recent 3 Day Tour of Ulster, held in Derry.

Another Dundalk man who will most definitely be in the thick of the action is Bryan McCrystal, riding with Cork’s AquaBlue team. McCrystal has been in commanding form this season, taking an epic win in Carlow’s Des Hanlon and stage wins in both the Rás Mumhan and Tour of Ulster, where he finished 2nd overall. All the riders will have to call on every ounce of energy and reserves over the 8 days so as to become “Men of the Rás”.

Tuesday last saw the first round of The Bike Station Women’s cycling league for 2014. Despite a horrendous night of wind and rain, 22 cyclist signed on for the  five mile time trial. Quickest on the night was Celine McPhilips who bested Annette Dolan by 18secs. Third position went to Fiona Rogers a further 21secs behind Dolan. Tracey McConkey of Clones CC was the first visitor of the night.  A number of women made their competitive debuts, with impressive times posted by all. The next round, held every Tuesday, is a road race from Felda Gym to Dunleer and back.

The weather did little to improve by Wednesday night when the Galibier Time Trial league commenced. The first round of this league also doubled up as the Leinster Time Trial Championships. Quickest on the night was Dublin’s Colm Cassidy who averaged over 30mphs for the ride out to Castlebellingham and back, a distance of 10 miles. His team-mate in UCD, Con Collis, was second. Cuchulainn claimed medals with Niall Clarke (A2 Gold), Owen Martin (A3 Silver), Tomas McCabe (A3 Bronze), Aimhirghin O`Brannagain (Junior Bronze),and Celine McPhilips (Ladies, Silver). The next round of this league is May 28th.

Bad luck for Barry as he crashes out of Shay Elliott Memorial in Wicklow

Michael Barry leads the break in Co Wicklow before crashing out on the slippy roads

It was another weekend of big racing for Ireland’s cyclists and those involved with the local Cuchulainn Cycling Club.

The premier event of the weekend was the Shay Elliott Memorial, a race that has been running for over 50 years held in memory of Ireland’s first professional cyclist and former yellow jersey wearer at the Tour de France. Held in Co Wicklow, the race covers 140km and features the dreaded Shay Elliott climb. The day was not made any easier by the constant wind and rain that battered the riders from start to finish.

Cuchulainn had five men line up in the race and Michael Barry was having a great ride before bad luck intervened and he crashed out of the winning break on a greasy bend, forcing him to abandon. The rest of the riders all came home in the main bunch after a very wet day with Alan Grey moving up in the sprint to take a top 10 position in the A2 Category.

On Sunday the action moved to County Meath’s Bohermeen, where the course was considerably flatter. In the A4 race Alan Bingham continued his recent good form and placed in the top six, which sees him earn enough points to move up a category to A3. In the main race, which was 135km long, Gary Shiels and Kenny Sullivan came home in the main bunch, with Gary taking fifth in the A2 category.

The IVCA League, where Cuchulainn riders have been so dominant over the years, continued on Sunday. However such is their reputation that they are heavily marked and despite being active from the drop of the flag any green and red jersey was very heavily marked, not allowing the Dundalk men to feature amongst the results.

Cuchulainn cyclists perform well in last open event of the year

The Leinster Junior Podium from last week’s race. From left, second placed Ray O`Shaughnessey, first placed James Davenport, and David Whearty and Brian Aherne, joint third

Cuchulainn Cycling Club hosted its last open event of the year with the staging of the Leinster & Louth Hill Climb Championships last week. Over 50 riders signed up for the unenviable task of trying to get up the 2kms of Jenkinstown hill as fast as possible. Before the event kicked off, the official record for the climb stood at 4:37, set in the early 90s by then junior rider Alan Bingham.

Fastest on the night and setting a new record for the climb in a time of 4:35 was South Dublin CC rider James Davenport. James edged out Cuchulainn’s Ray O’Shaughnessey by seven seconds, with Stamullen rider David Wherty in joint third with Orwell’s Brian Aherne. The women’s Leinster title went to Isabel Cogan in six minutes flat, ahead of Bohermeen’s Geralinde Gill and Calire McEntee in third. The women’s race was a very tight affair with only four seconds separating second through to fifth.

Cuchulainn had a clean sweep of the Leinster Junior podium with Aimhirghin O’Brannagin winning ahead of Nathan McGreehan and Ultan Stokes. The vets category saw the club take another medal with Johnny McCabe taking bronze, the gold going to Philip O’Flaherty of Swords.

In the Louth Championships the podium for the ladies was taken by Breda Dawe, edging out sister Annette by a mere second and Eve McCrystal in third. The senior medal went to Ray O’Shuaghnessey ahead of Colm Quinn, with Thomas McCabe in third.

Also in action recently at the Junior National Track Championships was Lisa Neary, winning a bronze in the 2km Pursuit and backing that up with another bronze medal in 12 lap scratch. Lisa also competed in the 500m time trial, where she missed out on a third medal by less than three seconds.

Another lady from Dundalk going well is Eve McCrystal, who has been selected for the Leinster Team for the upcoming international stage race the An Post Rás na mBan. The 4 day event features six stages in and around Ennis in Co Clare and attracts some of the best female cyclists from across Europe.

Finally the club will be running it’s annual overnight trip on October 5th to Monaghan. Details can be found at www.dundalkcycling.com

McCrystal leading cycling league at half way stage

Bryan McCrystal

The FPM Accountants Summer Cycling League is now at the half way stage with nine rounds completed. The new format of two separate divisions competing for one overall winner is making for a more exciting event.

In round nine in the A League it was Cathal McCormack who took maximum points. Cathal, who rides with Ardee, was part of group three who caught the two groups starting in front.  He beat Brian Begley into second and Stephen Carrie into third. Aidan Leonard, who was also in group three with Cathal, came home fourth to bag a couple more points.

At this stage Bryan McCrystal still has a healthy lead of eight points over Stephen Carrie. Third and fourth spot have only a point in the difference between Aidan Leonard and Karl Dolan, so the top four is comprised of two from the A section and two from the B section.

With another nine rounds to go, as always it will be consistency that wins out. The smart money would be on those who have their holidays planned for after the league ends in August. So for those heading out to watch the professionals tackle the Tour De France, their league ambitions may have to be put on hold until 2014.

In the women’s league it was the speedy Swede Gro Hylen, who took the latest win. She and Michelle Dolan broke away from the combined group one and two, for a two up sprint for the win. Dolan opened the sprint with 250m to go, but Hylen came off her wheel to take a fine win. Bohermeen’s Kathleen Gill came home in third. The Women’s League table is a much tighter affair with only five points separating the top five. Fiona Rogers has only a point to spare ahead of Hazel Hall, with third placed Louise O’Hagan another single point back.

On the road racing front the Cuchulainn team had a good outing in the Newry 3 Day, with new riders gaining valuable experience in stage racing. Also involved in another big stage race is Jordan Flood, who for the second time is tackling the five day Junior Tour of Ireland as part of the Leinster Development Squad. The race takes place in and around the Clare town of Ennis and sees a number of UK and European teams compete against Ireland’s finest underage riders.