Flynn triumphs in IVCA league

Jimmy Flynn takes the win in the IVCA race

Cuchulainn Cycling Club’s rich vein of form in the IVCA League continued recently with Jimmy Flynn taking the win in the most recent round of the league.

Jimmy was part of a three man group that escaped from the main field, which included club mate Brendan Dunne. Once the break had established an insurmountable lead, Jimmy and Brendan started to attack their third breakaway companion, with Jimmy eventually managing to solo his way to the victory. With his team mate up the road, Brendan was given a free ride to the line, where he took second place to give the club a solid one-two in the race.

The Leinster Underage Championships were held on Sunday last in the County Meath town of Kilmessan. Cuchulainn were once again in the medals with two bronze medals for Conor McKeown in the under 14s and Aaron Treanor in the under 12s. Conor is also fresh off a win in the most recent round of the FPM Accountants Summer Cycling League. Conor, riding in Group 1, managed to hold everyone else off to take the win ahead of Alan Bingham.

With just one round remaining in the league, Trevor Kane has a slender three point lead over Stamullen’s Gary Gorman, however with Trevor currently on holidays and due to miss the last round Gorman could take the victory assuming he finishes in 6th place or higher in the final event. After the summer league finishes up all eyes will turn to the Leinster & Louth Hill Climb Championships.

Dolan comes second in Moneymore

Cuchulainn’s Liam Dolan (right) was just pipped to the finish line by Belfast rider Mark Millar on Saturday

Cuchulainn Cycling Club came agonisingly close to taking its first outright win of the season when Liam Dolan was second in the Ciclisport Grand Prix in Moneymore on Saturday.

Dolan was active from the start and got into the main break after 10 miles of the 60 mile race. Team mates Colm Quinn and Alan Gray, back in the bunch, hindered any chase efforts to ensure the break maintained its advantage. On the final run into the finish Dolan attacked the break and got away with Belfast rider Mark Millar, who unfortunately had too much speed for Dolan in the sprint finish.

Both Gray and Quinn were racing again on Sunday in north Dublin, a 75 mile race which featured seven ascents of the dreaded Nag’s Head climb. Both had solid days to finish in the main bunch. Stephen Carry, FPM Accountants League Winner in 2013, was also racing in the A4 event and came home just outside the top 10.

Sunday also saw the start of the Irish Veterans’ Cycling Association season, a league that has seen much Cuchulainn success over recent years. In the main race former National Champions Sé Weston and Martin Grey finished in the top 10. In the second race Aidan Delaney, Dale Copas, Enda McKeown and Brendan Dunne all had successful debuts, despite a mix up with the actual location of the finish line.

Thursday April 10th also sees the start of the FPM Accountants Summer Cycling League. The 18 round league is the stalwart of bike racing in North East Leinster and has been extremely successful in developing up and coming riders. The League run on a handicap basis caters for all, as evident from the fact that the 2013 winner, Stephen Carry was cycling less then a year, yet won a competition that featured some of Ireland’s best road cyclists and An Post Rás participants. Details can be found at www.dundalkcycling.com