McDermott takes the victory in penultimate round of Cycling League

The penultimate round of the Bike Station Cycling League was contested over 35km with the riders going out to Ardee across the link road and back into Dundalk, through Castlebellingham for a finish at the Fane Bridge.

The first group on the road got organised quickly, with the riders forming a swift pace line, sharing the work and ensuring they maintained their gap right to the end. In the sprint for the podium Gavin McDermott took the win with, Paul Howard in second and David Finnegan third. Gary Gorman led home the other four groups which had all come together on the links road across from Ardee.

With both Alan Bingham and Benny Smyth failing to score points, the leaderboard has changed yet again as we head into the final round, which will be held on Thursday August 27th. Only three points separate the first three, with Alan Malone (90 points), leading Alan Bingham (88 points) and Benny Smyth (87 points) in third. Even fourth placed Connor McKeown could mathematically share the league win with Alan Malone if he was to take the win and none of the first three scored any points. Linda Stokes has a firm lead in the ladies competition and cannot be caught by her nearest rival Rosemary Gibson.

The Bike Station League takes a break this Thursday night as Jenkinstown Hill is once again the venue for the Leinster Hill Climb Chapionships. Defending champion James Davenport of DID Electrical will again be favourite, however there is a number of other strong contenders.

Cuchulainn Cycling Club will also be hosting the Louth Men’s & Women’s Road Race Championships on Sunday 23rd, racing starts at 10am on the Carrick Road

World silver medal for Dundalk cyclist Eve McCrystal

Nathan McGreehan and Tomas McCabe, second and first in the Louth Hill Climb Championships at the weekend

Ireland’s Paracycling team of Katie George Dunleavy and Dundalk’s Eve McCrystal claimed a silver medal at the World Paracycling Championships in Greenville, USA on Sunday.

Competing in the tandem road race the pair were edged out in a sprint for the gold by the British pair of Lora Turnham and Connie Hall, with the Spanish in third. The Irish team had been in the US for the last three weeks becoming acclimatised to the stifling heat and humidity of North Carolina.

On the previous Friday the Irish tandem duo had been unlucky to puncture in the time trial event, yet still managed to take sixth position. Also competing in the male tandem time trial and road race was Ireland’s James Brown, with Dundalk’s Bryan McCrystal, like his sister, acting as the pilot for the visually impaired athlete. The men posted top 10 results in both events but just couldn’t quite make it onto the podium.

The last competitive event of the year went to Tomas McCabe when he won the Louth Hill Climb Championships ahead of Nathan McGreehan. Tomas also won the Leinster A3 event, with the main event going to defending champion James Davenport. In the women’s event Annette Dolan took the gold ahead of Sandra O’Hagan.

Sunday also saw the final round of the Skoda Cycling Challenge descend on Louth. Fiona Rogers and Philip Kerley headed up a team that organised an excellent event for over 500 cyclists. An 80km route and 130km route were both on offer to the cyclists, taking in the likes of Ballymascanlon, Riverstown and the Long Woman’s Grave. Good weather meant than more than expected tackled the longer route, but with a well stocked food stop at the Fairways Hotel everyone managed the distance. Cuchulainn Cycling Club extends a huge thank you to the organising committee, marshals, drivers, Irish Red Cross, Skoda Ireland, The Fairways Hotel and St Kevin’s GAA Club.

Dolan claims top six finish in Wexford

Liam Dolan completing the final stage of a rain soaked Wexford 2 Day

Wexford was the destination for many of Irelands’ road cyclist when Wexford Wheelers promoted the Wexford 2 Day, a three stage event held over the Saturday and Sunday. Three different events were run, the main event for the A1 & A2 category, an A3 and Junior category and an A4 event.

Cuchulainn had riders competing in all three events, with Liam Dolan and Sean Loughran lining up in the main event. Both Dundalk men finished in the main field in Saturday’s 115km road stage and performed well in the afternoon’s 4km mountain time trial, a gruelling event despite the short distance. On Sunday, the sunshine of the day before was replaced with rain as the riders tackled the final 105km stage. At the 20km mark Dolan made it into a large breakaway of 10 riders, which were not to be seen by the main bunch for the rest of the day. In the sprint for the finish Dolan finished a disappointing 9th, but the time gained was enough to see him move up into 6th position overall.

In the A3 & Junior event, Dundalk’s junior rider Nathan McGrane finished up in 24th overall and 6th placed junior. In the A4 event Fran Egan of Cuchulainn, in his first ever stage race, rode strongly all weekend to finish up in 30th position.

The week ahead is a big one for Cuchulainn Cycling Club when on Thursday the club promotes the Leinster and Louth Hill Climb Championship. The event, run up Jenkinstown Hill, is a gruelling event and Dublin’s James Davenport is bound to return to defend his Leinster title. For the Louth title the favourites will be defending champion Ray O’Shaughnessy, Alan Bingham and Tomas McCabe. On the women’s front Annette Dolan will be looking to reclaim her title.

On Sunday the club is hosting the Skoda Challenge Sportive, a 120km cycle event which takes in the best scenery in the county. Over 500 riders are expected to compete in the event, which is part of a series of cycle challenges which have been held in Kerry, Waterford, Donegal and Wicklow throughout the year