Dolan goes close to first win of the year in Tour of the Mournes

Liam Dolan competing in the Tour of the Mournes on Sunday

Cuchulainn Cycling Club’s Liam Dolan went very close to taking his first win of the year in the Tour of the Mournes on Sunday last.

The 155km cycle saw the 80 strong field tackle some rolling countryside on a warm but blustery day. After 35km Dolan found himself part of a six man escape group, which by the end of the day was whittled down to just Dolan and Dave Hamilton of North Down CC.

The pair drove to the finish with a minute over the remains of the main bunch, where Hamilton pipped Dolan for the win. Colm Quinn also had a good result with ninth position overall.

Both Colm and Liam will be on the start line this Sunday for the An Post Rás, which starts in Dunboyne. The eight-day international cycle race will see a stage finish in Drogheda on Saturday May 23rd.

The Bike Station Summer Cycling League continued this week with the course being out to Ardee, across the link road and home through Castlebellingham. It was another big turn out with 84 riders signing on across the two races.

The first race off was once again a bunch sprint with the three groups finally coming together before Kilsaran. As the line fast approached on the Fane Bridge, round one winner Val Gargan was again the quickest, outsprinting Alan Bingham for the win with Kenny Sullivan in third.

The second race was a master class in pacing from Johanna Rogan who rode away from the rest of group one and held off the fast moving riders behind to take the win. Gavin McDermott was next home winning the sprint for second place ahead of underage sensation Connor McKeown. Catherine Sands’ good riding meant another lady was in the top five. Group three, meanwhile, never bridged the gap to the leaders so had to settle for the minor placings.

The Mountain Bike League is also in full swing and round four returned to Bellurgan Park. The recent rainfall made for real testing conditions for the riders. Like the Bike Station league, this league also operates two races a night such are the numbers.

In race one Liam Burns was in flying form on his new stead and took a victory from Aaron McCann, who was unlucky to have a mechanical on the last lap while closing in on Burns. Niall O’Flaherty was third.

In race two PJ Hynes was well ahead of the chasing pack cruised in to take first place with a few minutes to spare ahead of John Kane in second and Paul Durnin rounding out third. Round five returns to the wilderness of the open mountain.

The Tour of Louth, Cuchulainn’s annual sportive is to be held Sunday May 31st and again expects to attract a big field to tackle the 110km of scenic Co Louth countryside. The route will follow the usual format of out towards Dunleer, across to Ardee, back to Dundalk before heading around Carlingford via the tough climb at Jenkinstown. There will also be a shorter 50km route on the day. Dowdallshill GAA club is the sign on location.

Finally under the stewartship of Philip Kerley, an underage cycling group has begun to meet every Monday night at 6.45pm at Muirhevnamor Community Centre. Riders aged 11-15 years are welcome, along with their parents to tackle 20km to 25km of cycling with experienced guides.

O’Shaughnessy impresses in Cyclocross League

Ray Fedigan pictured on his Cyclocross League debut in Tallaght

Round two of the Fixx Coffee House Cyclocross League saw riders held to Tallaght’s Tymon Park for a challenging course of grass, tarmac, gravel and complete with a novelty “spiral” section, that caused spectators as much confusion as the riders. The dry conditions saw fast times for both the A and B races.

In the A race, covering eight laps of the course, Cuchulainn Cycling Club had a very successful day. Leading the charge was Ray O’Shaughnessy, coming home in fourth place behind two time Olympian Robin Seymour. Ray is continuing to build good form and should be a medal contender come January in the National Championships

Next Dundalk man home was Gary Shiels in 14th position, who also claimed the first Veteran’s prize despite dropping a chain late on in the day. Johnny McCabe was 20th man home and claimed the first Supervet prize. Aiden McDonald was close behind in 22nd, having dropped down the leader board after sustaining a puncture. Gerry McCabe was only slightly further back in 28th position.

In the B race, consisting of seven laps, the final McCabe brother had a great day claiming 7th overall and first Supervet. Kenny Sullivan was 20th and Ray Fedigan made his cyclocross debut to come home in 60th position in the field of over 90.

Cuchulainn CC recently held their AGM in the Fairways Hotel. A good turn out saw the club discuss a number of initiatives for the year ahead as well as looking back over a successful 2014. The next event for the club is the traditional end of season awards night and Christmas party on Friday December 5th in the Spirit Store.

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.