Ryan’s tour de force trumps Nico
IT was a feast of first-rate racing in Wexford for the first time in 27 years at the Irish National Cycling Championship where defending champion Nicolas (Nico) Roche lost out on the double to Ryan Mullen.
Wexford acted as a beautiful backdrop for the event with many of the riders talking afterwards, congratulating the organisers on how good the course was.
Taking the race over Wexford Bridge on the Saturday and Sunday was ambitious and took a lot of work to make it happen, as extra adjustments had to be made to certain areas.
National Championships PRO Nick Moloney said: ‘The rolling closures worked very smoothly on the Sunday for the elite races, After Saturday we had to make some adjustments by putting more marshals, cones, and extra Gardaí in places that had caused some trouble the previous day.’
The Thursday time trial races saw defending champion Nicolas Roche lose the title by 15 seconds to Ryan Mullen in the Elite Men’s. Ryan was very happy with his performance, likening the course to the Paris-Roubaix saying it was his ‘ best forty-minute power’ that he has ever done.
Eileen Burns took the victory in the Elite Women’s race and really enjoyed the course, followed by a victorious win from Michael O’Loughlin in the U23 category where he stormed home a minute clear of Conn McDunphy.
Meanwhile on the Saturday, John Hodge took the gold in the M40s race, Greg Swinand for the M50s, and Sean McIlroy won the M60s.
The riders fought hard on the Sunday with the Senior Men’s race, U23s and Elite Women’s blazing through the streets of Wexford.
Ryan Mullen took the title in the Senior Men’s, Lydia Boylan won the Elite Women’s and Michael O’Loughlin rode hard to take the gold home in the U23s.
Nick would like to thank the people of Wexford for their patience with the traffic and to all the spectators that came out to cheer the riders on.