Time trial agony for Slane ace
SLANE’S Ian Richardson was at the centre of controversy as he missed out on a coveted bronze medal during last weekend’s National Senior Time Trial and Road Race Championships, promoted by Wexford Wheelers CC and held in Wexford town.
The first championships to be held were the Individual Time Trial events at Johnstown Castle and here there were decidedly mixed fortunes for the local riders.
Ryan Mullen, whose family members still reside just outside Duleek and who was a former member of Navan Road Club, is now a professional cyclist with the Cannondale Team and he scorched home to a magnificent victory in the Elite championship in a time of 40 minutes 48 seconds, just 15 seconds ahead of Nicolas Roche from the BMC team.
Richardson, riding for the UCD fitzcycles.ie team, rode an outstanding Time Trial, finishing in third place, but afterwards there was huge disappointment in store as he lost his bronze medal position after the Race Commissaire deemed he took the wrong side of a roundabout in Kilmore Quay and was disqualified. Richardson later claimed that he was following race stewards’ directions.
Cian Delaney from Stamullen Road Club put in another great performance in this championship, finishing in ninth position.
On Saturday morning the Men’s Master championships for over40s were held. This event was contested over 117km and a huge field of 122 riders took to the start line.
Stamullen Road Club were one of the favourites to win the team prize and much preparation had gone into bringing this to fruition.
However, at around the halfway mark, disaster struck for a lot of the riders as there was a massive pileup at high speed and unfortunately a number of local riders came to grief, including Stamullen duo Colin Robinson and Derek Hussey.
After a quick bike repair, Hussey remounted his bike, but had lost a lot of time, while Robinson was not so lucky as he suffered a broken collarbone and was taken, along with a number of other riders, to hospital. This now meant that Stamullen Road Club’s dream of taking the team prize was all but shattered. Robinson will be out of cycling now for about five weeks.
Gary Gorman put in a truly magnificent performance, finishing in sixth, and his teammate, Craig Sweetman was eighth.
On Sunday morning the Men’s Elite Road Race championship was held over 171km and included in the line-up were 10 of Ireland’s top professionals. The race was held over a very tough circuit and was described by most of the competitors as such.
Throughout the entire race there were many breaks forming at the front of the race, but all attempts were neutralised by the very strong field of riders.
With one and a half laps to go, Conor Dunne, who races on the Continent with Aqua Blue Sport, the only professional Irish team registered on the continent, escaped off the front on his own, but he was soon joined by Ryan Mullen, Chris McGlinchey from the Chain Reaction Cycles team and Matthew Brammeier.
This group worked well out front for a while, but then Dunne again broke ranks and went solo. Going out on the final lap he had a one minute five second advantage.
As the riders rounded the hairpin on the stiff climb for the final time, he was caught by Mullen and McGlinchey. At the top of this climb Mullen, clearly with his eye on gold, drove clear and raced on to the finish at a ferocious pace that nobody could match.
He appeared onto the finishing straight, checking he had a clear run to the line, and lifted his arms in victory in front of a delighted crowd of spectators. McGlinchey took the silver medal and a very brave Conor Dunne the bronze.
This is the second time in Mullen’s career that he has won both the National Time Trial and Road Race Championships in the same year.
After the race, he was asked by journalists about riding in this year’s Tour de France and he said he would like to compete in it in 2018, as he felt he needs one more year to gain the necessary experience.
In round one of the Mark Mullen Memorial Handicap League in Donore, victory went to Liam Hanley (Lucan CC), with Alan Malone (Ardee CC) in second, clubmate Paddy Gorman sixth, Ross Collins of McNally Swords CC seventh, Gavin Byrne (Drogheda Wheelers CC) ninth and McNally Swords’ Brian Morrissey completing the top 10. The top four in the underage race were Seamus Connor (Drogheda Wheelers CC), Pearce Gorman (Stamullen RC), Darragh Lenehan (Drogheda Wheelers CC) and Grace Gorman (Stamullen RC).
This weekend Newry Wheelers CC will hold their annual Newry Wheelers CC 3-Day race, starting in Warrenpoint on Friday night, while the Mark Mullen Memorial League continues at Donore NS at 7.30pm next Monday.