Niall Craven

DONORE cyclist Niall Craven’s hopes of taking on the iconic Ràs Tailteann seemed to have been shattered when he crashed and broke his collarbone in another event just 26 days before the race.

But after months of preparation - including international training camps - Niall didn’t give up and he undertook hyperbaric oxygen treatment and turtuous training sessions just to ensure he made it to the start line in Drogheda along with his Louth Jons SCME Dimplex teammates Barry Hughes, Cian Delaney, Arek Klus and Paul Smith.

Niall, who won an All-Ireland Minor Football title with Meath in 1992, then battled for eight consecutive days, surviving crashes, extreme weather and the toughest of time limits to complete the entire 1,180km and be crowned ‘A Man of the Ràs’.