ENNISCRONE HOSTS CYCLING NATIONALS
FOR the first time ever the Cyclocross National Championships were held in Sligo at the weekend. Hundreds of cyclists and participants converged on Enniscrone for the event, which was live streamed on YouTube and also broadcast later on TG4 on Sunday evening.
The 2020 Cyclocross National Championship featured close to 200 of Ireland’s top riders all vying for national honours. Nearby cycling club Ballina hosted the event and local riders included Damien Creighton from Castleconnor and Gareth McCormack from Enniscrone.
Damien, took part in the Rás last year with Gareth, said it was terrific for the nationals to be held in Co Sligo. “It’s the All-Ireland final basically and has never been on this side of the country before. I’ve been involved for 20 years and I think this was the first time it was in Connacht. This is really the top end of the game in terms of competitors. It was split into categories and the Senior men had 40 riders, these were the best cyclists and real top end.
“It was great that it was live streamed too and the highlights shown on TG4. We would have loved to have announced it a bit earlier though.” The wheels of motion began straight after the nationals when the club was contacted and with them having plenty of experience co-ordinating races, such as the Connacht cycling cross and Winter league, they were ideal organisers.
Damien gave a little background as to what cycling cross is all about. “It’s massive in Belgium and Holland. It’s an Autumn/Winter sport, in Summer you have 2 cycling strands, mountain biking and road racing and the season ends in September when all the guys put their bikes away and take out bikes that are a cross between mountain and road bikes, the tyres are more like mountain bike ones.
“Mountain bike cyclists have more skills at turning and so forth, while the road guys have the endurance, it basically gives them a chance to compete with each other when they wouldn’t normally battle it out,” Damien said.
Among the big names in the sport competing at the weekend was David Conroy, the current national champion. “He’s from Leinster and bases himself in Belgium during the Autumn/Winter, he’s more of a mountain biker by heart.”
In terms of the ladies competitors, among the elite names was Maria Larkin from Mayo who is based in the States. “Maria is really talented and based in Chicago, she has a semi-professional gig over there, competing in the local Chicago circuit. She came 2nd in the nationals three times so she was really gunning being here in her home Province.”
Damien said Ballina Cycling Club is thriving and cyclocross is something there is a big push to grow as a sport. “We’ve really driven ourselves to expand it and there is a good uptake from clubs in Connacht, including Galway and Mayo. We would really like to see a Sligo town hub, that’s what we are looking for to develop if people are interested.”
Also at the Cyclocross Nationals was Robin Seymour, who was national champion for an incredible 18 years in a row. Damien said: “Robin is like the godfather of cyclocross. He’s into his 40s now and is in the Masters category.
There has been a lot of races in Dublin over the years and also a lot of growth in the south of Ireland which is all credited to that man.”
Damien said the sport is big in the North as well. “It’s thriving too in the North and like golf or rugby, cycling is an all-island thing so there were serious contenders from the North taking part too.” He said everyone in Ballina Cycling Club was thrilled to be able to bring the event to the Northwest and hoped that this will really boost the adult and youth participation levels of Cyclocross in Connacht. “Thank you to all our local sponsors and to the Enniscrone Community Council for the continued use of the Castlefield over the years. A special thanks must go to the Ballina CC Cyclocross Team who have worked tirelessly all winter in preparation for this event, giving up their free time,” he added.
Matt McKerrow, CEO of Cycling Ireland praised Ballina Cycling Club for hosting the nationals. He added: “Cyclocross is a fast-paced and thrilling spectator sport which we are looking forward to bringing to new and existing fans. The discipline of cyclocross has grown exponentially over the past number of years and we expect to see its popularity continue to rise. It’s a fantastic activity for youths and juniors as it takes place off road in a controlled environment and is a great way of developing bike handling skills. I am sure newcomers to the sport will be inspired to give it a go when they watched the action unfold in Sligo this weekend. I want to thank Ballina Cycling Club for hosting the 2020 Cyclocross National Championships and all those who supported the broadcasting of the event,” he added.