This coming weekend brings the Tommy Given Memorial race at Hillsborough on Saturday, and the North Down Grand Prix at Donaghadee on Sunday. The Donaghadee event incorporates the N.I Championships for all categories.
Even if he was not racing, Nathan Corry almost certainly covered more miles on his bike than anyone else last week, riding well over four hundred miles from Malin Head in Donegal to Mizen Head in Cork. Nathan’s aim was to raise funds for the Marie Curie Charity, and he did amass a significant four figure sum. Well done Nathan. The Tour of Ulster for elite riders finished on Monday of last week, and it would be remiss if we did not congratulate John Heverin, who finished the three day race in twenty third place, a superlative performance that stands out with the best that any Clann Eireann rider has achieved in the last ten years. The other Clannsman in the event John Bann-Lavery began well, but dropped out during the final stage. Stephen McAllister from Ballymoney guested with the team for the Tour of Ulster, and ended up 55th of the 103 starters.
Declan Mulhoulland was in London for four days last week, with a six cyclist team representing Ulster in the Sainsbury’s UK School Games. Declan was 9th in the time trial, and 12th in the Criterium, but the last day of racing was on the new Olympic velodrome, where a bump from another competitor sent him crashing down the track. He suffered only skin damage, and was out training again last Saturday. Declan has for his next target the N.I Youth Championships at Donaghadee next Sunday, where he will be joined by some of the other young new cyclists from Clann Eireann. Incidentally the Skills Sessions at Clann Eireann Youth Club continue on Saturday mornings from 9.30am. New members are still welcome. The skills programme is aimed at ages 8 to 14. In last Tuesdays Interclub time trial, Conor Grimes took his first win of the year with a 23 minute 21 second effort. The only other Clannsman in the top ten was Martin McConville, eighth in 24 minutes 40 seconds. Strangely, two evenings later at Warrenpoint, in the West Down Wheelers open event, and on a reputedly faster course, Grimes could only manage sixth place, recording a 23 minute 35 second time. The Clann should however feel grateful to him for his win on the Tuesday, the fifth straight win in a row for the club, and on a night when not many other Clann Eireann riders were competing.
John Heverin has been the star of the local cycling scene in recent weeks, winning three interclub league events and finishing fourth in the Mid Ulster Grand Prix.
He further improved on his growing reputation in the Tour of Ulster race, against international opposition, finishing ninth in the time trial stage, and moving up into twenty-first place overall. The other Clann Eireann rider in the race, John Bann-Lavery was in sixty eighth spot after three stages.
In other events, this coming weekend, the Grouchos Grand Prix is Saturday’s big race at Richhill, where Clann Eireann club have a full team of four entered. Also on Saturday at 9.30 am a cycling skills programme for young cyclists starts at Clann Eireann Youth Club. Aiming to improve bike handling and general cycling skills, it will be beneficial to newcomers to the sport, whether they are interested in leisure cycling, road racing or mountain-biking. The programme is open to those aged between 10 and 14 years of age. Elsewhere, the interclub road race next Tuesday will take place at Ballydougan and will start at 7.00 pm.
Round two of the Interclub League was dominated by Clann Eireann cyclists. Just over sixty riders went to the line at Derrymacash last week.
Six minutes separated the scratch group from the long handicappers, and going into the last lap, the race was still there for anybody to take, given that the scratchmen were still more than a minute in arrears. Approaching the finish, it was clear that the decision would come down to a mass sprint, with more than half the original starters still in contention, but the leaders from the scratch group had closed their defecit and were coming to the front.
Michael Murray (junior ) gave a clear demonstration of his finishing skills, winning by a couple of lengths from John Heverin. The Clann Eireann club put seven riders into the top ten over the line, for them a very satisfying result.
In open racing, John Heverin began his 2012 time trialling season just where he left off at the end of 2011, with a win. The first round of the Super Six Series at Toome on Sunday saw the Lurgan man top the results with a time of 21 minutes 11 seconds over the ten miles, the only rider to record a time under 22 minutes. John was the overall winner of last years Super Six series, and last weekends result gives a clear indication of his intentions for a repeat performance.
Placings
1. Michael Murray Clann Eireann
2. John Heverin Clann Eireann
3.John McAuley Apollo
4.Declan Mulhoulland Clann Eireann
5.Richard Davison Island Wheelers
6.Conor Grimes Clann Eireann
7.Alan McKeown Island Wheelers
8.Barry McConville Clann Eireann
9.Warren McNeill Clann Eireann
10.Nathan Corry Clann Eireann
Next Tuesdays league event is another road race at the Argory circuit, starting at 7 pm. Open races this coming weekend are at Dromore on Saturday for the John Beggs Cup and associated races, and on Sunday the venue is Cookstown for the Mid-Ulster GP.
The local competitive cycling scene comes out into the open this week with the first event in the Interclub league, a time trial on the Moy road.
Clann Eireann riders dominated most of last years races, with Michael Murray and John Heverin taking the top Road Race and Time Trial places.. This year the Clannsmen might have to face sterner opposition from other participating clubs. The Island Wheelers, likely to produce the biggest number of cyclists, have a group of riders that are much more experienced than before, and the return of the Richhill based Orchard Wheelers to the league can only raise the bar higher. Running on Tuesdays for the next few months, the league provides competition to many cyclists, a good share of whom can compete well, even if they do not race fully open races. The appeal of the league was such last year that there were events with almost sixty participants, and the numbers rarely fell below thirty. If there is sufficient demand, the league committee will consider the addition of a youth section.
Last Saturday, some of the Clann Eireann youth section were at Rathfriland for a town series. James Mulhoulland and Ethan Flavelle both scored fourth places in their respective races, and were joined by Clodagh O’Neill in the girls event. Further from home, John Bann-Lavery was holding 70th place after three days racing on Sunday night in Kerry at the four day Ras Mumhan. Declan Mulhoulland was at the Scottish Youth Tour as part of an Ireland team, but we were unable to get a progress report at the time of writing.
This coming weekend, the major weekend race is the Red Hand Trophy at Ballymena on Saturday, followed by the Bann Valley Classic the following day.Clann Eireann have riders entered on both days.
Tuesday of next week brings the second round of the interclub league, a road race at Derrymacash. The start is set for 7 pm.
Clann Eireann cyclist Jerome Donnelly scored the best result of his career in last Sundays Aghagallon Cup race at Bartins Bay, taking a great second place in a hectic sprint finish.
With around seventy starters in the senior race, Donnelly and teammate Kenny McConaghy were well to the fore for most of the ten lap race. There were no significant breakaways, but the fast pace was sufficient to dislodge around half the field from the main bunch, and the survivors were set up for a big sprint finish. Donnelly did extremely well to grab second place, just a half length behind East Antrims Gary McDermott. McConaghy was seventh, another great result for him.
Clann Eireann was well represented in the youth events that preceded the senior race. Declan Mulhoulland came up trumps in the under 16 event for the Clann, taking a well timed sprint win. There were a dozen other young Clann Eireann cyclists also competing in races for under 14s and under 12s, and for most of them, it was their first taste of open competition. However, James Mulhoulland took a great fourth place in the under 12 race, and Lucy Gethins won the award for best new girl.
Elsewhere, Clann Eireann cyclists were in action on Saturday last in the 100 kilometer Tour of Ards, and the Harry Reynolds Memorial in Balbriggan. John Heverin rode aggressively at the Ards race, but had to be content with a result that merely recorded him as finishing somewhere in the main group of finishers. Conor Grimes suffered a similar fate, having led the Harry Reynolds race for a couple of laps, only to be caught by a large bunch in the closing miles.
Next week being Easter, there is little competition available locally. John Bann-Lavery travels to Kerry for the four day Ras Mumhain as the sole Clann Eireann rider.
However, the long awaited Inter-club League takes to the road on Tuesday 10 April. The opening race is a time trial on the Portadown to Moy road..
Training Drills
John Heverin has been the star of the local cycling scene in recent weeks, winning three interclub league events and finishing fourth in the Mid Ulster Grand Prix.
Clann Eireann cyclist Jerome Donnelly scored the best result of his career in last Sundays Aghagallon Cup race at Bartins Bay, taking a great second place in a hectic sprint finish.
