Lurgan Park
hosted by Apollo CT
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Irish Cyclo Cross
Championships Lurgan Park hosted by Apollo CT |
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| Sunday 4 January
2009 Lurgan Park, Lurgan The finale of the cyclo cross season accumulated today in this year's Irish Cyclo Cross Championships at Lurgan Park organised by Apollo Cycling Team. Cyclists arrived from across Ireland to compete on the excellent course which had been extended and modified from the last time it was used back at the start of October 2008. There was a full complement of races including four junior races for the under 8s, under 10s, under 12s and under 14s, a mountain bike support race as well as the main cyclo cross event. With approximately 50 riders in the cyclo cross race, 32 in the mountain bike race, around 30 in the junior events, parents and spectators the car park behind Waves Leisure Complex was full to capacity. Sign on was inside the football changing rooms which also provided hot showers to the very appreciative cyclists. The organisers had done an excellent job setting up the 2 mile course which made use of almost all the park and included the notorious water obstacles as well as two sets of hurdles for the cyclo cross bicycles to negotiate. The weather was cold and crisp but with clear blue skies and strong sunshine the park soon heated up. The fair weather had made the ground hard and dry which in turn made the course very fast. The action started at 11:30 with the under 8 race. Banbridge rider Mark Buller lead from start to finish around one lap of the 'short' course with team mate Stuart Dunlop taking second spot. In the under 10 race it was Mark's brother John who took the honours after two laps of the 'short' course. John was followed by Cain McConvey from Newry Wheelers. There were 10 riders in the under 12s race and they had to complete one lap of the full senior course. It was Craig Crawford from the Ballymena Road Club who proved to be the strongest finishing almost a minute ahead of James Curry from Banbridge CC. Aaron Swan from the Ballymena club finished third. The under 14s were given two laps of the senior course and XMTB's Chris Oakley didn't wait around setting a blistering pace from the whistle. Dromara CC's Zak Hanna was his closest rival and Zak himself opened up a large gap ahead of Banbridge CC rider Daniel Runciman. The top three riders were well spread out at the finish with Chris 1 minute 40 seconds ahead of Zak who in turn finished 2 minutes 20 seconds ahead of Daniel. At 12:30 the mountain bike support race took place. Lined up were 29 male and 3 female riders and with the men setting off first it was a squeeze for all riders to get around the first corner and up onto the grass. At the first drop off Banbridge rider Stephen Prentice crashed taking with him Dromara rider Gavin Magowan. Both got up quickly to resume the race and had to work hard to get back into contention. It was Apollo's Cathal Hendron who lead at the end of the first lap but was unable to hold onto his lead and dropped to third then fifth at the finish line. It was road racers Glenn Kinning (Castlereagh CC) and Peter Lilley (Banbridge CC) who battled together from the second lap to the finish but Glenn proved to be too strong for Peter and finished almost 2½ minutes ahead of him. What did stun the spectators was that after winning this gruelling 4 lap mountain bike race, Glenn changed bikes, put on a clean jersey and a new number and lined up for the 7 lap cyclo cross race. The cyclo cross race had the biggest field for the day with almost 50 riders tightly packed across the gravel path. The lord mayor was on hand to start the race which began at 1:30. The cyclo cross bicycles are lighter than the mountain bikes and, in the hands of some of the fittest riders in Ireland, the bunch set a staggering pace from the off. Quickly to the front went Conor McConvey (McConvey cycles), Robin Seymour (Team Worc), Liam McGreevy (Banbridge CC) and Ritchie Felle (Team Worc). By the end of the first lap the predicted battle had been set up between 37 year old Robin and 19 year old Conor with Conor completing the lap ahead of Robin who seemed to be stuck firmly to Conor's rear wheel. These two had opened up a sizeable gap between themselves and third place and the race seemed to have been centred on these two as lap after lap Conor would come through with Robin on his wheel. The battle between these two certainly drew in the spectators who cheered and encouraged these riders on every lap. Conor had tried time and again to attack off the front to open a gap between himself and Robin but Robin, who has competed in 3 Olympic games and has already won 15 Irish Cyclo Cross Championships, was not going to let Conor get away that easily. On the final turn Robin made his move and sprinted past Conor to take the victory and his 16th title. Conor, who was disappointed not to have got the victory, has a great season ahead of him as he is joining a professional cycling team on the contenient. In third place it was Newry Wheelers Conor Campbell with the mountain bike race winner Glenn Kinning finishing in the top 15. After the race the top three riders were interviewed by a reporter from the BBC. A item is due to appear on Tuesday's 6:30 pm Newsline programme (6 January 2009). After the racing was finished Apollo cycling team had organised some excellent soup, sandwiches and treats in the pavilion. Once all were fed, Apollo's Fred MacSorley conducted the prize giving ceremony. Fred then also went on to thank Craigavon Borough Council for the use of the facilities in Lurgan Park and to thank his fellow club members for their hard work in organising a very successful championships. CX race - 7 laps main course
Top 3 vets CX race Aidan McDonal (Apollo CT) Peter McConville (Newry Wheelers) Robert Lamont (XMTB) Top Ladies CX Race Francine Meehan (Tullamore CTC) Louise Harwick (Swords CC) Top Junior Riders CX Race Paul O'Reilly (IMBRC) Matthew Adair (Banbridge CC) Cormac Clark Team prize - Team Worc Team Worc Full CX results here Under 8s - One lap small course
Under 10s - 2 laps small course
Under 12s - 1 lap main course
Under 14s - 2 laps main course
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Photos by Martin Grimley
 Gavin and Alan
 Matthew and Ronnie  Stevie and Martin  Paul  Timekeepers |
| Rider |
Club |
Lap 1 |
Lap 2 |
Lap 3 |
Lap 4 |
Overall |
| Glenn Kinning |
Castlereagh CC |
10:31 |
10:23 |
09:37 |
09:49 |
40:20 |
| Peter Lilley |
Banbridge CC |
10:32 |
10:23 |
10:44 |
11:07 |
42:46 |
| Paul Anderson |
Banbridge CC |
10:23 |
10:59 |
11:01 |
11:14 |
43:37 |
| Philip Bremner |
Ballymena RC |
10:23 |
11:19 |
11:12 |
10:56 |
43:50 |
| Cathal Hendron |
Apollo CT |
10:15 |
11:06 |
11:34 |
12:26 |
45:21 |
| Lanee McGreavey |
? |
10:55 |
11:21 |
11:53 |
11:35 |
45:44 |
| Andy Layhe |
Apollo CT |
10:54 |
11:37 |
11:58 |
12:05 |
46:34 |
| Keith Sharp |
Roe Valley CC |
11:33 |
11:36 |
12:00 |
12:14 |
47:23 |
| Martin Grimley |
Dromara CC |
11:32 |
12:14 |
12:21 |
12:26 |
48:33 |
| Derek Hanna |
Dromara CC |
11:47 |
12:08 |
12:31 |
12:10 |
48:36 |
| Jonathan Buller |
Banbridge CC |
11:48 |
12:10 |
12:33 |
12:14 |
48:45 |
| Stephen Prentice |
Banbridge CC |
11:56 |
12:02 |
13:01 |
12:52 |
49:51 |
| David Fisher |
Newry Wheelers |
11:54 |
12:30 |
12:51 |
12:38 |
49:53 |
| John Ruddell |
Ards CC |
12:10 |
13:02 |
13:00 |
14:29 |
52:41 |
| Gavin Magowan |
Dromara CC |
12:44 |
13:40 |
14:42 |
- |
41:06 |
| Chris Armstrong |
U/A |
13:24 |
14:31 |
14:30 |
- |
42:25 |
| Alan Matchett |
Dromara CC |
13:42 |
14:46 |
15:17 |
- |
43:45 |
| Michael Armstrong |
U/A |
15:43 |
15:31 |
DNF |
DNF |
DNF |
| Rider |
Club |
Lap 1 |
Lap 2 |
Lap 3 |
Overall |
| Ciara Mulholland |
Clann Eireann/Linen Green |
12:30 |
13:06 |
13:24 |
39:00 |
| Julie McCorry |
XMTB / Bike Dock |
12:28 |
13:33 |
13:43 |
39:44 |
| Claire Oakley |
XMTB |
13:28 |
15:12 |
15:53 |
44:33 |
 Under 8 start |
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 Martin |
 Gavin |
 John |
 Mark |
 Robbie |
 Colin |
 Matthew |
 Alastair |
 John |
 Gordon |
 Fred |
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 Conor |
 Junior |
 Oscar |
 Don |
 Photo by James Gilpin |
 Richard Felle |
 Glenn texting on the move ! |
 Paul O'Reilly |
 Aidan McDonald |
 Graham Boyd ahead of Pete McConville |
 Alan Clogher ahead of David Gill |
 Mark McKinley |
 Tim Edgar |
 Robbie Lamont |
 Luke Manning |
 D McSorley |
 William Forsythe |
 John Mason |
 William Mulligan |
 Colin Robinson |
 Matthew |
 Gordon Bryne |
 Francine Meehan |
 Conor McConvey and Robin Seymour |
 Robin Mooney |
 Mat Campbell |
 Damien McCabe |
 Fred McSorley |
 Maurice Mayne with Michael Cowan behind him |
 Eamonn McConvey |
 Simon Curry |
 Don Travers |
 Mark McKinley followed by Oscar MacAnaney |
 Conor Campbell |
 Junior McAuley |
 Johnny McCabe |
 P O'Hare |
 Paul |
 Stephen Moffet |
 L Harwick |
 David Tweed |
 Glenn Kinning |
 Robin Seymour (1st) |
 Conor McConvey (2nd) |
 Hard working team preparing the food |
 Sandwiches and snacks all laid out |
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