Following on from the success of the Virtual Stephen Roche GP this week, Quanta-Scott Orwell Wheelers are proud to present another online race in the form of the Noel & Kieran Hammond memorial. The event will take place this Sunday 28th June 2020 at 09:30 am on RGT!


While in recent years this race has been run as a time trial, this year's race will be a mass start road race, open to all categories and will take place on a virtual representation of the normal Wicklow circuit courtesy of 'Magic Roads' on the RGT platform.

All are welcome and it is guaranteed to be a great morning's racing. Sign up now with the details below!


Background: 

The Noel Hammond TT for A1/A2 Riders was first run in 1983, the year after Noel Died. It was run as a road race up to a few years ago when it was decided to change the format and run it as a TT due to restrictions on running road races from the Council, the Gardai & locals. The Trophy presented for the Noel Hammond TT is the Rudge Cup and dates back to the 1950's when the club regularly ran the Rudge Cup TT.

The Kieran Hammond race dates back to 2003 the year after Kieran died. The Kelly Roche Cup is presented as the winners trophy. The was donated and paid for by Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly back in the late 80's for the club use.

Noel & Kieran Hammond:  

Noel joined Orwell Wheelers in about 1953 and initially raced with the club up to the early 60's. In the early 70's Noel and a couple of others kept the club going when there were only a handful of members and put a programme in place then with Noel O'Neill and Paddy Doran to get youths into the club. He took a lot of the youths away to events in the UK over the years, this was the era when they discovered a certain Mr. S Roche. Noel was also a board member of the ICF (Irish Cycling Federation now Cycling Ireland). He was also did a lot of work with the old Tour Of Ireland stage race, including being the chief accommodation officer.

Noel became very ill in 1978 with Heart problems and had to take a step back from cycling and the club. He passed away in 1982.

Kieran was a member of the club from the very early 1970s and raced as a schoolboy, junior and a few years as a senior in the club. In the mid 80's he took on the main administration work of the club.  Kieran also managed many of the Orwell teams on the Rás and other stage races throughout the late 80s and 90's as well as Junior tour teams, it was his passion!

When racing numbers dwindled in Orwell Kieran would go on to look after a lot of the International teams on the Rás over the years. Kieran was the man who kept the club together during the 90s and late 90s and early 00's when it was getting tough for clubs to survive.

In 2002 Kieran passed away suddenly when out out on his bike cycling, doing what he loved. It was a major shock to all at the time and he is still missed by family, friends and the Irish cycling community. 


Race Particulars & Technical Information 

Platform: RGT
Route: http://strava.app.link/XYGl4KVvA7
Entry Fee: None
Distance: 32.23km
Date: 28 June 2020
Start time: 09:30 am

Registration:

Download the RGT mobile app and register here:

http://app.rgtcycling.com/event?code=GZKz5JEpgj​ // Race Code: GZKz5JEpgj​​

Note: In case of any difficulty with the links above, please follow the instructions below:

  1. Open the RGT mobile app
  2. Click the 3 lines in the top right corner
  3. Choose "Races" from the menu
  4. Click the "Search Race" button
  5. Copy and Paste (or type) the race code listed above