A much quieter weekend on the racing front. With much of the club attention being focused on the Orwell Randonnee and the amazing blue skies it was hard to find some racing news… but never fear we have a few highlights!
Para-Cycling World Cup, Ostend
We don’t often get to start with overseas racing, and even rarer still is news of a medal. This weekend Ronan Grimes was representing Ireland at the first World Cup on the 2018 Para-Cycling calendar.
Ronan is a relative newcomer to this level of cycling but that hasn’t stopped him aiming high. Following on from his fantastic success in Rio at the World Track Championships Ronan was heading to Ostend with a quiet optimism. I had asked him for a write up on Rio and his reply was he was expecting to do much better on the road so we might wait till then…be warned Ronan, I will hold you to that!
On Friday morning Ronan competed in the MC4 Time Trial with a time of 40:15:80, finishing in 8th position, just over two minutes behind Australia’s Kyle Bridgewood.
It was Sunday when Ronan really made his mark on this level of cycling when he stormed the Men’s C4 80km Road Race to come home in third place and step onto his first World Cup podium – we have a feeling it wont be his last! The race came down to s sprint finish with Russia’s Sergei Pudov finishing just ahead of silver medallist David Calmon from the Netherlands.
Congratulations Ronan!
Frank O’Rourke Memorial, Wexford
On the domestic front there were only a few Orwell racing at the weekend. A few hardy A3s and A4’s travelled to Wexford to take part in the Frank O’Rourke Memorial – Eric Davis, John Wade Jonathon Coffey and Nick Appleby made up the A4 group. The hot weather made for some tough racing but the men of Orwell were up for the challenge and in the end it was Nick Appleby who came away with a 5th place but more importantly the important points that see him upgraded to A3.
- Alan Killian St Tiernan’s Cycling Club
- Kenneth Murray Clonard Road Club
- Colin Hartley Barrow Wheelers
- Brendan Cullimore Rossbury Racing
- Nicholas Appleby Scott Orwell Wheelers
- Gearoid Quigly Unattached
Youths at the Kanturk 3 Day
The only Scott Orwell team to make it to Kanturk this year was a small but very successful youths team.
Under 12s -
Áine: 3rd girl overall U12s, 3rd Stage 1&2 4th stage 3
Under 14s –
Annie: 2nd Girl Overall, 2nd Stage 1&2 3rd stage 3
Katie: 4th Girl Overall, 3rd Girl Stage 2
Under 16s -
Conor: 15th U16 Boys
Full results: Kanturk Youth Final Results
Photos: Presentation Photos Kanturk 3 Day - YOUTHS
IVCA League
And finishing this week with the IVCA League which had a late change of venue to the Green Sheds circuit on Sunday. The Orwell were out in force this weekend with the white, green and yellow standing out in the glorious sunshine.
Race 1 saw a large field take on the 93km route. Lining out for Scott Orwell were Eddie Lynch and John Twomey – fresh from his “mini Randonnee” the previous day! Despite the best efforts of a few to break away the race came down to a bunch sprint with Eddie showing his track sprinting power to clinch 9th and some valuable points. John wasn’t far behind despite his hilly Saturday, finishing safely in the bunch.
Race 2 featured the largest number of Scott Orwell with Ciara Kinch, Arthur Ebbs, Damian Long, Paul Tansey and Yvonne Doran. Paul Tansey admitted on Saturday that the Green Sheds circuit is one of his favourites so we suspected a possible result from El President. Again a bunch sprint decided the race and true to his word Paul powered across the line in 6th place.
Race 3 was the featured race of the day as the riders contested the Dermot McGrath Memorial Trophy. Romano Morelli, Barry Redmond, Patrick Malone and Louise Keane were the Scott Orwell representatives. Terry Ryan unfortunately didn’t make it to the start line as he had a pre race mechanical. Kudos to Terry for starting with the Red group in the end despite not being able to change gears!
A surprise call by the Race Director on the start line was met with a mixture of groans and cheers as the group learnt that an extra lap was being added to the circuit. Race 3 would now race the same 76km as Race 2.
The Orwell contingent was very active throughout the race with riders attempting to make the break several times. Barry Redmond was most determined of the group with Louise Keane trying to follow his example. The seasoned bunch however was well able to reel in any attacks on the relatively flat course and so it came down to a cagey last lap.
With a few Kms to go Barry and eventual winner, Kevin McFeely of Dublin Wheelers took off up the road again. Barry was reeled back in but Kevin managed to stay away and took a great win. Two others managed to sneak a few precious meters to claim second and third while the remaining bunch came in together in a gallop that saw Romano sprinting into 4th place, Louise claim 7th and Patrick 8th for Scott Orwell.
Well done to every one who raced at the weekend. Please remember to send any race results and reports to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Race 1:
9th Eddie Lynch
Race 2:
6th Paul Tansey
Race 3: The Dermot McGrath Memorial
4th Romano Morelli
7th Louise Keane
8th Patrick Malone
