81 Riders from 25 Clubs descended on Corkagh Park for the 2017 running of the Scott Orwell Wheelers Youths One Day Stage Race.

 

Courtesy of Terry Reilly.

 

Take 81 riders from 25 clubs and a few unattached, stir for three stages and add dollops of headwind; the result was an enthralling day's youths racing at Corkagh Park. They came from all the provinces and the four corners of the land, from Mayo, Tyrone, Waterford, Down, Clare, Cork, Antrim as well as every county in Leinster. Lakeside sent 8, Omagh 6, Navan 11, Covey, Bray and SERC 4 -  excellent youth groups in all these clubs and their cyclists are a credit to them. Saturday saw the second running of the Orwell Youths One Day Stage Races at Corkagh Park, showcasing the advantages of this purpose built criterium cycling track. There were podiums and prizes on offer in Boys and Girls categories in Under 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 age groups.

 

Overall Honours

Three stages in such a short time can really test the legs and make it difficult for any one rider to dominate proceedings. One who did manage that was Quillan Donnelly, wearing the O'Leary Stone Kanturk colours this year, who had a clean sweep in the U12 Boys.

In the U16 boys, Shay Donnelly from Ballymoney nearly did dominate. Alas he lost out in the third stage Elimination Race to Ryan Geraghty from Bikeworx, in what was one of the best races of the day. There was barely a hair between them at the line. The video from @Sparks on Twitter will demonstrate how close the finish was: Close Finish in the U16 Elimination Race.

In the U14's Scratch Race Somhairle Owens Fisher, from Omagh Wheelers, turned in a dominating performance in riding away from the field into a headwind and then staying out in front on his own for seven laps. His nerve unwavering as the gap closed to 18 secs when the two SERC riders took up the pursuit. He extended it back out to 30 secs with three laps to go. The chasing peloton settled into a race for silver.

Ride of the day was probably Donnelly's in the U16's Scratch Race. His control, bike handling and power were awesome to behold. He finished half a lap ahead of the strong chasing pair Keith Mulroy (Covey) and Conor Farrell (Lakeside). Aaron Wade (Lakeside) being the only other rider on the same lap as them.

The girls had their own GC in each event for U12's , U14's, and 16's. We believe may be the only event to do this outside the provincial and national champs. We are delighted to provide this opportunity and hope the twenty-three who took part across all of the age groups enjoyed the competition. Lakeside Wheelers took two of the first places, Aoife O’Brien in the U14's and Caoimhe O’Brien in the U16's. Scott-Orwell's own Bobbi Gillespie took the honours in the U12's.

In the under-under age categories Unattached Oisin May took the U10's title and Nate Soros of Navan RC took the U8's with each winning all three events they took part in.

 

Sportsmanship on the Podium. Courtesy of Terry Reilly.

 

Winners by Stage

  U12 Boys U14 Boys U16 Boys
Time Trial Quillan Donnelly (Kanturk) Darren Foy (Covey) Shay Donnelly (Ballymoney)
Scratch Race Quillan Donnelly (Kanturk) Somhairle Owens Fisher (Omagh) Shay Donnelly (Ballymoney)
Elimination Race Quillan Donnelly (Kanturk) Conor Short (SERC) Ryan Geraghty (Bikeworx)

 

  U12 Girls U14 Girls U16 Girls
Time Trial Bobbi Gillespie (Orwell) Caoimhe May (Orwell) Lara Gillespie (Orwell)
Scratch Race Bobbi Gillespie (Orwell) Aoife O’Brien (Lakeside) Caoimhe O’Brien (Lakeside)
Elimination Race Katie Reilly (Orwell) Aoibhe Power (Dungarvan) Caoimhe O’Brien (Lakeside)

 

  U8   U10
Time Trial Nate Soros (Navan) Oisin May (u/a)
Scratch Race Nate Soros (Navan) Oisin May (u/a)
Elimination Race Nate Soros (Navan) Oisin May (u/a)

 

Stage Honours

Two super consistent riders who didn't get any wins but were always right up in the placings were Hayden Power from Comeragh (2nd GC U12s) and Eoghan Cooke of SERC (2nd GC U14s).

The Under 14 age group was possibly the most competitive field with twenty-seven riders taking to the start line and six different stage winners across the boys and girls races. Each incremental placing was hard fought for and the overall standard was very good.

On the home front a big Scott-Orwell contingent of fifteen riders signed on. Apart from Bobbi mentioned above there were podiums for Anna Cobbe (2nd U8), Luca Holmes (3rd U10), Katie Reilly (2nd U12), Caoimhe May (3rd U14) and Lara Gillespie (2nd U16), well done to all.

Stephen keeping an eye on proceedings. Courtesy of Terry Reilly.

 

L'Avenir

One of cycling’s truisms is that no matter how good you are, there is always going to be someone faster than you as you progress up through the ranks; the battles are won locally, in your head, against yourself and the fun is in trying to do better today than you did yesterday and knowing that you gave your best. You will have good days and bad days and sometimes you won’t know which it is until the race is half over. So as we applaud our winners above we know that there are loads of other stories out there to be told.

Sam and David in their first open races, have they caught the bug? Ronan and Andrew, their friendship off the course and rivalry on it sees each spur the other on. Dylan riding superbly in front of his grandfather, who for many years ran races for the IRC, the baton is being handed down, and his mum is a pretty good cyclist too. Aine suffered a fall in the U10's elimination but bravely continued on. Ruairi looked pro at all times. Killian improved as the day went on and had his best placing in the elimination coming sixth, when he gets the hang of the gearing on his new bike he will be a force to be reckoned with. Peter had a tenth in the Scratch Race competing against guys who have been racing for years whereas he is about two months into his career, he is learning all the time.

 

Photo Albums

 

Full results, including a stage-by-stage breakdown, can be found on this Scott Orwell Youth One Day Stage Race 2017 Results Forum Post.

And remember, racing continues throughout the summer for Youths every Monday @ Corkagh. Sign on opens at 18.30, first race at 19:00. Please See the Monday Night Youth Racing Series 2017 Article for more details.

 

Girl's Elimination Race Video Package