Conor Murphy takes the Shay Elliott Memorial this year after a fantastic performance with team mate Thomas Martin, both of whom rode away from the field to take an impressive 1-2 for Eurocycles (Photo: www.blackumbrella.ie)
By Brian Canty
One of the most iconic races on the domestic calendar, the Shay Elliott Memorial will break from tradition next year when it will be held on a Saturday in late April, a move from its usual Sunday fixture in early May. In another change, invites will not be extended to UK pro teams.
The decision to move the event to an earlier date was recently taken by host club Bray Wheelers and rubberstamped by Cycling Ireland. The club felt it was wise to "try something different" for the forthcoming season.
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Bray Wheelers chairman, John Spain said there were other extenuating circumstances behind the change, such as a clogged racing calendar and the Giro d'Italia starting in Belfast on May 9th.
"We just said we'd try something different for 2014," explained Spain.
"It has always been held on a Sunday but we just wanted to see how a Saturday would work. The racing calendar next year is choc-a-block and as well as getting the race in before the An Post Rás we didn't want it clashing with anything, such as the Giro. And we're confident the date we've picked is a good one and we'll have a good turnout."
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Spain lamented the fact that this year's race only attracted around 100 riders, despite the time, money and effort that goes into organising a race such as the Elliott. But he's optimistic the field will increase next year.
"I don't know what it was this year; we got such a low number. But it was still a brilliant race and we got a worthy winner in Conor Murphy. Maybe the weather had something to do with it but we'd be hopeful we can improve on that figure next year."
The race has seen the likes of Tim Barry (2011), Philip Lavery (2012) and David O'Loughlin (2008) win in recent years and there will be an Irish winner again next year because Spain said the club wouldn't be taking entries from the UK-based teams like Rapha Condor JLT and Node4 Giordana.
"A lot of the Irish riders weren't happy about that so it will be restricted to just Irish teams," said Spain.
The race is set to take place on Saturday April 26th, the weekend after the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan.
Philip Lavery on his way to winning the race in great style in 2012; he then took the U2 National Road Race Championship later in the year and the bronze in the elite title race behind Matt Brammeier and Nicolas Roche (Photo courtesy of Bray Wheelers)
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