The fourth round of races due to take place at Mondello Park, Co Kildare, next Tuesday has been cancelled and further events at the course are “under review” after several crashes and subsequent comment on social media.
There were crashes during the opening round and again last Tuesday night during round three. The incidents on the opening night appear to have been worst, with a number of riders sustaining broken bones including their hip.
And now the organisers have decided to cancel the next
round and also said future racing was under review. However, the youth races
due to take place this Saturday will go ahead as planned.
Race organisers, Irish Road Club, have also defended the
safety precautions taken for every round and have defended the general set-up
at Mondello. They said recent comments on social media alleging inadequate
first aid cover at the venue were not accurate and were “offensive and
disrespectful”.
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It also said first aid cover was in line with that
specified by Cycling Ireland, was “at pandemic level” and that there was access
to the Mondello medical centre if needed, including “defibrillator and
intubation kits”
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“Ambulances provided by voluntary organisations require a
minimum level of competence in order to repatriate a patient to hospital. If
that level is not available, the National Ambulance Service is sought (even
with the voluntary organisation ambulance on site) for repatriation with response
times dictated upon demand,” the club said.
“It has proven difficult to seek assurance that both the
correct vehicle type and the level of competence will be present for each event
and so the mitigations and level of first aid cover outlined above has been
relied upon throughout the six years the Mondello Series has been on the
calendar.”
When announcing the decision to put “the remainder of the
series under constant rolling review” and to cancel next Tuesday’s event, the
promoting club said cited “a number of racing incidents in round one and round
three and the subsequent criticism of the event organisation on social media”.
It hoped those who had recently been injured would have a
speedy recovery. The club also set out all of the precautions it took for each
round of the series, including:
- Hosting on a closed road motor racing circuit that is 10 metres wide with sweeping bends, no potholes and most importantly, no oncoming traffic
- Hosting two separate events to reduce the overall number of cyclists in one group therefore reducing the risk of collision between participants
- Restricting the race sizes to account for skill fade over the pandemic period allows for more space for participants to race within
- Mondello representative inspecting the course by bicycle before handing the track over to us to ensure there is no debris present that could affect the conduct of the race
“For any remaining risk after the application of the above mitigations, the rest is generally mitigated by the riders themselves through serviceable equipment, bike handling skills and responsible racing,” the club said.
“However, so far in the 2021 season, rider behaviour has
caused an increased level of risk and injury that has been evident at the
majority of open road race events throughout the country.”
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