Greg Swinand will be one of the strongest riders in one of the strongest teams at the national championships the weekend after next.
By Brian Canty
Greg Swinand believes this year's main veterans' race at the National Road Championships could produce a surprise winner and says it will boil down to who interprets the conditions best on the day.
The Aquablue man, who has vets’ road and time trial titles in his palmares, is a definite contender for the Masters 40 race, despite not displaying the kind of form he had in the first half of last season.
And while he won the Meath GP recently, he believes that will count for nothing on the day, given how events unfolded 12 months ago.
In last year's title race he was arguably the strongest in the field but he was so heavily marked that escaping the bunch proved impossible.
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"It was a combination of the course not being hard enough and a lot of lads marking me," he replied in reference to why he didn't fare better.
"But I didn’t interpret the road correctly either; the road was narrow and I got boxed in.
"Then no one took a tap on the front and the break was two minutes up the road and it was game over."
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Keith Gater wins the rescheduled National Vets Championships last year. He has since moved to Waterford Racing Team so will be a rival of Swinand's in Omagh (Photo by JimmyMcElroy.com)
There's a flatter course in Omagh this year than in Multyfarnham but Swinand knows it will be no easier this time around.
"It’s more open because it’s a flatter course," he suggested.
"They say it’s tougher than last year but it’s flatter? There’s 50 metres of climbing a lap and 150 metres in the time-trial so you just have to interpret it on the day.
"I don't know the course but it's very exposed so wind will play a factor."
Asked who he thinks can win he said: "Derek Cunningham and Neil Delahaye will be there.
"(Neil) has been doing all these ICVA races and the other guy to watch is Paul Mulligan (Caldwell Cycles).
While there was one vets' race last year, this time around there will be three events, broken into age categories; Masters 40 (70 miles), Masters 50 (45 miles) and Masters 60 (45 miles).
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