The vets' road race showdown sees a massive field packed with quality line out for what could be the best one day race of the year. Greg Swinand - seen here winning the opening stage of the Tour of Ulster this year - is one of the hottest of favourites, but there are others who can do plenty of damage and take the gold medal (Photo: Jim Halferty)
By Brian Canty
The National Veterans' Road Race Championships tomorrow, Saturday, is arguably the most eagerly-awaited in recent years and with over 130 set to take to the start-line it promises to be a great battle.
It’s a mark of how competitive this category has become that it’s the biggest field of any road title contest this year and that the best among them have won some the best elite races on the home scene in recent years.
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Conventional wisdom has Greg Swinand (UCD CC) as the man to beat. But there are well over a dozen who can realistically win the race, which is what makes it so exciting.
First off, the course is not as hard as previous years and at 114 kilometres it’s not too long for a reasonably fit man to stay in the bunch for long periods.
However, when the elite race was held on the same circuit back in June, the early escape made it all the way while the field split to pieces under the pressure of the chase to get back on terms.
Swinand, second and third in the last two years, is really pining for it this year. And after a succession of fantastic road race wins since moving to UCD for the first time this season he indicated his form again last weekend when he won pursuit gold at the National Vets' Track Championships in Dublin.
Since this title race was postponed from its June date due to a fatal car crash just off the course, Swinand has simply reinforced his status as one of the hottest favourites for the road title.
Last month he demolished the field to take the National Vets' TT Championships in Blarney and soon after won the opening stage of the Wexford Two Day on his own after leaving a really strong breakaway group standing.
Keith Gater had plenty of time to celebrate his first win of the season at the Dungarvan GP in June and added the Laragh Classic to his palmares last weekend. Don't bet against the men in blue tomorrow (Photo: Dave Coleman - Dc Images)
Out of the Carrick Wheelers stable, where the sport runs deep and which has produced great riders for decades, Martin O'Loughlin was among a handful of really fancied riders when the title was due for decision in June.
However, his son has been selected to ride the World Championships in Spain, which start from Sunday, and O'Loughlin senior also works part time with Cycling Ireland. So the call of his son and country has meant his focus is elsewhere this time around and he will not be on the start line tomorrow.
His team mate Hugh Mulhearne is the reigning champion and the course is perfect for him; a lumpy parcours where the breeze will be a big factor. He is one man who will very definitely be starting tomorrow. Like Swinand, he is among the hottest favourites.
Mulhearne prefers the ‘cards on the table’ style of riding and will race from the front, as will their other main hope Rory Wyley. The team has a huge chance with such class, not to mention the other men in their six-strong team.
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It came down to a two-sprint between winner Hugh Mulhearne and runner-up Greg Swinand last year and the outcome of tomorrow's contest will be influenced by the same two riders, either of whom would make a fantastic champion (Photo: Toby Watson)
Speaking of big teams, Lucan CRC and Phoenix CC both have eight men entered and they each have men who can take the fight to the hot favourites.
Cathal Smyth from the latter made the break last year but suffered cruel luck when he punctured out of it, while Eugene Murtagh from Lucan CRC can sprint very well and has been well up there in many races over the last few years.
Aquablue’s Keith Gater and Joe Fenlon are both hugely strong men. Fenlon has been one of the best riders in the country for two decades.
He won a stage and the overall in the Tour of Ulster last year and is a former vets' road champion. If he has prepared for tomorrow, his presence will be a complete menace to everyone else.
Gater appears to have timed his form to perfection; winning the Laragh Classic in Co Wicklow only last weekend after taking the Dungarvan GP back in June.
The Cork-based outfit also has Timmy Barry calling the shots and experience like his in a race as tactical as this is impossible to ignore. Barry is unlikely to have the form to be a contender as he has taken a back seat from racing to manage the squad in recent years.
But as recently as the past couple of seasons he was winning the biggest races in the country and is a man who can use his bullets wisely.
Zippy Doyle (above) and Aidan Crowley are capable of getting right into the mix in tomorrow's vets contest (Photo: Gary McIlroy)
The VeloRevolution team are enjoying a fabulous debut season and would love to cap it off with a national title.
Zippy Doyle is probably their best hope of a result. He won the Harry Reynolds Memorial way back in March and since then has taken a win at Mondello Park, podiumed there several times and most recently ridden a good Suir Valley Three Day where he was 3rd on the criterium stage.
Doyle is better suited to short hard efforts; crits and cyclocross racing where he has made his biggest mark. But he is capable of a medal tomorrow if he got the rub of the green.
His team mate Aidan Crowley is a man who knows exactly how to suffer, and crucially, when to suffer. A group sprint is something the big man would relish, though such an outcome is unlikely tomorrow.
Chris Troy (Castlebar CC), Craig Sweetman (Stamullen M. Donnelly), Gareth McCormack (Liquidworx-Fitscience), 4th last year Des Woods (Newry Wheelers), not to mention John Murray of host club Lakeside are all riders capable of ripping it up and taking a medal.
It’s going to be a war of attrition either way and it’s likely to go along similar lines to last year with only the very, very strongest in contention when the business end of the day comes around. Numerical supremacy may be crucial if a select group of 10 or so is in contention in the finale.
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