Caoimhe May, Paul O'Reilly take victories in Cross of Kells, Co Meath | Sticky Bottle

*Caoimhe May (Scott Orwell Wheelers) won the elite women’s race from Stephanie Roche (Scott Eurocycles) and Mary Dawson of Bray Wheelers (Photo: Sean Rowe)*

Caoimhe May won the battle of the juniors at the pointy
end of the opening round of the Leinster Cyclocross Series in Kells, Co Meath,
yesterday.

The Scott Orwell junior rider took the win from fellow
junior and former team mate Stephanie Roche (Scott-Eurocycles).

They were a long way ahead of the opposition, with elite
rider Mary Dawson of Bray Wheelers rounding out the podium on the day.

In the four-lap race, international rider May got the
best start by far, putting in a blistering time on the opening lap to open a
gap of almost one minute on Roche.

She extended her lead over the following two laps, though
Roche kept her honest and managed to contain May on the second lap, losing just
three seconds to her.

On the third lap May was more than 20 seconds faster than
Roche and while the latter pegged back 12 seconds on the lone leader on the
final lap, May was the clear winner.

She had just over one minute in hand on Roche on the
line, with Dawson another six minutes back on a day of significant gaps in Co
Meath.

In the elite men’s race, Paul O’Reilly has continued his
fantastic run of form since the season began.

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The Dan Morrissey-MIG-Pactimo man emerged victorious after a very fast start laid the foundation for a convincing win.

On the opening lap of seven O’Reilly went around the
course in a time of 8:06, some nine seconds faster than Tim O’Regan of Team
Worc,

Eventual runner-up Sean Nolan (Navan Road Club) also
started well. However, though he was third fastest of the field on the opening
lap, he gave away 18 seconds to the flying O’Reilly.

The lone leader was in no mood to ease off on the second
lap; his lap time of 8:22 by the far the fastest of the field and putting a large
gap between himself and his rivals.

Nolan chipped away behind him and while he lost time
again to O’Reilly on the third and fourth laps, the time losses were much
smaller; nine and twelve seconds respectively.

And on the fifth lap Nolan closed in on O’Reilly by 25
seconds while also taking 23 seconds back on the final lap.

However, at that stage Paul O’Reilly had victory in the
bag and on the line he had 53 seconds in hand on Nolan.

Barry Kellett of Dromara CC came through for 3rd place
and he was just 12 seconds behind Nolan after pushing him close from start to
finish in the Oldcastle Cycling Club promotion.