Five races in three days as Gray (17) chases series win

Gareth McKee, above, took victory at the SEAT Super 7 Series crit in Belfast. Junior rider Jake Gray lined out hunting for points towards the overall win just hours after finishing the Suir Valley Three Day in Tipperary (Photo: Toby Watson)

With just one round remaining in the SEAT Super 7 Crit Series, Mark Dowling (DID Dunboyne) and Jake Gray (NRPT-Magnet.ie) are joint leaders.

Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles) currently occupies third place.

Though Gray and Kinning raced in the most recent event of the series on Monday night in Belfast, neither managed to get amongst the placings.

Gray, to his credit, had ridden the Suir Valley Three-Day and only climbed off his bike on Monday afternoon before getting straight into the car and heading for the crit north of the border.

He was apparently keen to take advantage of the absence of Dowling, who was on international duty in France.

It would be a major achievement for a first-year junior rider to win the series racing against the elites each round.

However, taking in his fifth race in three days, Gray was unable to make a significant impact in Belfast.

The four stages over three days at the Suir Valley had clearly taken its toll and he failed to pick up points, any number of which would have put him on top of the leader board going into the final round on August 13th.

McKee on his way to XC MTB victory in the National Points Series in Castlewellan just 24 hours before winning the criterium in Belfast (Photo: David McVeigh - The Belgian Project)

In the end, it was newly-crowned XC MTB champion Gareth McKee of Banbridge CC who enhanced his reputation with a brilliant solo win.

McKee followed the early pace-setting of Kinning before eventually springing clear himself after around 20 minutes of racing.

He quickly opened up a 20-second advantage and maintained that lead until the first prime.

After that, the sting seemed to go out of the chase and McKee took full advantage, extending his gap to around 50 seconds which he held for the rest of the night.

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The Banbridge CC man is on fire of late and just 24 hours before winning the Belfast crit, he took victory in the XC MTB National Points Series in Castlewellan, Co Down.

On Monday night racing around Belfast, Sean McIntyre (Caldwell Cycles) and Ian Inglis (Keevan CC) did some big turns in an effort to reel McKee in but it proved too little, too late.

Towards the end, a group of four chasers formed including Lindsay Watson (Plush MTB), James Curry (Banbridge CC), James Ambrose (North Down CC) and Darnell Moore (North Down CC).

But they got nowhere near McKee and Watson led out the sprint and claimed second with Curry just nicking third.

The final round of the crit series takes place in Bangor, Co Down, on Thursday week, August 13th.