Dean Harvey (Spellman Dublin Port) has added another entry to his growing list of victories this season after proving best in 'Round 3' of the Big Red Cloud Cyclocross Series in McCrystal Park, Bellurgan, Co Louth.
The 19-year-old has been dominant since the start of the campaign, though today Darren Rafferty's performance suggested he is gaining form now that he has a few races under his belt. The Hagens Berman Axeon man, who enjoyed a brilliant first-year U23 season on the road this year, took 2nd place today, at 1:23.
Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles), who will be on the Irish team with Harvey for next weekend's Dublin round of the UCI Cyclocross World Cup, placed 3rd today. He finished some 2:18 behind the winner.
In the women's race, 16-year-old Aine Doherty has extended her winning run. The first-year junior is really charging through her first season out of the youth ranks by taking repeated wins at elite level.
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Today the VC Glendale rider was well clear on her own at the head of affairs, winning the day by 2:37 from Caoimhe May (Orwell Wheelers). Leah McCarthy (Team Giant Dublin) rounded out the podium in the Bellurgan Wheelers promotion, finishing 3:43 down on Doherty.
How it unfolded
In the men's race, Harvey did today what he has mostly done all year; take an early lead and just keep powering away on his own out front. He had already stolen a few seconds on his rivals during the one-minute in-lap. At that point he was just ahead of Travis Harkness (VC Glendale), with Moore and junior rider Joseph Mullen (Navan Road Club) only a few further lengths back by the start of the first lap proper.
Harvey then immediately started making a bigger impact, adding 16 seconds to his advantage over Murphy, who was his nearest challenger during those early exchanges. Meanwhile, eventual runner-up Rafferty was 27 seconds behind Harvey at the end of the first full lap while eventual 3rd place finisher, Moore, was at 19 seconds.
As Harvey continued to plough out front over the following three laps, extending his lead, Rafferty was best of the rest. He lost just four and three seconds to Harvey on the third and fourth laps as the other fancied riders ceded more ground. By the end of lap four, the gap between Harvey and Rafferty, in 1st and 2nd, was 48 seconds. Mullen was at 1:18 in 3rd, Murphy was 4th at 1:20, Moore was 1:27 back in 5th and Harkness was in 6th position at 1:44.
However, when Harvey ran into some problems on the fifth lap, Rafferty closed right up to him, getting to within four or five seconds of the leader. At the same time, Moore began winning the battle for 3rd and gained time on the riders who had started the lap just ahead of him before moving into 3rd place on lap six, of eight.
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Over the course of the final three laps, Harvey re-established his advantage over Rafferty to run out the winner by 1:23 in the end. Moore was next at 2:18, followed by Mullen in 4th at 2:43, with Murphy placing 5th at 3:44, just six seconds ahead of Harkness in 6th.
The women's race was perhaps a more straightforward battle as Doherty went ahead of May by a couple of seconds on the in-lap and added 29 seconds to that advantage by the end of lap 1.
From that point, the eventual podium finishers were 1-2-3 on the course for the remainder of the race, with the gaps between then gradually getting bigger on the remaining four laps.
By the end of lap 3 Doherty was 1:29 up on May, with McCarthy in 3rd at 2:34. Heather Foley (Yeats Country Cycling Club) was 4th at 2:49 and Doireann Killeen (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) was next at 3:15. Niamh Stephens (Team Giant Dublin) was another few seconds back in 6th place.
From that point, over the last two laps, the gaps between those riders in the top six stretched out further. At the chequered flag, Doherty won by 2:37 from May with McCarthy 3rd at 3:43. Foley was 4th at 4:12 with Killeen 5th at 4:55 and Stephens placing 6th at 5:18.
Sat, Dec 3rd: 'Round 3' Big Red Cloud Cyclocross Series
Promoted by Bellurgan Wheelers
McCrystal Park, Bellurgan, Co Louth
Men’s A Race
- Harvey, Dean Spellman Dublin Port 53:43.37
- Rafferty, Darren Hagens Berman Axeon +01:23.5
- Moore, Darnell Team Caldwell Cycles +02:18.1
- Mullen, Joseph Navan Road Club +02:43.9
- Murphy, Jack Bernard Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial +03:44.0
- Harkness, Travis VC Glendale +03:50.4
- Boyd, Graham McConvey Cycles +04:22.2
- Ahern, Eoin Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club +05:28.1
- Killeen, Tadhg Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial +05:50.6
- O'Neill, David Inspired Cycling +06:09.0
- Kellett, Barry Dromara Cycling Club +06:11.2
- O'Regan, Timothy All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team +06:52.9
- McDermott, Frank Oldcastle CC +06:57.1
- Killeen, Ronan Lucan Cycling Road Club +07:01.0
- McEntee, Declan Emyvale CC +07:02.5
- Nulty, Javan Stamullen RC -1 LAP
- O'Connell, Ian Team WORC -1 LAP
- Franzoni, Dylan Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar CC -1 LAP
- Caldwell, Paul Team WORC -1 LAP
- Hynes, Pj Cuchulainn CC -1 LAP
- Harrington, David Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club -1 LAP
- McCabe, Johnny Cuchulainn CC -1 LAP
- Byrne, Chris Park Wheelers -1 LAP
- Fitzsimon, Vinnie Team WORC -1 LAP
- Gordon, Mark Newry Wheelers CC -1 LAP
- Dunne, Alan Un-Attached Leinster -2 LAP
- Corkery, Micheal De Ronde Van Cork CC -2 LAP
- Muldowney, Gareth Clondalkin CC -2 LAP
Women’s Race
- Doherty, Aine VC Glendale 40:52.57
- May, Caoimhe Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club +02:37.8
- McCarthy, Leah Team Giant Dublin +03:43.3
- Foley, Heather Yeats Country Cycling Club +04:12.2
- Killeen, Doireann Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial +04:55.8
- Stephens, Niamh Team Giant Dublin +05:18.1
- Guihen, Fiona Un-Attached Leinster +06:03.1
- Murphy, Hazel Un-Attached Leinster +09:56.6
- Martinez, Caroline Chain Reaction Cycles -1 LAP
- Banfield, Laura McNally Swords CC -1 LAP
- Murray, Ellen TC Racing -1 LAP
- White, Suzanne Sorrento CC -1 LAP
- Murray, Lauren TC Racing -2 LAP
Men’s B Race
- Tolan, Sean Drogheda Wheelers 40:01.91
- Holland, David Cuchulainn CC +00:26.6
- Moran, Gareth Un-Attached Leinster +00:36.3
- Jennings, Rob Lucan Cycling Road Club +02:24.4
- Ward, Sean Lucan Cycling Road Club +02:36.0
- Flannery, Ronan St Tiernans Cycling Club +02:49.9
- Cooper, Gary Clontarf Cycling Club +02:55.8
- Franzoni, Steven Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar CC +02:59.3
- Scott, Isaac Un-Attached Leinster +03:13.7
- O'Hara, Ian Lucan Cycling Road Club +03:29.0
- Rochford, Harry Un-Attached Leinster +03:31.3
- Swift, Adrian Clontarf Cycling Club +04:04.4
- O'Connor, Brian Lucan Cycling Road Club +04:18.2
- Nulty, Daire Breffni Wheelers +04:39.6
- Fox, Cillian Navan Road Club +04:47.4
- Fennell, Connor Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club +04:47.3
- Rogers, Paul Lucan Cycling Road Club +04:58.5
- Killian, Alan St Tiernans Cycling Club +05:00.8
- Hadden, Brendan Un-Attached Leinster +05:12.2
- Watson, Colm VC Glendale +05:18.0
- Stephens, Eoin Team Giant Dublin +05:19.2
- Bracken, Colm Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial +05:54.8
- O'Halloran, Stephen Moynalty Cycling Club +06:23.3
- Cryan, Patrick St Tiernans Cycling Club +06:30.6
- Holmes, Martyn Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club +06:54.4
- Sharkey, Peter Stamullen RC +07:12.1
- McCarron, Niall Newry Wheelers CC +07:12.4
- Daly, Sean Cuchulainn CC +07:23.4
- Fennell, Barry Un-Attached Leinster +07:30.7
- O'Neill, Terence EPIC MTB/Expert Cycles +07:37.0
- Buckley, Tommy Naomh Barrog Cycling Club +08:40.7
- Kinkade, Mervyn DB Cycling Club +08:58.7
- McCann, Fergus Cuchulainn CC +09:24.5
- Oglesby, Stephen Clondalkin CC +09:43.7
- Macnamara, Darach Park Wheelers +09:59.6
- Kell, Malcolm Bike Fit Studio +10:03.9
- Grimes, Michael Team WORC -1 LAP
- Kenny, Mark Un-Attached Leinster -1 LAP
- O'Farrell, Shaun Un-Attached Leinster -1 LAP
- O'Connor, Colin Drogheda Wheelers -1 LAP
- Cassidy, Barry Emyvale CC -1 LAP
- Donohoe, Damian Longford Cycling & Racing Club -1 LAP
U16 Boys Race
- Murphy, Conor Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club 29:43.10
- Killeen, Fionn Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial +01:07.4
- Byrne, Darragh Gorey Cycling Club +01:19.8
- Ward, Adam VC Glendale +01:36.6
- Holmes, Luca Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club +02:43.5
- Fitzgerald, Seán Gorey Cycling Club +06:22.6
U16 Girls Race
- Rafferty, Aliyah Island Wheelers 33:44.56
- Robinson, Faith Bray Wheelers +01:42.3
- Dolan, Rhiannon Cuchulainn CC +02:23.9
- Sharkey, Aoibhinn VC Glendale -1 LAP
- Dolan, Ffion Cuchulainn CC -1 LAP
- McCaffrey, Holly Cuchulainn CC -1 LAP
- O'Rourke, Grace Cuchulainn CC -1 LAP
- Reilly, Aine Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club -1 LAP
- Doyle, Shannon White River Wheelers Cycling Club -1 LAP
