Luke Smith, on the attack today, leads yellow jersey Paul Kennedy, and stage 1 winner Evan Keane, during Sunday's final stage at Rás Maigh Eo - the 2026 edition serving up some great action through the three stages (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Paul Kennedy could be forgiven for shying away from top tier C1 racing given he is closing in on his 46th birthday. Instead, he has started the season like a train for Burren CC. He has now added the general classification and a stage win at Rás Maigh Eo to his Lacey Cup victory of three weeks ago.
Kennedy was on the attack on stages 1 and 3 in Mayo, and did the main damage in the stage 2 TT, which he won. But even at the death today, racing into Westport, he had to be on his toes as a breakaway got away and stuck. The drama didn’t stop there, with the GC changing even inside the final 1km.
But when the dust had settled the veteran rider from Adare, Co Limerick, was still in yellow, having been crowned winner of the 2026 edition.
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Abi Conway (Paralloy) won the women's category by 5:43 from Aine Doherty (Dan Morrissey Pissei Cycling Team), with Mary Corless (Tuam CC) 3rd at 18:03. Natasha Bornhorst (Tuam CC) 4th at 18:24 and Laura Daly (Tuam CC) 5th at 18:25.
Women's race winner, Abi Conway, leads in Aine Doherty on today's final stage in Westport (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Though Pinergy Orwell Wheeler took the two road stages, via Evan Keane and Liam Crowley, Kennedy was able to match them, and effectively won the race in the 8.2km TT on Saturday evening.
He won that by 10 seconds from Crowley, with Keane 3rd a further second back. And though Kennedy went into today's final stage with a modest lead of 11 seconds over Keane, his Burren CC team rode a strong race to defend the leader's jersey, and almost won the stage.
Promoted by Covey Wheelers Westport Cycling Club, the race was run on a handicapped basis; the C1 scratch riders chasing a group of C2s and another C3 limit group.
Stage 1: Westport-Gradys Hill 107km
On the opening day of action on Saturday, some 107km Westport to Gradys Hill, the C2 riders had five minutes on the C1s, with the C3s given a nine-minute advantage.
About 40km into the stage, Kennedy was on the move, with Keane, former junior international Joseph Mullen (Moynalty CC) and strong junior Fionn Killeen (Kilcullen CC Murphy Geospatial), making for a very strong, if small, breakaway group.
They made their move from the C1 group, getting across to the C2s, and then the C3s, and going through them. Working very strongly as a quartet, they caught those ahead very quickly, with the C2 and C3 groups having already come together at that point.
Junior rider Caleb McGreevy (Région Sud Cycling Academy) and a number of the Munster junior team - comprised of James Logue, Kristupas Martinkus, Oran O'Callaghan, Andrew Connolly, Diarmuid Collins, John O'Mahony, Colin Sheehan and Tony Kenneally - were able to stay with the four breakaway men for a time.
Caleb McGreevy, in the climbers classification jersey, leads the front group, also packed with the Munster junior team riders (Photo: Sean Rowe)
However, the original quartet were eventually leading the way on their own again, only for Killeen to suffer a very unlucky puncture and lose his place in the breakaway; a big blow to his chances for the weekend.
Though the riders up front rode very strongly, and kept working all the way to the line, they never managed to get their gap above 50 seconds. They were also down to three after Killeen punctured, not helped by Mullen starting to suffer from cramp.
The leading three went to the line to fight for the stage victory, but the remains of the peloton had closed right in on them.
Keane managed to beat Kennedy for the stage win, with Mullen 3rd at five seconds. Then came Luke Smith (Moynalty CC), a Worlds rider for Ireland as a junior, taking 4th place. He was just 10 seconds down on the line.
However, there were only four other riders with Smith - Mark Shannon (Burren CC), Conal Scully (Dan Morrissey-Pissei), Charlie Kelly of host club Westport Covey Wheelers) and Eoin Kelly (UCD Cycling Club).
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Though there were then gaps of mere seconds through the field, there were lots of those small gaps. And that meant even though the breakaway men had been clear for about 70km, and only just held on, they put a decent chunk of time into much of the field.
Stage 2 TT | Newport-Westport (8.2km)
In the TT, Kennedy - who has been a masters UCI Gran Fondo world champion against the watch - blasted down the course in a time of 10mins 42secs, 10 seconds up on Crowley and 11 seconds clear of Keane.
After the top three, the gaps were bigger; Charlie Kelly, having a great race, in 4th at 18 seconds, Scully 5th at 22 seconds and Feeley next at 28 seconds.
Tadhg Killeen rode a fantastic race, but the junior ride lost his place in the winning breakaway on stage 1 due to a puncture (Photo: Sean Rowe)
After the TT was done that evening, Kennedy was in yellow - no surprise given his prowess against the watch. He led by 11 seconds from Keane, with Charlie Kelly 3rd overall at 28 seconds, Scully 4th at 32 seconds, Crowley 5th at 35 seconds and Mullen 6th at 40 seconds.
Smith was 7th at 50 seconds, Daire Feeley (Burren CC) was 8th at 53 seconds, Niall McLoughlin of the host club was also still in contention; 9th overall at 57 seconds. And Cian Keogh (APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery) was rounding out the top 10, at 59 seconds.
Stage 3: Westport-Westport 108.5km
The final stage today, Sunday, was always going to be a tactical affair, given the strength of the Burren CC riders and the fact those riders, and the Orwell group, were so strong.
The Burren tactic was clear; ride defensively to keep Kennedy in yellow. Many of their other riders would not have been allowed go up the road anyway. The one exception was Philip O'Connor, who crashed on stage 1 and was way down going into the final stage, meaning he busied himself firing attacks off the front.
However, as Burren were closing down the moves, it was not until very late in the stage that a breakaway went clear.
Liam Crowley wins the final stage in Westport today, but Paul Kennedy was in the breakaway and took the GC (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Crowley attacked before the last climb, with Scully and junior rider Killeen going after him - a dangerous combination. That trio's move immediately moved clear, though Kennedy attacked over the top of the climb and got across to them, making four.
With about 700m to go, they were joined by three more - Burren's Feeley, Moynalty's Smith and UCD's Kelly. Kennedy then attacked with about 500m to go, closed down by Crowley.
Feeley then countered, leaving it to Crowley to close him down, and even come past him for the stage win; Crowley getting it from Feeley and yellow jersey Kennedy. Killeen was 4th, Eoin Kelly 5th and Smith 6th, all on the same time. Scully was 7th, at six seconds.
Another 42 seconds elapsed before James O'Shea (Velo Revoltion-Speed Queen) led in the remains of the bunch for 8th, from impressive junior Logue and Westport's McLoughlin.
Final standings
The late breakaway today, and the time gained by those riders, meant some changes in the GC, though Kennedy remained on top. Those 2nd and 3rd on GC going into the stage - Orwell's Keane and Westport's Kelly - missed that late move and so slipped down the standings.
Crowley and Scully moved up to 2nd and 3rd overall, at 35 and 38 seconds respectively. Then came Moynalty's Smith, 4th at 50 seconds, with Feeley in 5th at 53 seconds and Orwell's Keane down to 6th at one minute.
Orwell's Keane won the sprints classification and junior McGreevy claimed the king of the hills classification. John O'Mahony (Munster Juniors) was best junior overall, by 13 seconds from Killeen, with Munster's Logue 3rd at 17 seconds.
James O'Shea (Velo Revolution-Speed Queen) won the C2 category by 25 seconds from Daniel Lynch (O'Leary Stone Kanturk), with Ben O'Keeffe (Newcastle West CC) 3rd at 41 seconds.
The C2 classification was won by Alexander Graham-Smythe (Orwell Wheelers) by 5:50 from Tony Pryce (DB Cycling Cub), with Ronan Griffin (UCD Cycling Club) in 3rd 5:59.
