Junior Conor Murphy wins battle of big guns at Palace Demesne, Armagh

Conor Murphy, the Irish junior champion, has come out best in a three-way battle at the front of the elite men's race at the Ulster Cyclocross Series (Photo: Toby Watson)

Conor Murphy (Caldwell Cycles) is clearly finding his legs having just returned to the cyclocross scene, with the junior rider taking a strong win today at the Ulster Cyclocross Series ahead of highly fancied elites.

Though some of the races this season have been won and lost by significant margins, it was much tighter today among the top three, with 17-year-old Murphy coming from behind after a slower start to win.

He did battle with the former and current national elite men's cyclocross champions; Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles) and Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing).

While it was Harvey who got the best start of the trio on the opening lap of 7 in the Square Wheelers promotion at Palace Demesne, Armagh, Moore took the lead from him on the second lap.

And from that point, Murphy reached for the afterburners with a very fast third lap, passing Harvey and gaining on Moore, who was leading at that stage.

Advertisement

However, Moore - who suffered two punctures last week when leading - was clearly in good form out front. And though Murphy gained on him each lap, it wasn't until the penultimate and final passages of the circuit that the junior rider caught and passed Moore.

In the end, the winning margin was 12 seconds, with Moore then just about seeing off Harvey for 2nd place; just one second between them on the line.

Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles) was best of the rest, in 4th, on a day when the fight for victory was always between just three riders. Young James Armstrong, a junior with VC Glendale, put in a strong performance today for 5th, with Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles) placing 6th.

In the women's race, which involved a smaller field, U23 rider Elena Wallace (Harps CC) was in a class of her own today, taking victory by over five minutes in the five-lap race.

Wallace went into the front position early in the contest and then simply powered through the rest of the race, putting significant time into her rivals every lap.

Related News

On the line, after 45 minutes of racing, she was 5:42 ahead of runner-up Rachel Newell (McConvey Cycles), with Trudy Brown (VC Glendale) a further 2:21 back in 3rd place.
Caroline Martinez (First Tracks) was 4th with Lara Birley (Unattached Ulster) placing 5th.

Sun, Nov 17th: Ulster Cyclocross Round 3

Promoted by Square Wheels

Palace Demesne, Armagh

  1. Conor MURPHY Team Caldwell Cycles 52:59
  2. Darnell MOORE Team Caldwell Cycles 53:11
  3. Dean HARVEY Trinity Cycling 53:12
  4. Graham BOYD McConvey Cycles 57:48
  5. James ARMSTRONG VC Glendale 59:02
  6. Glenn KINNING Kinning Cycles Cycling Club 59:51
  7. Alan BINGHAM Inspired Cycling 1:00:15
  8. Jason HENRY Inspired Cycling 1:00:21
  9. David O'NEILL Inspired Cycling 1:00:22
  10. Declan MCENTEE Emyvale CC 1:01:19
  11. Barry KELLETT Dromara Cycling Club 1:01:31
  12. Jonny ADAMS McConvey Cycles 1:02:06
  13. Peter MORRISON Velo Cafe Magasin -1 lap
  14. Barry CONVERY Newry Wheelers CC -1 lap
  15. Stephen WALSH Carn Wheelers -1 lap
  16. David MCKEE VC Glendale -1 lap
  17. James ALEXANDER McConvey Cycles -1 lap
  18. Drew MCKINLEY Newry Wheelers CC -1 lap
  19. Jay MCCAULEY Strabane Lifford Cycling Club -1 lap
  20. Lawrence CHANDLER Square Wheels -1 lap
  21. Jamie CLARKE North Down CC -1 lap
  22. Jon HILDITCH Dunloy CC -1 lap
  23. Niall James MURPHY Lakeland -1 lap
  24. James GORDON Phoenix CC -1 lap
  25. John LORD Breffni Wheelers -1 lap
  26. Enda BAKER Breffni Wheelers -1 lap
  27. Eamon LONEY Un-Attached Ulster -1 lap
  28. Sean DALY Cuchulainn CC -1 lap
  29. Alex BELL North Down CC -1 lap
  30. Derek PATTERSON -2 laps

Women's Race

  1. Elena WALLACE Harps CC 44:38
  2. Rachel NEWELL McConvey Cycles 50:20
  3. Trudy BROWN VC Glendale 52:41
  4. Caroline MARTINEZ First Tracks 53:49
  5. Laura BIRLEY Un-Attached Ulster 55:47

Men's B Race

  1. Michael COWAN First Tracks 47:42
  2. Mark MOLLOY Dunloy CC 48:56
  3. Derek FINNEGAN Square Wheels 49:01
  4. David Neil ARMSTRONG VC Glendale 49:06
  5. G MCENTEE VC Glendale 50:27
  6. Aidan REIHILL Lakeland 50:29
  7. Kevin MCDOWELL Un-Attached Ulster 50:47
  8. Colm MITCHELL Square Wheels 51:00
  9. Richard MCKEOWN Belfast City BMX Club 52:10
  10. Alun POWELL Un-Attached Ulster 52:14
  11. Bernard MACKLE Square Wheels 52:17
  12. Dara MCKENNA Emyvale CC 52:59
  13. David MCCLEAN Dunloy CC 53:39
  14. Justin DOHERTY Dunloy CC 53:40
  15. Damien CONNOLLY Square Wheels 54:33
  16. David RUDDELL Shelbourne/Orchard CC 54:34
  17. Gareth DEMPSEY Square Wheels 57:06
  18. Graeme EVANS Spires CC 57:07
  19. Oliver LOGAN Omagh Wheelers Cycling Club 57:42
  20. Andrew GREEN 3PEAKS Cycle Club 58:11
  21. Jony HAMILTON Spires CC 58:19
  22. Stephen SMYTH Newry Wheelers CC 58:20
  23. Seán MAGUIRE VC Glendale 58:41
  24. Mark MAGORRIAN Un-Attached Ulster 1:00:37
  25. Lloyd MOORE Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club -1 lap
  26. John BOYLE VC Glendale -1 lap
  27. Keith FREEL North Down CC -1 lap
  28. Daniel MCCALLION Foyle CC -1 lap
  29. Dave MCNEELY Un-Attached Ulster -1 lap
  30. Michael HAMILTON Un-Attached Ulster -1 lap
  31. Barry CASSIDY Emyvale CC -1 lap

U16 Boys

  1. Caleb MCGREEVY VC Glendale 29:48
  2. Josh MCCLUNE Team Madigan C.C. 31:39
  3. Darragh MURPHY Rostrevor Mountain Bike Club 33:28

U16 Girls

  1. Emer HEVERIN All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team 34:48
  2. Aoife CRAIG VC Glendale 38:38

U14 Boys

  1. Rory MCCOOL Square Wheels 32:57
  2. Dylan FINNEGAN Square Wheels 33:37
  3. Daragh QUIGLEY Foyle CC 34:45
  4. Kealan DOHERTY Foyle CC 36:18
  5. Olly MILLAR Square Wheels 38:18
  6. William SUNDERLAND Un-Attached Ulster 32:24
  7. Joshua MCQUAID Emyvale CC -2 laps

U14 Girls

  1. Ava BAKER Breffni Wheelers 37:03

Related News