Legend Seymour crowned champ again as Doyle turns it on for silver

Robin Seymour salutes the crowd as he takes his latest Irish title, this time in the Masters 50 race at the National Cyclocross Championships in Co Galway (Photo: Toby Watson)

Robin Seymour (Team WORC), a legend of Irish cyclocross and MTB XC, has picked up yet another Irish title after winning the Masters 50 race at the National Cyclocross Championships in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, today.

The three-time Olympian was pressed hard in the opening exchanges by Anthony Doyle (L'equipier Barcelona Cycling Team), who made the trip home from Spain count with a very impressive ride to take the silver medal.

Doyle managed to get up and separate Seymour and Alan Bingham (Inspired Cycling), a multiple masters road and cyclocross champion, on the the podium. That made for a quality line-up of medal winners in a fiercely contested race.

From the gun, Doyle set his stall out and went into an early lead on the opening lap, though he was tracked closely all the way by eventual winner Seymour.

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Anthony Doyle got into the mix early and came away with the silver medal after a very strong performance in Co Galway (Photo: Toby Watson)

And though Bingham, usually money in the bank on championship days, was hot on their heels, it looked from the start like Seymour and Doyle would have the upper hand today. And so it came to pass.

Seymour soon found his stride, as he tends to, and took back the narrow lead Doyle held over him after the opening lap. He then started to distance his nearest rival on the second lap of four in the Ballinasloe Cycling Club promotion.

By the end of the second lap, Seymour had stretched his advantage over Doyle to just north of 10 seconds, with Bingham about 35 seconds off the leader. Indeed, Bingham was being chased closely by another former masters cyclocross champion, Trevor Woods of All human-VeloRevolution.

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On the third lap, Seymour effectively put the contest to bed, though Doyle, to his credit, kept the leader honest the whole way. On that third passage of the circuit, Seymour's pace remained very high, gaining 31 seconds on Doyle, 36 on Bingham and 40 on Woods.

The order of the top four was staying the same but the gaps between all of them were getting gradually bigger. On the final lap, Seymour further extended his advantage over Doyle, by close to 30 seconds.

Crossing the finish line, Seymour claimed the title by 1:13 from Doyle, who took the silver by 47 seconds from Bingham; a very strong performance from both riders. Woods remained in contention for the medals all the way to the line and finished in 4th place just 19 seconds down on Bingham.

Peter O'Farrell (Team WORC) and Declan McEntee (Emyvale CC) finished 5th and 6th on the same time - both three minutes down on the winner - after McEntee had gone ahead on the first laps but O'Farrell came back at him.

In the Masters 60 race, Johnny McCabe (Cuchulainn CC) went into the event as favourite and came out a clear winner. He beat Paul Birchall (Blarney CC) by 3:08, with Declan Hanrahan (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) taking bronze at 3:52.

Masters 50 Men

  1. Robin SEYMOUR Team WORC 38:20
  2. Anthony DOYLE L’equipier Barcelona Cycling Team 39:33
  3. Alan BINGHAM Inspired Cycling 40:20
  4. Trevor WOODS All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team 40:39
  5. Peter O’FARRELL Team WORC 41:20
  6. Declan MCENTEE Emyvale CC 41:20
  7. Aaron O’DONOHUE Team WORC 41:35
  8. Barry CONVERY Newry Wheelers CC 41:50
  9. Jason HENRY Inspired Cycling 42:08
  10. Fearghal REGAN Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial 42:13
  11. Peter MORRISON Velo Cafe Magasin 42:19
  12. Des WOODS Inspired Cycling 42:27
  13. Pj HYNES Bellurgan Wheelers 42:38
  14. Chris BYRNE Park Wheelers 42:48
  15. David MCKEE VC Glendale 43:34
  16. Brian O’CONNOR Lucan Cycling Road Club 43:37
  17. John DORIS EPIC MTB Expert Cycles 43:40
  18. Padraic QUINN Gaeltacht.cc 43:45
  19. David MEREDITH EPIC MTB Expert Cycles 43:54
  20. Dominick HEGARTY IMBRC 44:14
  21. Jay MCCAULEY Strabane Lifford Cycling Club 44:31
  22. Eamon LONEY Un-Attached Ulster 44:45
  23. David Neil ARMSTRONG VC Glendale 45:45
  24. Ian O’HARA Lucan Cycling Road Club 46:04
  25. William ROCK EPIC MTB Expert Cycles 47:31
  26. Michael O’REILLY EPIC MTB Expert Cycles 47:56
  27. Dave O’CONNOR Park Wheelers 48:18
  28. Fergus MCCANN Cuchulainn CC 48:43
  29. Chris TROY Castlebar Cycling Club 48:46
  30. Jerry RYAN Upperchurch Drombane Cycling 49:18
  31. Sienna O’DWYER Limerick Cycling Club 49:25
  32. Paul CONROY Dublin Wheelers 50:51
  33. Andrew FENNER Longford Cycling & Racing Club 51:22
  34. Rory MOORE Un-Attached Leinster -1 lap
  35. Stephen GILGAN Yeats Country Cycling Club -1 lap
  36. Colum O’DOHERTY Park Wheelers -1 lap
  37. Rory CONNOR Northwest MTB -1 lap
  38. Eamon BRACKEN Shannonside Cycling Club -1 lap
  39. Hughie DEVANEY Ballisodare Bay Cycling Club -1 lap
  40. Michael HAMILTON Un-Attached Ulster -1 lap
  41. Barry CASSIDY Emyvale CC -1 lap

Team Result

  1. Team WORC
  2. Inspired Cycling
  3. EPIC MTB Expert Cycles
  4. Park Wheelers

Masters 60 Men

  1. Johnny MCCABE Cuchulainn CC 42:29
  2. Paul BIRCHALL Blarney Cycling Club 45:37
  3. Declan HANRAHAN Panduit Carrick Wheelers 46:21
  4. Kevin MCDOWELL Un-Attached Ulster 46:52
  5. Micheal CORKERY De Ronde Van Cork CC 47:03
  6. Lloyd MOORE Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club 36:35
  7. Terence O’NEILL EPIC MTB Expert Cycles 36:59
  8. Thomas DANIELS Seven Springs CC Loughrea 40:51
  9. Michael HOPKINS Ballina Cycling Club 40:54
  10. Derek PATTERSON Killinchy Cycling Club 41:56
  11. Glenn WATSON Galway Bay CC -1 lap
  12. Derek KING Apollo Cycling Team -1 lap

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