We look set - fingers crossed - for an exceptional battle in the men's race at the National Cyclocross Championships this Sunday. While once Robin Seymour reigned year after year, occasionally bumped off the throne by Roger Aiken, this year a cast of full characters have designs on gold, silver and bronze; from cyclocross specialists to road racers looking to bully their way onto the podium.
Now before us is a fantastic dynamic; the man of the season, Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing), being threatened for the first time in the 2022-23 campaign by Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon). All the while, reigning champion Chris Dawson (Dawson Racing) is capable of anything, including winning it again, as is former champion Darnell Moore (Caldwell Cycles).
Seán Nolan (Navan RC) will be out to take another medal after a tricky period in Europe, with some crashes, and Dillon Corkery (Verge Pi Cycles), a top road rider treating the 'cross season as training, could also get up into the medals at the McCrystal Track in Jenkinstown, Co Louth.
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JB Murphy (Kilcullen Geospacial) - a former Irish junior cyclocross champion and road and track international - won't be too far away and the same can be said for fellow international Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing).
Then there is a group of riders who will be around the front of the race: Richard Barry (St Finbarr's), Richard Maes (All human-VeloRevolution), Darragh McCarter (Spellman Dublin Port), Sam Bolger (Killarney CC) and Jamie Meehan (Spellman-Dublin Port).
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The fight for the gold, on paper, looks like its between Harvey and Rafferty. Harvey has the edge - after romping his way through the domestic season - though Rafferty has suddenly gained momentum. While it's tempting to assume that match-up is the clear gold-silver scrap, stickybottle would not place even the smallest of bets against Dawson or Moore.
When an Irish team was selected to ride the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Dublin last month it was comprised of Harvey, Dawson and Moore - a very obvious selection at the time. And while Dawson and Moore have in previous seasons enjoyed more wins in cyclocross than in the current campaign, they are class riders well practiced at rising to the big occasion.
Since that Irish team was picked for the World Cup, Rafferty has turned his focus more to cyclocross. Last weekend in Portadown he put it up to Harvey in a way nobody has so far this season. Harvey still won that final round of the Cyclocross National Series but Harvey's 2nd place, just seconds down, showed his form was building ahead of this weekend.
The question for the title race this Sunday is whether Rafferty's momentum can see him perform better than Harvey with a perfectly timed run to clinch the Irish title. Or will Harvey, who has been a machine this season, have another gear?
Meanwhile, Dawson has won national titles in cyclocross, eRacing, mountain biking and downhill and also finished 2nd in the elite men's road race back in 2017. He seems to have great focus as he builds towards a key goal, like this coming Sunday's race. Moore is similar to Dawson in that he has won national titles in cyclocross, hill climb and been U23 road race champion. One of the best road racers in the country for year's, Moore always seems to have a big performance in him when the chips are down.
Twelve months ago, when Dawson won a great title race in Armagh, it was Nolan who was 2nd, with Moore 3rd. This time around it is hard to assess exactly where Nolan will be on Sunday as he has raced in Europe of late and endured some bad luck. However, if we can put in a shift this Sunday to match his ride in Armagh 12 months ago, he won't fear anyone and will be a genuine medal contender.
While Corkery has been using cyclocross as training for his upcoming road season in France - indeed he flies out there on Sunday night - a win last weekend at the De Ronde New Year's Cyclocross was a reminder he can turn it on. Whether that might be enough to win a medal this Sunday, only time will tell.
