Robin Seymour was pushed by Tim O'Regan early on and Zippy Doyle for a longer period, before pulling ahead in Brackenstown, near Swords in north Dublin, for a great win (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Robin Seymour (Team WORC) has once again seen off the challenge of Anthony 'Zippy' Doyle (U/A) on the Leinster cyclocross circuit, pulling away for victory in the closing stages of round 2 of the new North Dublin Cyclocross series in Brackenstown near Swords in north Dublin yesterday.
The last time these riders met in St Anne's Park, Raheny, Dublin, two weeks ago at the Fixx Coffeehouse Series, Doyle pushed Seymour very close and looked for a while like he may press the master to the wire, only for the veteran to storm ahead in the closing laps for a clear win.
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And yesterday's encounter followed very much the same pattern; Doyle gaining a slight upper hand in the opening exchanges, with Seymour closely following and the duo going toe-to-toe before the Team WORC man's pedigree and strength shone through at the pointy end of affairs.
The winner of the opening round of the north Dublin series last weekend, Tim O'Regan (DID Dunboyne) enjoyed another very good ride yesterday to take 3rd place and was at the head of affairs in the early stages.
At the end lap 1, Doyle led eventual winner Seymour by 3 seconds, with that gap closed to just 1 second on lap 2 of 15 circuits. On both of the next two laps, Seymour grabbed the lead again, putting three seconds into Doyle to get his nose in front by just one second starting lap 4.
Seymour went around that in 3:57, just 2 seconds quicker that Doyle, with the latter closing the gap by the same amount on lap 5; the two riders literally shoulder to shoulder on the same time. But Seymour pulled 1 second back on lap 6 to go out onto the seventh lap just in front.
But it was on lap 7 that the contest began to change complexion.
Seymour put in a huge effort to whip around in 3:49, the fastest lap time to that point, and put seven seconds into Doyle; a significant margin considering the pair had been inseparable to that point.
Seymour was four seconds slower on lap 8, but still put another 11 seconds between himself and Doyle, with the gap now at 17 seconds.
On lap 9 and 10 the status quo was maintained, with both riders clocking exactly the same times, before Seymour stole another four seconds on lap 11, six more on lap 12, and another four on lap 13.
Going out onto the penultimate lap the race for the win was over barring mishap by the lone leader. But Seymour turned the screw a little more, whipping around in 3:51 - his second fastest lap time - and steeling a further 17 seconds from the well and truly vanquished Doyle.
The gap would grow by a further eight seconds on the last lap, with Seymour taking the flag in a time of 59:17, the only rider on the day to break the hour mark. Doyle was 59 seconds down, with O'Regan another 33 in arrears rounding out the podium.
Another 1:03 would elapse before Sean O'Tuathail of Bray Wheelers came home in 4th place, with Patrick Michel in 5th some 1:09 further adrift.
In the B race junior rider David Conroy (Donnybrook Landscaping Scott Cycling) took his third win of the season, from Joe Jones and Justin McGee.
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In the veterans' classification Mark Kidd won out from Mark Yandle and Colum Bradley. John Smithers win the youth race from Adam Thatcher and Brendan Conroy.
Maeve O'Grady took the women's prize from Susie Mitchell and Natalie Grieve.
(Results and photos continue below advertisement)
Zippy Doyle is in good form; seen battling hard again yesterday to take 2nd place behind Seymour (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Tim O'Regan bossing some of the action in the early stages; he faded a little more that Seymour and Doyle, adding 3rd place to his win of last week. With just one more round to go in the North Dublin Cyclocross series, he leads the way (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Sean O'Tuathail of Bray Wheelers fought hard but had to be content with 4th yesterday (Photo: Sean Rowe)
North Dublin Cyclocross League
Sunday, December 15th
Round 2, Brackenstown, Swords
Result, A Race
| 1 | ROBIN SEYMOUR | 15 | 0:59:17 | |
| 2 | ANTHONY ZIPPY DOYLE | 15 | 1:00:16 | |
| 3 | TIM OREGAN | 15 | 1:00:49 | |
| 4 | SEAN OTUATHAIL | 15 | 1:01:52 | |
| 5 | PATRICK MICHEL | 15 | 1:03:01 | |
| 6 | AIDEN MCDONALD | 15 | 1:03:28 | |
| 7 | ROSS COLLINS | 14 | 0:59:36 | |
| 8 | ALAN CODY | 14 | 0:59:47 | |
| 9 | STUART GALLOWAY | 14 | 1:00:27 | |
| 10 | MACIEJ STARONIEWICZ | 14 | 1:00:40 | |
| 11 | MARK PAGELL | 14 | 1:01:41 | |
| 12 | CHRIS GRIEVE | 14 | 1:01:43 | |
| 13 | DANIEL MORROGH | 14 | 1:02:43 | |
| 14 | DAMIEN CREIGHTON | 14 | 1:03:09 | |
| 15 | GERARD ODONNELL | 14 | 1:03:16 | |
| 16 | VINNIE FITZSIMON | 14 | 1:03:38 | |
| 17 | RUSSELL TREACY | 13 | 0:59:38 | |
| 18 | JAMES LATTIMORE | 13 | 1:01:19 | |
| 19 | REDMOND OTOOLE | 13 | 1:03:33 | |
| 20 | DAVID LAWLESS | 2 | DNF | |
| 21 | MARK KENNY | 0 | DNF | |
| 22 | KEITH MEIGHEN | 0 | DNF | |
| 23 | LIAM HOWARD | 0 | DNF | |
| 24 | GLENN WEARON | 0 | DNF | |
| 25 | EOIN MCGOVERN | 0 | DNF |
Result, B Race
| 1 | DAVID CONROY | 45:06 | :15 |
| 2 | JOE JONES | 46:22 | :15 |
| 3 | JUSTIN MCGEE | 46:25 | :16 |
| 4 | MARK KIDD | 46:50 | :17 |
| 5 | SHANE LEAVY | 47:30 | :16 |
| 6 | MARK YANDLE | 47:43 | :16 |
| 7 | JOHN SMITHERS | 48:05 | :15 |
| 8 | DEREK HUMPHRIES | 49:11 | :13 |
| 9 | GORDON BRENNAN | 50:11 | :17 |
| 10 | PATRICK SANTINI | 45:21 | :12 |
| 11 | ALAN DUNNE | 46:05 | :14 |
| 12 | JOHN WALKER | 46:14 | :18 |
| 13 | MATT KELLY | 46:24 | :13 |
| 14 | HUGH GALLAGHER | 46:30 | :15 |
| 15 | ADAM THATCHER | 46:32 | :16 |
| 16 | MAEVE OGRADY | 46:35 | :19 |
| 17 | BRIAN CURRAN | 47:22 | :14 |
| 18 | MARK STEED | 48:12 | :14 |
| 19 | COLUM BRADLEY | 48:30 | :14 |
| 20 | SUSIE MITCHELL | 44:05 | :14 |
| 21 | GAVIN DUFFY | 45:27 | :15 |
| 22 | CONOR MCGRANE | 46:32 | :16 |
| 23 | NATALIE GRIEVE | 46:37 | :16 |
| 24 | WENDY BARRY | 47:05 | :13 |
| 25 | BRENDAN CONROY | 47:47 | :18 |
(The first nine riders completed all 10 laps. Those placed 10th to 19th completed 9 laps and riders from 20th to 24th completed eight laps. The 25th placed rider seven laps, with 29 list finishers in total.)
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The cyclists’ travel agent, Neenan Travel are still taking bookings for the World Cyclo Cross Championships in Hoogerheide, Netherlands, January 31st- Feb 3rd, for what sounds like a great weekend away. Places are limited at this stage.
Details on www.neenan.travel/cycling
Or call Alan Neenan on 0868233791
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