Richard Barry (St Finbarr's) made a long trip from Cork to Belfast worthwhile on Sunday when he came away with victory in the first race of the National Cyclocross Series. However, veteran Robin Seymour (Team WORC) made him work for it; the Wicklow rider putting in the fastest lap of the race.
Barry was best over the nine-lap race in Falls Park, though 54-year-old Seymour proved the 'class is permanent' adage as he put in the efforts offering flashes of the past powers that made him a legend of the game.
In the women's race, winner Doireann Killeen (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) put in a seamless performance from gun to tape. She went into an early lead and continued to build on it to win by well over two minutes.
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Darcey Harkness (VC Glendale) settled into 2nd place early in the race, which she maintained throughout, finishing runner-up at 2:32.
The final place on the podium was decided after a closer battle, between last weekend's winner at Orangefield, Belfast, Jean Wilson (Epic MTB) and Leah McCarthy (K Capital Rocky Mountain).
In the end, 22 seconds separated them, with Wilson taking 3rd place from McCarthy after they had traded positions after McCarthy got the best start, distancing Wilson over the first two laps, of six.
However, Wilson got her back on the next passage of the circuit, catching and passing McCarthy. And though McCarthy took a few seconds back on the penultimate lap, it wasn't enough and she had to be content with 4th.
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Ffion Dolan (RC Racing) was best junior, in 7th place, with Grace O'Rourke (Spellman Dublin Port) 2nd in the junior category and Holly McCaffrey (Longcourt Hotel-NCW Wheelers) 3rd.
In the men's race, Barry was fastest from the start, putting a handful of seconds into Graham Boyd (McConvey Cycles), with Seymour just behind, followed closely by Sean Lundy (UCD Cycling Club) and Ian O'Connell (Team Worc).
However, Seymour found his legs on the second lap and passed Boyd and Barry, leading as they went out on the third lap. Barry fought back and retook the lead, by just a few seconds, before adding another handful of seconds on the fourth lap.
Seymour then put in the quickest lap of the race - 6:20 - on the fifth lap. And though that really made a race of it, with Barry still in the lead, but only by a couple of seconds.
However, Barry had the staying power on the day and extend his lead over the second half of the race, to win from Seymour by 29 seconds.
Boyd was 3rd, 1:19 down on the winner, with a bigger gap back to Lundy, in 4th, and O'Connell claiming 5th place from PJ Hynes of Bellurgan Wheelers.
For full results, please follow this link.
