Seymour strikes first blow in SuperCross as Aiken’s back-to-back bid fails

Robin Seymour today showed the class that has made him Ireland’s most successful ever off-road rider, taking victory in the first round of the SuperCross in west Dublin by over two minutes.

The double Olympian Team-WORC rider simply stormed away from the field in the cyclocross ‘A’ race in Clondalkin, on what proved to be a fast and testing new Pfizer-backed course in the Grange Castle Business Park.

Roger Aiken (Banbridge CC) had taken the first race of the cyclo-cross season north of the border last Sunday, when he was victorious in terrible conditions in Lurgan Park.

However, he appeared to get off to a very slow start today and left himself with so much work to do after the early laps that his second place spot at the finish was a fine result.

The ‘A’ race got off to an explosive start and saw Seymour and Ryan Sherlock (SportActive) break clear of the rest to set up an interesting duel.

They came through the finishing area after the first lap clear of a chasing group that contained Evan Ryan (Team-WORC) and Conor Campbell (Newry Wheelers), with Peter McConville (Newry Wheelers) slightly adrift.

Up front it was Sherlock who appeared to be coming off best in the early exchanges with Seymour. But on the run up on the third lap Seymour put in a devastating burst that was to decisively shape the outcome of the race.

He pulled away on his own and by the start of the fourth lap - with six circuits remaining - he had a lead of 30 seconds over Sherlock.

Approaching the finish line Sherlock looked under pressure as he put in a serious effort to limit his losses. But just as he was being tested to the maximum, his tub rolled on the tarmac finishing stretch and he crashed out of the race.

It left the masterful Seymour out in front alone, with the race now for second among those in his wake.

In the chase group behind Ryan, Campbell and McConville had been joined by Aiken on the fifth of ten laps.

Just behind these a group of ten chasers had formed, making for an exciting race for the many spectators on what turned out to be a fine morning.

Up front Seymour extended his lead every lap, eventually finishing over two minutes ahead of Aiken who left the rest of the chasers to take second spot alone. The sprint for third was taken by Evans.

While the 60-rider ‘A’ race had sold out from midweek, the B event was also a sell out.

A new feature this year, the B event is designed to cater for those riders who are new to cyclocross, have a lower level of fitness or simply don’t want to compete off-road as intensely as they would during the road season.

It was Dectek’s Tim O’Regan who took an early lead in the ‘B’ race and looked for a time as if he would dominate.

However, Diarmuid Collins (Orwell CC) slowly pegged him back, before passing him and leaving the fast-starting O’Regan struggling to maintain second spot, with Gary Shields just behind in third.

With just one lap to go, O’Regan suffered a mechanical problem and dropped back to 7^th, with Paul Norton taking advantage to take third spot on the podium.

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Special thanks to Dave Gill of the promoting Team-WORC for his assistance to stickybottle today, very much appreciated. And also a special thanks to John Walker for some great photographs.

We’ll be covering the rest of the cyclocross season, so join us on Twitter and Facebook for all the news updates and also race reports and photos of all the cyclocross action.

(All photos  by John Walker)

(All photos  by John Walker)

Daragh Mortimer shows how it's done! 

Results A Race 

Results B Race