It was a big bunch that fought out the U16 race (Photo: Karen Dunne)
Introduction
Among the most promising youth riders in the country, Mark Downey, Jake Gray and Emily Birchall took outright victories in their respective age groups at the weekend’s “Gerry Cumiskey VW Commercials Ras na n’Óg”.
The events - run near Drogheda, Co Louth, by Drogheda Wheelers - were a massive success, with some great racing and the destination of the 2012 titles going down to the wire.
Report on U16 Races
Shanahan held off the bunch to win stage 3 despite the Banbridge-led chase behind (Photo: Karen Dunne)
Regarded as perhaps the most promising U16 rider in the country, Mark Downey will be disappointed he did not come away with a stage win at the weekend. However, he took the outright victory to very much cushion that blow.
Advertisement
The Banbridge CC man, who is a brother of An Post-Sean Kelly rider Sean Downey, had to be content with second place on the third and final stage on Sunday.
He led in the sprint for second place on Sunday’s stage 3 after Stephen Shanahan (Munster) put in a fantastic attack from the 60-ride bunch on the last of seven laps to take a solo victory.
With Downey having finished second and third on stages 1 and 2 respectively on Saturday, his second place on Sunday was enough to give him the outright win.
He wrapped that up ahead of his team mate Matthew Taggart; with stage 3 winner Shanahan moving into the final spot on the podium.
Other riders also worthy of a mention are Munster’s Eddie Dunbar, for a terrific win on Stage 2 of the race and also Michael O’Loughlin from Carrick Wheelers, who went clear with Dunbar in the two-man winning move on that second stage.
The stage 2 and stage 3 wins by the men from Munster resulted in them taking the team prize classification.
Taggart was also in very good form this weekend and pushed his team mate hard for the GC win, while Darragh Bailey (Donamon) took a really impressive victory on stage 1.
Report on U14 Races
Related News
GC winner Jake Gray (East Tyrone) takes stage 1 ahead of Dion McCarthy (Fernoy)
Like the U16 event, the GC win in the U14s went north of the border, with East Tyrone’s talented youngster Jake Gray coming out on top after a really hard fought race.
The concluding stage 3 on Sunday was unfortunately marred with a crash as a handy looking breakaway was shaping up nicely. The leading quarter got clear at around the halfway mark of the four-lap race and while they worked well together they crashed on the last lap.
It was Gray who emerged from the chaos to take the stage win. He had already won the opening stage early on Saturday and was third in the second stage, also on Saturday. It meant he went into the final day of racing second on GC just behind stage 2 winner Dion McCarthy (Fermoy).
The final stage win saw Gray displace McCarthy from his GC lead. He pushed McCarthy into second with Adam Stenson (Lucan CRC) in third. Slaney CC took the team prize.
Report on U12 Races
The U12 title may have been battled for by the youngest riders, but the competitors’ lack of years certainly didn’t result in any lack of excitement. Without being unfair to any of the riders – many of whom showed some fantastic promise – the weekend belonged to Emily Birchall of Fermoy.
She took victory on two of the three stages; stages 2 and 3. And on the one stage she did not win – stage 1 – she finished third.
Like the U14 race, the U12s also saw a crash on the final stage on Sunday; which was one lap of the 7.7 circuit.
Stage 1 winner and GC leader heading into the final stage, PJ Dougan (Errigal) was one of the stage 3 fallers.
It was the strong Emily Birchall who took that final stage, enough for her to wrap up the GC win. Dougan, to his great credit, remounted after his spill and did enough to at least keep second overall with his sister Ciara Dougan (Errigal CC) third overall.
The U12 race was a bit of a family affair. Not only did the Dougans fill second and third on the final GC, but Emily Birchall’s brother Eoin also had a great race, taking second and third on stages 1 and 2 respectively.
Topics
