The boom in cyclocross has been nothing short of incredible, with record numbers entering races right around the country. And the man tasked with organising the national championships, Martin Grimley, is hoping to make the event the best yet (Photo: David McVeigh – The Belgian Project)
The man tasked with organising this weekend’s National Cyclocross Championships says he wants to put on the best event the country has ever hosted.
Martin Grimley, chairman of the off-road commission, said the sport is on “the crest of a wave” at the moment.
And with record numbers competing in races all across Ireland he even suggested Ireland can become a “mini Belgium where people eat, sleep and breath cyclocross”.
“These championships have been a long time coming and I’ve been dreaming about them since last year,” he said.
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“We’ve 175 signed on across five categories and three races and my ambition for this weekend is to have the best championships the country has ever seen.
“I want to push up the standard because we’re on the crest of a wave with this at the moment.
“There are races all across Ireland, the calendar is packed and on the back of that I want to push it forward and turn this country into a mini Belgium that eats, sleeps and breathes cyclocross during the winter.”
The venue for Sunday’s championships is Tollymore Forest Park in Co Down and Grimley encouraged as many supporters as possible to come along.
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“We hope to attract a lot of supporters because it’ll be very spectator-friendly and very open for people to wander around and watch it," he said.
“The course within the park, everything is on-site and from what I hear it’s draining very well and coping with the rain.”
The 2.8-kilometre track is spread across four fields with a tarmac hill-climb section – which is an ideal vantage point - as well some technical sections.
“It’s very compact so you should see a lot of action, it’s something people should really come out and see.”
One of the big favourites for tomorrow's race and the man who has won the men’s elite title more times than anyone else, Robin Seymour (Photo: Toby Watson)
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