A report of Martin Grimley: Day 2 of the UCI C2 Cross Clonmel race took place on Sunday 13 October 2024 at Clonmel Racecourse in Powerstown, County Tipperary. The event was hosted by Clonmel Cycling Club and Slievenamon Cycling Club. The course, which was used on Day 1, had no changes for Day 2. The start finish was again in front of the T.A. Morris Stand which overlooked the horse racing circuit with a great view of Slievenamon mountain in the distance. Today was the turn of the Masters and then the UCI races for Junior men, Women and Elite men. It was an early start for the volunteers on site with registration open at 8 am. The weather was cool and still. Just before racing started at 9 am a cold wind had picked up. The majority of the day was dry with just a short, light shower in the middle of the day.
The first race of the day was for the Masters M50s and M60s. They had 5 laps to complete with the M60s starting around 15 seconds after the M50s. Leading the M50 race from the start was Declan McEntee (Emyvale CC). Jason Henry (Inspired Cycling) was second with Declan Hanrahan (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) third, Jay McCauley (Strabane Lifford Cycling Club) fourth and Jerry Ryan (Upperchurch Drombane Cycling) fifth. In the M60s the current World Masters (65-69) cyclo-cross champion Johnny McCabe (Cuchulainn CC) was out to pass as many M50s as he could. At one point he was lying third overall but in an exciting finish he was just beaten to the line by Declan Hanrahan. Taking second place in the M60s was Paul Birchall (Verge Sport PI Cycles) with Micheal Corkery (De Ronde Van Cork CC) third, Anthony Talt (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) fourth and Terence O’Neill (EPIC MTB Expert Cycles) fifth – finishing ahead of his target M50 Paul Barry!!
Next up were the M40s. They had 6 laps to complete. Peter Boaden (Rascor CC) had the race to himself at the front and remained unchallenged to the line. Behind him was a great battle for second between Evan Ryan (Team WORC) and Trevor Costello (Islandeady Cycling Club). These two remained together for the whole race and it came down to a sprint finish which Evan won. Trevor had to settle for third. Fourth place went to Richard Lenehan (Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar CC) with fifth going to Colm O’Byrne (IVCA Cycling Club).
The first of the UCI races then took place, this time for the Junior men. There were 14 riders on the start line. Curtis McKee (Spellman-Dublin Port) was on a mission to impress and he did so, with a good gap to the ever chasing Ryan Daly (Scott Racing IRL) he stretched that gap to over 30 seconds at the finish. This was the first Junior men Irish winner of the UCI C2 Cross Clonmel. Ryan was out on his own in second place with a big gap to the next riders. Third place went to Hugh Og Mulhearne (Verge Sport PI Cycles) with James Armstrong (VC Glendale) fourth and visiting rider Magnus Denwood (Harrogate Nova Race Team) fifth.
The Women’s UCI race had 6 Junior women and 13 seniors on the start line for 5 laps. Junior rider Greta Lawless (Team WORC) was in a close race with visiting rider Hope Inglis (Spectra). They were still together when the turned onto the final straight. It was a long sprint to the finish and, to the delight of the crowd, it was Greta who crossed the line ahead of Hope. Greta’s win was the first time an Irish rider had won the UCI C2 Women’s race at Clonmel. Another visiting rider Katie Scott (Spectra) was out in third place on her own for the whole race. French rider Léa Coraboeuf (VC EVRON COETMIEUX) picked up fourth with Hannah McClorey (Doltcini – Cycle Division) fifth, Doireann Killeen (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) was sixth and the American rider Joanne Grogan (Barker Mountain Bikes) finishing seventh.
The final race of the day was for the UCI Elite men with 20 riders on the start line. They had 8 laps to complete. British rider Jenson Young (Spectra) got himself to the head of the race on lap 2 and then just powered away on his own. Behind him was a great battle for second place between Travis Harkness (Spellman-Dublin Port) and Tadhg Killeen (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial). They provided an exciting sprint finish with Travis just staying ahead of Tadhg at the line. Richard Barry (St. Finbarrs CC) and Robin Seymour (Team WORC) were wheel to wheel for a couple of the laps but Richard had pulled out a 15 second gap on Robin by the end of the race. British rider Joel Hurt (RIBBLE VERGE SPORT) suffered from a mechanical issue which dropped him back to sixth.
A huge thanks to John Dempsey, Roddy Keane, Clonmel Cycling Club, Slievenamon Cycling Club and all those who contributed to the hosting of this successful event. Commissaires: Ian Poole, Richard O’Gorman, Anthony Keneally, Mick Twomey and Martin Grimley. Full results of day 2 on https://www.offroadcyclingireland.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CrossClonmel_Day2_2024_results.htm
Some selected photos (Dany B)
