Day 1 of the UCI (C2) Clonmel Cross in Tipperary (Sat 12th Oct) The Under 6-8-10-12-14-16 races, and the Support race (men-women CX & MTB combined) A report of Martin Grimley (Chief comm & Chief time keeper) and photos Belgian Project Media (sorry for the lateness)

Day 1 of the UCI C2 Cross Clonmel race took place on Saturday 12 October 2024 at the Powerstown Park Racecourse in Clonmel, County Tippary. John Dempsey was again the race organiser and with his hard working team of volunteers from Clonmel Cycling Club and Slievenamon Cycling Club they had developed a great cyclo-cross track in the ground and woods around the car park for the race course. The start/finish returned to the tarmac road in front of the stadium with its impressive view of the horse racing circuit. The event village was set up with Dany Blondeel on the microphone, Barry Rogers with the clothing kit and the food stalls with their crêpes and pizzas on the go. The weather was mostly dry with some light showers passing through during the day. The podium was set up with medals and trophies for the top 5 riders in the race categories. All was set for the fourth year of Cross Clonmel.
The Under 6s were the first to line up for their one lap race. On the start line were 8 boys and 8 girls some on strider bikes. Well done to all for finishing the race.

The Under 8s started from the same location but they had 3 laps to complete. Teddy Lyons won the boys’ race with Fiachra Connolly (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) second. The next two riders were the first of the girls with Elisa Tyszecka (Un-Attached Munster) crossing the line ahead of Aoibhín Collins (Un-Attached Munster). Continuing with the boys Rian O’Sullivan was third, Uilliam Aherne (Un-Attached Munster) was fourth and Cohan William Kennedy (Clonmel CC) was fifth. Completing the podium for the girls was Maggie May Kennedy (Clonmel CC) who finished third, Darcy Lyons (Fermoy Cycling Club) fourth and Aoife Coakley (Un-Attached Munster) fifth.

The Under 10s lined up further down the tarmac road in front of the stadium. Jaxon Jennings (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) was on a mission today and lead the field over the 5 laps to finish first in the boys’ race. James Kavanagh (Lakeland) was second with Oliver O’Sullivan (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) third, Liam Cosgrave (Greenmount CA) fourth and Fionn Murphy (O’Leary Stone Kanturk) fifth. Marian Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club)and Ciara McCool (Square Wheels) finished first and second respectively, just behind James Kavanagh. Taking third place in the girls’ race was Amelia O’Loughlin (Clonmel CC) with fourth going to Emily O’Mahony (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) and fifth to Holly Ryan (Un-Attached Munster).

The Under 12s race saw the riders start their 3 lap race all the way down at the main start line. This provided them with a long sprint up the tarmac road, past the timing tent, around the back of the stadium and onto the grass. Comfortably leading for the first two laps was Benjamin Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) with Lewis Bell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) chasing hard behind him. On the final lap everyone was watching the corner of the building where the riders were to come around looking for Ben. Chequered flag was out and waiting. The timing computer showed that he was expected, it then showed that he was overdue, still no sign of Ben. A mumur went around that he had a mechanical. A rider did appear. It was Lewis who was delighted to get the win. Lewis was followed by Max McGrath (Fermoy Cycling Club) in second place, then Tadhg Connolly (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) in third. Finally Ben appeared in fourth place looking very dissappointed. Turned out he did have a chain issue on his last lap. Daniel O’Sullivan (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) finished fifth. In the girls’ race
Molly Turner (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) didn’t have any issues as she stormed around the course to finish well clear of her nearest rival Caroline Collins (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club). Third place went to Cara O’Sullivan (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) with fourth going to Emilia Tyszecka (MBCC) and Hanna Lyons (Un-Attached Leinster) picking up fifth.

The next race was for the Under 14 girls and Under 16 girls. Both had 3 laps to complete. In the Under 16 girls race there was a great battle between Emer Heverin (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) and Katie Turner (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) at the front of the race. They were locked together wheel to wheel. On the final lap they turned the corner into the final straight and were side by side. It was Emer who held the long sprint finish to the line with Katie just behind. It was a few minutes before third place Orla Mulhearne (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) came into sight. Ciara Flavin (Dungarvan CC) was then fourth with Abaigh Dennehy (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) fifth.

In the Under 14 girls race Ava Baker (Breffni Wheelers) had made her way up through the Under 16 girls to finish third overall, first U14. Second place Under 14 went to Laoise Crinion (IMBRC) with Ciara O’Connor (Drogheda Wheelers) third, Caoilfhionn Foley (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) fourth and Faith O’Connor (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) fifth.

It was then the turn of the Under 14 and Under 16 boys to race. They had 4 laps to complete. In the Under 16 boys race Caleb McGreevy (VC Glendale) had lead for the first two laps with Shane O’Brien (Fermoy Cycling Club) tucked in behind him. On lap 3 Shane appeared on his own at the front of the race and was still out in front at the end of the final lap. Caleb had to settle for second. Conor Regan (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) was third with Darragh O’Keeffe (EPIC MTB Expert Cycles) fourth and Niall McDonald (Carlow RCC) fifth.

James Cunningham (Team WORC) won the Under 14 boys race. Rory McCool (Square Wheels) had to work hard to stay ahead of Tomás Connolly (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) as they finished second and third respectively. Ethan Real (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) was fourth with Dáire O’Flaherty (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) fifth.

The final race of the day was the open support race and women’s support race. Both had 4 laps to complete. The open race had 32 riders on the start line with just 5 in the women’s support race

. In the open race Diarmuid O’Brien (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) took the win ahead of Nicholas James Buckley (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) with David Meredith (EPIC MTB Expert Cycles) crossing the line in third place. Conor Verbruggen (Bray Wheelers) was fourth with Dermot Logue (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) fifth. In the women’s support race Sally Drennan (Midleton CTC) lead from the start. Diane Behan (Dungarvan CC) finished second with Sinead Rock (South-East Road Club) third, Lorraine Harrington (South-East Road Club) fourth and Joanne Lally fifth.

A huge thanks to Clonmel Cycling Club and Slievenamon Cycling Club for coming together to put on the event. Commissaires: Richard O’Gorman, Anthony Keneally, Mick Twomey and Martin Grimley (Author report)