Original Broadcast – 28 April 2022 TG4
00:00 – 00:49 INTRO
00:49 – 02:34 MTB Downhill Round
02:34 – 07:31 Road Series Round 2
07:31 – 12:21 Ian Dyer IV
12:21 – 12:38 BREAK
12:38 – 12:44 Intro
12:44 – 16:48 Paracycling National Championships
16:48 – 19:01 Waterford Community Bike Rides
19:01 – 20:59 Women’s Team Pursuit – Track Racing
20:59 – 23:49 BMX National Series
G f her as do the Irish cycling show we’ve got action and interviews from throughout the world of cycling on and off-road and on the track but today we’re here at Corker park for the Paris cycling national championships and we’re on track in Glasgow where the Irish team
Get their bid for Glory in the 2022 Nations cup underway we’ve been speaking to team members we also caught up with the new high performance director of cycling Ireland Ian Dar coming up we’ve got some great action from the road and BMX national series and we’ journeyed to
Waterford to find out about the wonderful world of community bike rides but first off we’re going to Ross Trevor and County down for the downhill mountain bike national series warm sunshine and ideal racing conditions greeted the riders in the Ross Trevor mantom bike club promoted series opener more than 300 Riders across all
Categories descended on the County Town venue with most of the big contingent of supporters spending at least some of the weekend at the fabled heckers Rock section to the compulsory accompaniment of Blade free chainsaws The Fearless competitors plunged off the hillside with all categories producing Fast
Times among the elite men we close R and Dawn of Continental nuk proof eclips the time of Enduro star Greg Callahan by over 7 Seconds Chris of the promoting Club improved on his own first run time by 610 of a second to secure a Podium spot but he couldn’t quite match
Dun dun’s time was almost two seconds faster than the first run Benchmark set by last manof and pre-event favorite Jacob Dixon in a cliffhanger finish the local man gave the fans something to cheer about as he shaved a further 7/10 of a second from dun’s best to take the first round
Spoils in the women’s event Gap mtb’s cat Brady set the early Benchmark which lasted until the third last Rider into action Hannah Harvey from sparin MTB Club multiple National Champion leam monel was the penultimate Rider into action recording a blistering time which final Rider Shannon mcau failed to eclipse the Carrick Fergus woman
Nonetheless fast enough to take the runnerup spot so a perfect start the season for Dixon and Mel and the Riders have plenty of time to prepare for the battles to come in the second event of the three round Series in Karne at the end of August from the forest to the road the
National Road Series headed to Newcastle West in County limmer for the second round of the series with que O’Brien and Matt tager flying high after their success in round one round two of the road national series took place on roads already familiar from the National Road championship and recent stage race
Action around noad near Newcastle West County limmer fresh from victory in the first race race of the series in Carlo quo O’Brien of trelli isure Cayman Island simitar had the honor of carrying the series leaders jersey and it was clearly a responsibility she bore lightly as she stretched the field with
The help of her sister EA ucd’s Arty won the National Junior Road Race Championship here in 2020 and she too tried her luck on a 12 km circuit featuring just one short drag for seven laps and 84 km Gabrielle glodon is relatively to the Irish road racing scene but her
Performances have already won the respect of qu O’Brien as she covered a sustained effort from the ler Rider the high quality field remained tightly packed throughout the race only a final lap attack from Kira Kelly of Vel performance opening up any daylight on the field Kelly was clear for several
Kilometers but the bunch was back together in time for a group finish in knockaderry despite her attacking efforts qu O’Brien still had enough to just Edge a tight decision from Fast finishing Juniors Aaron Grace kryon of mccon cycles and Emma Smith from naven Road Club so it
Was a really good race we we’re off nice and early so it was pretty chilly but no it was on a a good circuit it was a bit shorter than last year’s H National Road Series so um it was kind of a bit flat
With one like tiny bit of a hill so yeah it was good I tried a good few attacks in it but just nothing would stick so I I tried to just keep keep going and going and going but nothing would stick so I kind of knew on the last lap um
That I was going to come down to finish and I know this finish pretty well cuzz we had our Nationals here a few years ago the National Road Series which I came second and last year so yeah it was really good and it was nice to be
Consistent I won in Dez hen two weeks ago and then won again this week so no it was really good H yeah I kind of felt the mark on my back today in the race but no it’s good so just hopefully I’ll be able to keep up the consistency now
As the roow series goes ahead so two races two wins for O’Brien with ardy fourth Clon gagor Fifth and cl sixth O’Brien already has a commanding position in the point standings with elardi second and glin third the men’s race was an epic 156 km over six laps of a 26 km circuit with
Round one winner Matt teger of wi sunod resplendant in his series leaders jersey and facing a quality field including reigning Series champion Dara phy who missed the first round FY racing again with EVO Pro this season raced clear in an early fiveman move as teger and others bited their time
Behind with fely were teammate Liam Curley Luke Smith from monaly Cycling Club Daren mcarter from Spelman Dublin port and Paul Kennedy from buron CC the Series champion was Keen to keep the group motivated the five worked well together and led for almost 100 km before a 12-man group including series leader
Tager began to to make inroads sensing the group’s resolve weakening fely attacked the break with around 50 km to go and quickly opened a significant gap before a malfunctioning front derer forced the frustrated leader off the bike while fely persevered tagert with ph’s teammate Con mcuny in
Tow overhauled the remains of the break and Mark Dowling and Gareth O’Neil also had joined the party just when it looked like fely might hang on powered up the drag inside the final kilometer distancing mcuny and soon putting fely out of the race lead for the first time in almost 150
Kmet it was a strong break but um there’s a long way to be out there with just three or four and I I heard we heard um from the cars that they had split up and Philly was on his own with like still two laps to go or something
So I knew that’s a long way on your own so I knew if we pushed really hard behind like three or four of us um and worked well together we’ have a good chance chance of catching them um so yeah that’s that’s exactly what happened really on those last few drags were just
Sort of decisive um I need feel bad to be honest we caught him with just about five or 600 met to go which is is a heartbreaking like so terer takes the win from MC duny O’Neal and Dowling with fely a disconsolate Fifth and Dean Harvey
Sixth with set to miss at least one round his commanding early points Advantage could well come under threat with Conor mannan and Gareth O’Neil best place to take advantage from domestic road racing to International track action I DeCamp to Glasco for the first round of the track
Nations cup where the Irish team began the qualification campaign for the World Championships I spoke to Ian Dar the new high performance director of cycling Ireland and formerly a key member of the British cycling medal winning Factory over the past two decades uh tell us a little bit about
Your role with cycling Ireland and your hopes dreams and aspirations principally my role in the organization is is tasked with getting a good structure in place um getting good organization in place uh recruiting the right people to deliver a good program to the athletes and with Paris and the
LA Olympic Games sort of on our Horizon make sure we’re in a good place to arrive at a competitive point for qualification and for actually performing at the games itself and tell us a bit about the pl so relatively short cycle now to Paris yeah this is a
Really interesting one for all the nation really because as we stand here now it’s 2 and a half years away and qualifications already going to start next February and so it’s important that we’re immediately very focused on the the key areas that might result in success or or a very good progression
For us so on one hand we’re looking to see what we can turn around in a very short time scale for Paris and on the other hand we’re also looking a little bit further down the track to see what’s just bubbling under at the moment and
And and could come to the boil for the LA cycle as well so how do you um how do you support the Riders you’ve got and how do you find the New Riders yeah it’s a little bit of a a juggling act at the moment so we’re here at Glasgow for the
Track Nations cup and this is very much the best of the best here um but by the same token the conversations I’m having with staff are sort of centered on the other side of the equation in the more developmental areas which is both about bringing Young Riders into the sport and
And the talent ID and development side of it and also then that critical transition from being a junior athlete living at home to becoming a senior athlete and trying to bring yourself to the Forefront of consideration for selection for key events in terms of short and medium-term goals you know how
Many bikes in the world championships how many you know what sort of results do you anticipate from Europeans and worlds Etc in in terms of the track racing I think from that point of view we wouldn’t be too dissimilar to how we’re presenting here I don’t think um
There’s a couple further athletes that are out there um in the program uh one or two injuries that are lingering for example that that mean that they can’t be racing here just now I think we should be sort of healthy in our our more regular strongholds like the
Women’s team Pursuit and the bunch tracing and we’ll see how the Sprint emerges in the coming months as well and whether we can be competitive in in those disciplines also and of course one of the really s of successful programs that we have on the go is the is the par
Olympic program so off the back of a very successful Tokyo games um they’re already into a busy year so next month in Austria and Germany with par Road cup uh World Cups and and that’s going to go all the way through the year uh until the conclusion in no November with the
Uh track cycling World Championships in Paris so it’s a big year for them and they can look ahead to qualifying for Paris in the the in 2023 I think you probably noticed I was focusing a little bit on the track because we’re here inis o belladrum but but obviously you’re
Ahead of high performance across all the programs so I mean what are your hopes dreams and aspirations for I mean if you look at Ireland uh as as a nation and and literally the landscape I I have to think that surely we must be able to be competitive in in events like mountain
Biking for example in years to come Road Racing’s always been a very traditional culture hasn’t it in in competitive cycling in Ireland so I think that will continue and that’s something that we can can build upon and I hope that there’s Young Riders out there that want
To be the next San Bennett for example that we’ll see in in the future but uh as I look at it I think mountain biking must offer a wealth of possibilities so I think some of the activity that I’d like to see us doing as an organization
In the years to come is is grouping those endurance Riders together and developing a multiple skill set we’re seeing in the Pro Road ranks now for example Olympic Riders from mountain bike and also events like cycl cross crossing over and of course Road also supplying
Track Riders so I very much want to try and bring that group together in the early development stages and and try and learn off one another and develop each other in tandem the the biggest link for us is inspiring a nation to ride their bikes and if you get moms and dads on
Bikes you get their kids on bikes and in the fullness of time those kids on bikes might want to race their bike and it doesn’t matter whether they got nobbly tires or big tires or whether they’re in a skate park or BMX track to get people
On bikes is really the the actual value of us being successful so it’s not really what the difference in funding might be the following year it’s it’s generating a legacy that inspires a nation to get on their bikes be healthy and from that our competitive riders in the future will be will be Born off when D and Kean a Yen of EG fer the hair and and chin and we’ll hear from some of those track stars later in the show F CH as to the cycling show we’ve moved to rat o for the first event in the BMX national series which is producing some spectacular Moto action but first let’s see how the Riders got on at cor Park where they wrapped up the Paris cycling National Championship weekend and look
Ahead to the the upcoming international program for the riders in the two-day national championship event day one was dedicated to track action at sunnd Drive Road in Dublin while day two featured road racing a few kilometers away on the purpose-built circuit created by mck laus at Kirky Park recycling Ireland national
Performance coach Neil deah the event was a great opportunity for the Paras cycling Community to reunite for a national event ahead of a busy international program and I think everyone enjoys the racing and it’s part of the com camaraderie I guess and the atmosphere that everybody knows each
Other from the development Riders to the ones that are performing at the par Olympic Games and there’s a little bit of inspiration to be had for those coming through to have the opportunity to race with the ones they’re seeing on the Telly before so for us it’s kind of
We’ve had a bit more um awareness I guess since Tokyo there’s a few more faces few new people coming in and it’s just great to have them coming in to see what the level is they need to get to so the the it’s very special and very
Important for us to have the national championship ship where is the Irish par cycling scene where is it at at the moment I think we’re in a good place we’ we’d obviously like more numbers I mean we’re always looking for for new Talent we don’t have a huge population in
Ireland so we might might be at a little bit of disadvantage compared to some of the larger countries in that sense but when we find and identify our Riders they come into a very well supported environment through the development Squad with the parason commission and then onwards with the with the elite
Team so we’re confident we can bring them from level through to a high level very effectively and we have a good track record of doing that but we we would like to see a bit more numbers it’s always nice to see new people coming in Michelle Timothy and Ronan
Grimes were among a number of Tokyo paralympians relishing a rare local Road and track racing outing with International assignments looming I suppose for me I’m probably looking more to the track side of things for Paris but I’ll do the road season as well and see how that goes but really I
Hope to kind of focus in a little bit more on track I think that’s where I made the most Gams and that’s where where it suits me I think to do the pursuit and that so I’ll be putting a lot more time into that from now
On uh all guns blazing I think for for Paris 2024 um this year looks busy enough um starting into World Cup season so of two World Cups um starting from two weeks time following that European championships and then um later on the year some more World Cups uh leading
Into road and track World Championships so a busy busy year with our usual tandem partner Eve mccristal un available on the day Tokyo double gold medalist Katy George D leevy was paired with wexford’s Linda Kelly for the road race and the duo jel dwell for second behind Martin verer and Martian
MGI we’ve got our first International races um coming up next week in Belgium so it’s a really good time to you know get a racing under the belt and um I did a race with Linder um today and it was her second time on the tandem so it was
A great chance to race against the other tandems and the solo bikes there today very useful exercise what’s the form been like since since Tokyo presumably you had a little bit of a a rest period after the the highs of Tokyo yeah I had I had um some time off um mentally you
Know physically and mentally I needed to have a break it was my first kind of break really for for many years but I’m starting to see uh the numbers come back and the form come back now um I could feel it and see it a bit today as well
But um I’m getting there and I’ve got racing coming up so hopefully that will bring me on as well I mean our our road championships um Road World Championships are in August and then we’ve got track wads um in October so you know that’s a bit later on in the
Season so come hopefully there are being informed for that so this is really still getting ready for for those races which I’m racing with Eve and of course build up for and train and build up for Paris so it’s a few years of hard graft yet until we get there cycling isn’t all
About racing of course there are many ways to get involved in bike riding and one of the most accessible and exciting is community bike rides we travel to Waterford to talk to some of the riders that are enjoying the benefits of this great new way of cycling for
Fun so Community bike rides uh started around three years ago and it’s really gone from strength to strength since due to the efforts of I think our fantastic leaders that we have all over the country so we now have over 100 leaders leading rides all over Ireland we’re
Here today with Dean and he’s going to be leading a ride on the Waterford Greenway but there’s rides like this happening all over Ireland every single week it’s a very scheme you know people sign up when they’re ready they don’t come on when they when they don’t want
To come along and then they come along the next week so it’s uh it’s open to anybody whatever sort of time they free we took up cycling about 5 years ago and dein was actually one of the first groups that I uh took up the group cycling with and it’s just the highlight
Of coming down and meeting up with the usual faces and meeting some new people just getting out for exercise and a bit of fresh air and a bit of head space that’s the beauty of this it’s it’s everywhere no matter where you are you go in your H someplace you can ride up
Uh sign up and ride belast gal Cherry anywhere at all so it’s brilliant yeah this is my social life now cycling once twice sometimes three times a week if I have the time it’s just fantastic love the bzs anyone can come along it doesn’t matter what type of bike you have
Anything at all you can show up it’s free to take part and it’s really really simple and it’s a great way to get involved in your community and actually to upskill yourself in terms of your cycling and your confidence on the bike so you can find out about what
Rides are available in your area from Community bike rides. it’s really simple to to be able to explore the website and find out if there’s solo rides happening group rides happening all over Ireland so it’s a great way to get involved in your local community and find new Roots
But it’s also a great way to explore new areas with someone that’s confident in in taking you around um on your bike back in Glasgow for the first round of the track Nations cup there was some very impressive performances from the Irish team not least the women’s team Pursuit
Quartet with just one International race in their legs the women’s team Pursuit Squad of Mia Griffin Emily K Kelly Murphy and Alice sharp got the week off to a great start with a new National [Applause] Record we started the morning and we did um a
24 I think um so we just wanted to make some changes and and and ride the race a little better and then yeah we’ve we’ve done 21 quite a good few times so to finally break that to break 21 and do a 19 I think we’re really happy with how
It all went and and that time that we put down so and Alice they tell me it’s a slow track so tell us I mean how did you come up with that time here yeah I guess we just tried to execute what we’d originally done in the first ride a
Little bit better so I think our lines are a lot smoother and really just committing to our turns and it’s made for more even splits and I guess yeah made for the 19 yeah exceptional stuff Kelly um you know was was sub 420 what
You were was it a big goal for you yeah so we had planned for to do a quicker time like this at world back in October and we made a couple of changes this time that would Aid us so we’ve got new bikes bigger gears and um we haven’t
Really had the training time that we were after but it’s just pure dogness I think at the end of the day you’ve just got to trust your training and you just got trust your teammates know what they’re going to do and yeah commit it sounds like a short amount of time but
When it’s in pedal strokes and when you’re already on your limit it’s big like now an exceptional effort am Mia same quartet that held the old Irish record you presumably knew this was in you what’s next after this I think next we really want to ride a few seconds
Faster and I think we want to try and bridge the gap to those teams that are like up there in the top four and I think we’re really capable of that and that’s what we want to strive to do finally this month let’s take in some of
The Thrills and Spills and great racing action from the first two rounds of the BMX national series here in Oto okay Rers RTO BMX Club played host to the first two rounds of the BMX national series since the first Co outbreak two years ago and a suitably large entry from clubs from all over the country enjoyed warm weather and spec spectacular racing at the me venue for event organizer Eugene Jackson the big
Turnout the Glorious weather and the quality of the racing throughout the age groups suggests rude good health in the sport right now yeah it’s been good we had 335 Riders yesterday and we’re down to 130 today so excellent uh excellent numbers for our first national back
We’re looking to build on that now we have lisbourne here with Belfast cor U we’ve got cown of course yeah so uh yeah we’re doing really well yeah so the numbers and the age group was brilliant like we had 30 riders in 11 to 12 and we
21 Riders N9 to 10 so that’s what we want like we want young young boys and girls on their bikes on the Saddles and pedling around this track in a safe environment there were plenty of high points in a busy weekend and among the standout performances lisburn based Argentinian Tommy magnat held off
Matthew Campbell in the first round of the always spectacular super class but Campbell from the Rau Club took his revenge on day two among the girls classes Abigail foren from the local Club took the female 7 to 10 honors on both days holding off Juno forign on day one and Sam Hughes in
Round two the most popular class was the male 11 to 12 where rotz Alex Neville fended off lisburn’s Freddy James Simmons and Belfast Rider Jamie Haron on day one Neville prevailed again on day two from Haron and lucan’s Shimon preek that’s it well that’s it for this month we have
Loads of great bike action for you again in next month’s episode bigy and visha hugan SL toml