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Post date: Aug 01, 2016 4:56:47 PM
Prudential Ride London-Surrey Classic
To complete the international flair to this week’s notes there was a small selection of Wheelers in London for the sportive attached to the Ride London-Surrey Classic pro race. Pearse Murphy, Seamus Clarke and Eddie Byrne were lucky enough to get the all important lottery type entry tickets required for this event and no doubt they enjoyed the experience of riding on the closed streets of London.
Another Wheeler riding these same streets was Damien Shaw who got selected for the An Post Chainreaction team for the pro race. This 200km race is a legacy of the London 2012 Olympic race and is getting bigger every year. Although no An Post rider made the break it was great to see the Mullingar man feature on Eurosport’s coverage as he rode at the front of a chase group which contained none other than the new Tour de France winner, Chris Froome of Team Sky. Speaking to Shaw after the race he said that although he got dropped on the ascent of Box Hill with 50km to go he really enjoyed the atmosphere and the experience.
The success should not come as any great surprise in some ways as the lads put in some good preparation prior to travelling and this led to success for Pete in Ticknock in July. On a very challenging course the three boys had their handling and descending skills tested to the limits on several occasions. However, once Pete survived a near disaster with a tree he put in a huge effort on the final uphill section. This paid dividends as he rounded the final corner in the lead which saw him claim the top step of the podium for the first time this year.
(By Shay O'Toole -Sun. 31st July 2016)
European Junior Track Championships
In recent weeks Lakeside Wheelers was represented in Italy by Nicole Gorry who was selected to participate in the European Junior Track Championships and Steve Franzoni who travelled with Cycling Ireland as team mechanic. Nicole was chosen to travel based on her performances at the Irish National Track Championships in Sundrive. She initially went to Mallorca for a pre-competition training camp and then moved on to Montichiari in Northern Italy to compete. Over the week Nicole competed in three different events, the two kilometre pursuit, 500m standing start and the infamous Keirin. Given the lack of an indoor velodrome in Ireland Nicole did extremely well to even get selected for this event. Despite not winning any medals, the experience she gained at such a high profile event will be a major boost to her future development in the sport. For his role, Steve said that he was kept very busy all week between maintaining the bikes and driving to and from the venue.
Nicole was competing this weekend in the Oldcastle GP and for the second week in a row she was the 1st lady home so there is no doubt that she has serious talent. Well done to all concerned and best wishes to Nicole for her future cycling career.
Caoimhe O’Brien Wins in England
In another international connection young Caoimhe O’Brien made her first appearance in an Irish jersey when she competed in the UK last week. This was a major honour for Caoimhe, her family and Lakeside Whelers and saw her race in two different events. Yet again she showed that her recent form is by no means a fluke as she finished 1st in one race and 2nd in another. Congratulations and well done Caoimhe.
No doubt Caoimhe and all the rest of the Lakeside Wheelers youth team were in the thick of the action in the Ras Dun na nGall international youths race last weekend. A report on this event will be available next week.
Mountain Bikers make the Podium in Poland
As mentioned in last week’s notes Lakeside Wheelers members Pete Rimmer, Paul Crowley and Richie Lenihan were competing in a 6 stage race in Poland last week. Well, congratulations are due to the team as they managed to get a podium place on the final stage with a great third position. This was a very strong showing from the lads who were up against some very talented riders from all over Europe. Richie tells me that he has an “extensive” report complied on their adventures so hopefully it will be available in the coming weeks.
Damien Shaw competed in the Ride London Surrey Classic on Sunday. (Photo Paul Mohan/Sportsfile)
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