Cork County Cycling Championships

The last few weeks have seen a few races, notably the Orwell 2 Day where Neil managed to get 15th overall, he just missed the break on stage three, if that had worked out it would have been a lot better. Still a few days later and he drives to Fermoy to participate in the Cork Champs. A great ride he won the race in a two man break with Sean Barrett from Kanturk O’Leary Stone, who at the same time won the Junior title.

A long drive for an evening race but worth it

Watch a video here below

Cork County Championships

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Donal Crowley Road Race

Neils Third A1 and A2 race was on a dreadfull day with very cold bitter conditions. They went off hard and the race split into three groups by the end of the first sixteen KM. Neil was in group two and after 70KM pulled out as he could not feel his hands anymore and the chase was never going to catch the elite guys further up the road.

Race winner was

1. Sean Hahessy – Dan Morrisey-MIG.ie-Pactimo
2. Conor Hennebry – Dan Morrisey-MIG.ie-Pactimo
3. Jamie Blanchfield – Panduit Carrick Wheelers

The Junior and A3 race was a one two for Kanturk with Tom Moriarty taking the win.

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Des Hanlon A1 and A2 race

Second race as an A2 was the Des Hanlon race. We left early on Saturday to drive to county Kilkenny where we stayed the night as the 750KM round trip in the one day would have been a bit much.

The Des Hanlon is an Irish classic and there was a field of 140 riders. With three laps of a tough circuit making the race 130KM. There were many breaks with guys going “up the road” but in the end like last week Conor Hennebry was again the winner, with about twelve riders coming in first. Neil was somewhere between 30th and 40th looking at the photos. Not a bad ride as the best riders of the country were all there.

Conor Hennebry
John, Neil and Paidi from the Killarney CC

Watch two clips of the A1 A2 race here

Lap one A1 and A2 #beara #allihies #kilarneycyclingclub #bike #cycling #cyclingireland #race #velo #ireland #irlande #irlanda #irland #huntwheels #planetx #cyclisme #quarq #training #carlowroadcyclingclub #deshanlonmemorial #classic

Posted by Balooz on Sunday, 31 March 2019

 

Lap 3 A1 A2 race Carlow road cycling club #beara #allihies #kilarneycyclingclub #bike #cycling #cyclingireland #race #velo #ireland #irlande #irlanda #irland #huntwheels #planetx #cyclisme #quarq #training #carlowroadcyclingclub #deshanlonmemorial #classic

Posted by Balooz on Sunday, 31 March 2019

The A3 and Junior Des Hanlon Race

The junior race was won in fine style by Aaron Wade who broke away clear at the start of the first big hill on their two lap race. He was later joined by Kevin another of his team mates. They won on their own, great ride.

Aaron Wade goes for the early, deciding break
Kevin McCambridge and Aaron

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Tom Sheehan Memorial A3 and Junior Race

On Patrick’s Day the Tom Sheehan Memorial A3 and Junior Race was run over five laps of a 20KM circuit near Carrick on Suir. It is a classic race that has been won by some illustrious riders, including the current top man, Sam Bennett. To get there from Allihies is a 550KM round trip, so we left on Saturday and stayed in Blarney with some friends. Neil deliberately missed a race on Saturday as he wasn’t feeling his best on Friday, deciding instead to save himself for the Tom Sheehan event. This turned out to be a wise choice as he subsequently went on to win the Tom Sheehan race in fine style. A break went away on lap one and it got a two minute lead before anybody seemed to feel the need to chase. The break was eventually caught though and on the start of the last lap Neil and four other riders broke away.

On the last corner coming into the steep uphill finish, Neil powered on and came home with a good few bike lengths for First place. Neil needed fifth place in the race to move up to an A2 race license. Neil now has 19 points from his two races this year. His next race will be with the A1 and A2 riders so it will be longer and faster. A great start to the season.

The first four in the winning break were

  1. Neil Hodges Killarney CC
  2. Alex Sparrow Bandon CC
  3. Bernard Sweeney Killorglin CC
  4. Conor Coleman Panduit Carrick Wheelers

The chase starts to get the leading break
Up the hill to the line

Some reworked photos of the race

Aaron Wade, NRPT Chill Insurance Vitus
Bernard Sweeney – Killorglin CC
Grace Young – Velo Revolution Strata 3
Luis Mota

Neil now has 19 points from his two races this year. His next race will be with the A1 and A2 riders so it will be longer and faster. A great start to the season.

Richie Maes with his own beer….

Tom Sheehan Memorial A3 and Junior Race

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Ras Luimni A3 and Junior Race

Neil started his 2019 season with a second place in the A3 and Junior Ras Luimni race, which starts in the County Limerick village of Caherconlish. The race was organised by Limerick Cycling Club, and held over three laps of a 30KM circuit. The weather conditions were not very nice with plenty of wind and rain. At the end of lap one a break of seven riders had formed including Neil. Half way through the lap Neil and Jason Kenny from UCD had forged on ahead and that is the way it ended with a comfortable 2 minute gap. Jason got the better of Neil at the end of the last lap and came in a good ten seconds ahead of Neil.

Neil at the front of the initial break
Neil at the front of the initial break

So Neil who is now riding for Killarney Cycling Club has 9 points from one race and needs 6 more to move up to an A2 licence. Jason Kenny had already won a race earlier in the season so already moves up to A2.

Ras Luimni A3 and Junior Race

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Charleville two Day Stage race 2018

West Cork had a good showing at the traditional end of season Charleville 2 day stage race.
The main A2/A3 race took place over two days and three stages. On Saturday there was an 80km road race where Neil  was 24 seconds behind the winner, but importantly at the same time as nearly every other rider. On Sunday morning the 6KM time trial was run and Neil was in the top twenty times.

Watch a short video here….

Charleville two Day Stage race 2018


Neil, Jeremy Canty and Tom Shanahan at the end of the race.

Time Trial Stage 2, Photo Sean Rowe
Photo Sean Rowe

Stage three was  a tough climbers circuit of 90KM and Neil went hard on the climbs and ended up in a three man break. They had a 38 second lead at the end and importantly the third place rider Tom Shanahan from Limerick was two seconds slower than Neil which meant that Neil was the winner on General Classification by only one second.

Photo Sean Rowe
Bad Weather, break is set up, photo Sean Rowe
Second place but GC won, photo Sean Rowe

The rider who won the stage was Jeremy Canty from Bantry riding for Bandon Cycling Club.

Joan and Dan Curtin, Tom O’Connor, Neil, Richie Hodges, Cian Leahy and Conor?

In the A4 race Den Bat O’Sullivan was in the winning team for the race, De Ronde Cycling club from Cork city.

De Ronde win the A4 team prize

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