Chris Troy (Castlebar CC ) took his biggest road win of the season at the Mayo County Road Racing Championship held on a course based out of Cong but raced in the foothills of Joyce country. Cunga CC promoted the event and was well attended by most of the Mayo clubs. Troy, known more for his time trailing skills, used this discipline to forge a gap on the peloton, an early attack into a biting headwind looked doomed until strong man Richard Meaney Westport Covey CC jumped across.
Western Lakes CC who missed the move drove the bunch behind to try to keep the gap respectable and going out on to the last lap of 28k the gap was a mere 10 seconds. With many categories championship medals up for grabs, this was a race within a race with all watching their own category, this allowed veteran Troy and A3 rider Meaney some breathing space and they gradually pulled out a gap.
A strong move by Karl Benson jr (Castlebar CC ) and Western Lakes CC duo Padraic Hughes and Janis Blivous looked dangerous when they opened up a 30 second advantage on the bunch. Young junior Stephen Murphy (Cunga CC ) tried hard to close the gap as Benson was in his category, and with 15k to go the gap was back at 10 seconds with Troy and Meaney out of sight.
A lot of frantic attacks ended up with the bunch splitting and regrouping while up front a long sprint by Chris Troy (Castlebar CC ) secured him the championship cup and Meaney took a spirited second place. In the final few kms the bunch came back together with Padraig Marrey (Western Lakes CC ) leading out the sprint for his team-mates who were going for third place, but Castlebar duo David Brennan and Karl Benson showed a clean pair of heels to everyone else making it a clear cut team win for Castlebar CC.
Brian O’Loughlin chairman of the Mayo cycling committee thanked all the clubs for their participation and thanked the Order of Malta and the Garda for their help keeping the events safe and all the helpers throughout the year who give their time for the sport.
Brennan takes overall title
David Brennan who started the season injured came through strongly in the closing rounds to win the league outright, consistency was the key, by racing hard in all of the eight rounds spread around the county. Brennan scored points in all bar one round showing super concentration and wily tactics. The league comprises 16 time trials, six road races with some of them handicapped, and finishes with a 10k hill climb, to win the winner has to be a complete all rounder while making the best use of his/her club to help secure points.
This year the league had unprecedented numbers racing with fields averaging 55 riders and with more than 130 riders taking part in one or more rounds.
