2008 saw positive moves forward for women’s cycling on all levels, thanks to further support from the Women in Sport Initiative, increased training and coaching camps, testing and increased competition. A big effort was put into raising the profile of women’s cycling, in the hope of opening the sport up to more people, resulting in membership to CI more than doubling.

 

A continuation of the Development Programme saw an improvement in the level of racing at home, as we placed a strong emphasis on coaching.

 

On the High Performance Level, following a rollercoaster of a year, where funding was not allocated to our top athletes, the strength of the elite riders came through with Louise Moriarty and Siobhan Dervan putting in top performances overseas.

 

 

Training Camps

 

Throughout the Winter months we held two testing days for women, and two fully coached weekend training camps, which included on the road training, and off the road advice on training principles, bike skills, goal setting and nutrition. The training camps were open to everyone regardless of age or ability, and catered for both Road Riders and Mountain Bikers.

 

Positive Cycle/Beginners into the Sport

 

  • Boot Inn League – the league had 40 women racing, and was won by Heather Boyle (Ravens)
  • Wicklow League – this was used as part of a pilot scheme for races that we are hoping to run around the country next year. 35 women raced in the Wicklow League, and Geraldine Hendricken (Newbridge) was the overall league winner.
  • Promotion – We set up a website in January, which proved to be a useful tool in attracting women to the sport, and retaining interest, while informing new riders of the opportunities available to them. We also had regular reports on races, and had several articles and press releases in various publications promoting our sport.
  • A Positive Cycle – we are in the process of finalising a booklet for beginners in women’s cycling, that we have written as part of an initiative to help women get started in our sport. This booklet will be published soon, and will be part of a new programme of races nationwide for beginners, which we will be rolling out in 2009.  This programme has been supported by Women in Sport.

 

 

Development Programme

 

We ran 3 coaching days during the racing season – covering the following: track accreditation and skills, team-work, sprinting/gears, stage racing, crit racing.

 

This Programme was focused around racing in Belgium, to build experience, and Irish Development Teams selected primarily based on results in key races that were advertised prior to selection.

 

National League

 

The National League is a series of races that the Women’s Commission promote to female riders, as an opportunity to race against other women. Clubs from around the country are approached before the calendar is set, and they agree to host these races.

 

This means that the running and organisation of the races is covered by the host club, entry fees go to the host club, and prize money comes from them. The Women’s Commission promote the races, and our sponsors (Zoo Hair Salon and Velotex) provide the jerseys and overall prize money.

 

There was some confusion regarding the National League races last year, for reasons beyond the control of the Women’s Commission. In 2008 we had an unlucky run of events for a few races – as two of the events were postponed. We made the decision during the year to count only 5 of the 8 races towards the overall ranking, not 6 as in previous years. Going forward we plan to hold 6-7 National League races, with 5 counting. (previously we ran 8 with 6 counting)

 

Fiona Meade (St. Finbarr’s) was the winner of the 2008 Zoo Hair Salon and Velotex National League, following a superb showing in the 5 races, with three wins, a second and a fourth place. This was a great season for Fiona in her second cycling season.

 

SENIORS

 

  • Belgium Racing – We have been encouraging the development riders to race in Belgium to improve their skills and speed. The races are mainly Kermesses, which are usually circuits of small towns, which require good change of speed and cornering skills. Riders learn to race in a bunch of about 70-100 women.  Women travelled over on three occasions, in May, June and August, staying in the Sean Kelly House. On one occasion the women raced as a Leinster Team. The race experience gained in Belgium is invaluable and benefited the riders who subsequently raced on Irish Development Teams in Usqert and Paderborn.
  • Usqert – This was a 2 day, 3 stage race in North Holland in early August. A team of 4 (Kate Rudd, Heather Wilson, Heather Boyle and Sarah Piner) travelled, with Jenny McCauley as manager. The first stage was a 128km road race, which was fast on the flat roads. The second stage was the eventual race decider, a 9km TT and the Third Stage was a 60km Crit through the town. Heather Wilson eventually finished in 21st position (out of over 100 starters) and Kate Rudd came 4th in the Crit – coming second in one of the primes.
  • Paderborn – This was a 3 day, 3 stage race in Germany at the end of August. A team of 4 Seniors raced (Kate Rudd, Fran Meehan, Roisin Kennedy and Heather Boyle) with Alex Dobbs as manager. The first stage was a crit, with Kate coming home in 6th place (out of about 50 starters). The second stage was loops of a 4.5km circuit, with Kate and Heather coming home in the second group. And the final stage was a tougher 8km loop – in which the groups split up completely, and many pulled out, Heather was 16th and Fran 19th.

 

Both teams were treated very well by the host families, who went out of their way to ensure the riders were fed well, and comfortable during their stay.

 

JUNIORS AND UNDERAGE

 

  • National Championships – included junior national titles for the first time. Elaine Cawley won both the Road and TT titles, with Jessica Laird and Rachael Withers also racing.
  • Belgium Racing – in August the 3 Juniors went to Belgium for the weekend – this was a great intro to the overseas scene for the Juniors, and they handled themselves well.
  • Paderborn – A team of 3 Junior girls raced (Elaine Cawley, Rachael Withers and Jessica Laird) with Alex as the team manager. Underage rider Ciara Mulholland also raced. The Juniors put in good performances, although Elaine was involved in a crash on the first day. Ciara rode extremely well in her first International races, coming second on both days in a highly contested event – which was won (on both days) by their National Champion.

 

 

By sending the Junior and Senior teams to these two events we saw the necessity for team members to have exposure to racing in Belgium prior to racing on an Irish Development Team, so we will be re-structuring our Development Programme based on what we have learnt, and will talk about this a little bit later.

 

Rás na mBan

 

This year Rás na mBan moved to Sneem, Co. Kerry, thanks to the sponsorship of Sneem Hotel, Irish Sports Council, Women in Sport, Leinster. We re-introduced the TT on the Saturday, based on the feedback of a survey we conducted on our website earlier this year. Louise Moriarty was the winner of the event, with dominating performances on all the stages. The overall performance of domestic riders was very good with 6 of the top 10 riders being Irish based.

 

Moving Ladies

 

Kate Rudd and Heather Wilson guested on this Dutch based racing team, this season. They both god some great results, with Kate getting many top 10 performances in crit racing. Both were grateful of the support of the Moving Ladies, as racing with them enabled them to increase their exposure to good quality competition.

 

National Records

 

  • Heather Wilson – 25mile – 56min 05sec
  • Avril Swan – 50mile – 1hour 53min 32sec
  • Joanna and Catherine – 1km – 1min 16.208sec
  • Joanna and Catherine – 3km – 3min 50.515sec
  • Louise Moriarty – 3km 3min 55.853sec

 

Elite Women

 

This was a mixed season for the elite women – which fortunately finished on a high, with Siobhan coming home in 24th place in the World Championship Road Race. We have two women racing on Professional Teams – Siobhan Dervan races with Fenixs and Louise Moriarty with Swift Racing.

 

 

  • Siobhan Dervan had a fantastic season of racing with her new team – Italian based Fenixs. She got top results in the Women’s Giro, the Route de France Feminine and Tour de l’Aude, to name a few. The highlight of Siobhan’s year was her 24th place in the World Championships – just 1min 47 behind the winner, Nicole Cook, who is also the Olympic Champion.
  • Louise Moriarty races for UCD/Swift Racing and spent most of the Winter racing on the track – the points race is her key event. Louise then turned to racing in UCI events, getting good results in the Tour of Montreal in Canada, and the Tour de Bretagne
  • World Championship Team – we had a team of 4 women racing in the World Championships this year, with manager Richie McCauley. It was great to have a team there gaining experience at this level. Following the feedback from the Worlds it is evident that there is the need for a High Performance Programme to be in place to ensure the best preparation for the riders racing at the Worlds.

 

Earlier this season when the Grants from the ISC were announced, none of our riders qualified due to flaws in the Carding Criteria. This was challenged, and hopefully going forward there will be a member of the Women’s Commission on the panel that sets the Carding Criteria. There is also a representative (Orla Hendron) on the selection criteria panel. Orla was also recently co-opted onto the Board of Cycling Ireland.

 

 

 

Paralympics

 

Catherine Walsh and Joanna Hickey raced in the Paralympic Games in Beijing in September. This was a great season for them, as they broke many Irish Records throughout the season, and picked up several medals. Joanna Hickey had the added challenge of having to recover from a broken shoulder in June, luckily she bounced back to form quickly.

 

 

 

The Women’s Commission