The limit group consisted of Ciara Long, Breda McNally, Jackie McNally, Eileen O’Sullivan, Caroline Conway, Siobhan Moore, Lorraine Flanagan, Mary Crosbie and Rachel Mellor. This group split from the start line. Many of the ladies who had taken it easy in the first race were keen to race harder this week. They were caught by the semi scratch, Caroline Martinez, Kathleen Gill and Charlotte Mac Donald, towards the end of the first lap.

The scratch group consisted of Roisin Kennedy , Geraldine Gill, Aideen Collard, Laura Banfield, Catherine Devitt , Sandra Telford, Hazel Hall, Grace McNally and Sandra Fitzgerald.

Scratch set off working well together to catch the other groups. But after a couple of minutes a few attacks went from Sandra Fitzgerald, Geraldine Gill and Roisin Kennedy but all were drawn back by the bunch including promising rider Catherine Devitt.

Grace McNally and Hazel Hall have shown they clearly have what it takes to compete in the scratch group, working relentlessly to catch the groups ahead. Both have shown huge improvements this year.

Close to 3km out from the finish Scratch, SS and limit came together with some strong riders from SS and Limit holding their own among some of the more experienced riders.

After catching all the groups, Kathleen Gill launched an attack on one of the last corners, both Sandra Fitzgerald and Catherine Devitt responded. With the finish line fast approaching, Kathleen was caught and it made for an exciting uphill group sprint finish with Sandra Fitzgerald taking the bunch win, followed by Geraldine Gill who took a savage win in Kilmessan on Sunday at the last of the Womens National League Races.

The race ended in a hotly contested bunch sprint with Sandra Fitzgerald taking the win followed closely by Geraldine Gill, Catherine Devitt and Aideen Collard. Another impressive performance by Orwell rider Charlotte McDonald who is already producing great results in her first racing season! She just nabbed 5th spot off fellow teammate Sandra Telford.

1. Sandra Fitzgerald
2. Geraldine Gill
3. Catherine Devitt
4. Aideen Collard
5. Charlotte MacDonald
6. Sandra Telford

Well done to all the ladies who gave racing a go for the first time during these 2 races. Thanks to everyone who generously helped out on the night, to Grace for the sandwiches, Hazel for the buns and Caroline for the crepes.

Report byt Bernie McNally

The limit group consisted of Eileen O’Sullivan, Nikki Walsh, Vanessa Fenton, Teresa Murphy, Rachel Mellor, Lorraine Flanagan, Mary Crosbie, Marie Lord, Fiona Gilsenan, Breda McNally and Jackie McNally. Vanessa rode away from the bunch at the start line, with Breda and Rachel not too far behind. As this group split at the start line, Marytn Irvine got the remainder of the bunch working together. For many of these ladies, this was their first race and they all did an incredible job!

Group 2 started off with 6 riders; Hazel Hall, Caroline Martinez, Grace McNally, Sandra Telford, Charlotte Mac Donald and Katherine Gill. With the encouragement and advice from their mentor, Stephen Barrett, the group worked extremely hard to keep scratch at bay. Going into the second lap, 5 riders remained and kept riding until there were 4. Despite their efforts they were unable to catch Vanessa Fenton who time-trialled to victory. The sprint for second place opened up with Hazel Hall leading the group, however, Sandra Telford kicked hard and edged out Grace McNally to take second place with Charlotte MacDonald and Hazel Hall taking 4^th and 5^th. Breda McNally was caught in the final kilometre and took 6^thplace despite slipping a chain during the race.

Scratch consisted of Aideen Collard, Catherine Devitt, Roisin Kennedy, Laura Banfield and Sandra Fitzgerald. Despite these ladies working together, they narrowly missed catching group two and battled it out for the remaining places.

Thanks to; all the marshals without whom we would be lost, Joe McNally for doing time keeper, our mentors and podium boys; Stephen and Martyn,  Grace for the sandwiches and Hazel for the fab buns! A special thanks to all the Swords members who generously gave their time to help out and McNally Joinery for the prizes.

Hope to see you all there on Tues 24th for the next race!

Bernie McNally

Banfield Laura Swords CC

Beirne Heather Navan CC

Boyle Rita Slaney CC

Mc Evoy Orla Bray CC

Manager Coleen Foley Swords CC

It’s been a challenging process for all squad riders who have worked to training and racing programmes geared towards getting them in best condition for Ras Na Mban. There have been a number of specific training sessions with Gillian Mc Darby who has done sterling coaching work with the squad during races and training. These training sessions will continue right up to Ras Na Mban.

While we have selected these riders there are other squad riders who have worked very hard and also made progress and we look forward to these riders making further progress in the future. Fiona Guihen the Navan CC junior who was showing excellent improvements was unfortunate to sustain an injury in the last few weeks and unfortunately can not race Ras Na Mban this year, we wish fiona a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing her making further progress in the future.

We would like to say a big thank you to all squad riders who have very worked hard during the process and to Leinster Cycling commission for their support.

Coleen Gillian Paddy Valerie

Orla Hendron (Orwell) attacked from the drop of the flag and the two mountainbikers Mel Spath (Cycleways) and Cait Elliott (UCD) went with her, a dangerous trio, but on the fast flat circuit around Kilmessan it was difficult for a breakaway to establish itself, and so it proved for the first few laps, despite lots of kicks from riders trying to get away – this initial move was countered by Ciara Kinch (Orwell).

Sarah Piner (Lakeside Wheelers) lying 2^nd overall in the league,attacked numerous times as she had overall victory in her sights, as did Jenny McCauley (Bray Wheelers) lying in 3^rd overall, but leader Wendy Bates (Lakeside Wheelers) did a sterling job in defending her lead and pulling back any danger women.

Sandra Fitzgerald (Leinster), going from strength to strength, put in a good attack on the 3^rd lap, as did Mary Brennan (Castlebar) on the last lap, but no-one was breaking the elastic until Geraldine Gill jumped with a lap to go, and as the overall contenders marked one another Geraldine put the head down and stomped home to take what was essentially a home win, to cross the line with about 40seconds to spare.

Wendy Bates had enough left in the tank to win the bunch sprint for 2nd, despite all her work defending her position, consolidating her victory in the NPS league. Piner took 3^rd and McCauley 4^th, to hold their 2^nd and 3^rd positions in the overall league. Gillian McDarby (Usher) was 5^th home and Orla Hendron 6^th, holding her 6^th place in the league.

Geraldines victory jumped her up to 4^th in the league, just edging out Aideen Collard who came 5^th in the league.

Many thanks to Noel Clarke of Navan Avonmore CC for hosting the last of our NPS races, and to Orla Hendron for her work in organising the league and presentation. Without our sponsors we would not have a league so big shout-out to Justin Magee of Louis Garneau, and Zoo Hair Salon, for their long running support of womens racing. Finally, thanks to Kilcullen CC for the Ann Behan trophy, running since 2004.

We had a very close and competitive league this year, and it’s great to see the number of women racing growing so much year on year, long may it continue! Let’s hope next year we’ll see another step forward with numbers continuing to increase – it’s great to see a bunch in the races and the standard is increasing all the time. Special mention to the Leinster squad who had a great race today and are blossoming under the guidance of coach Paddy Doran, and helped by Gillian McDarby and Colleen Foley.

Many thanks to Brendan Culleton (Cripsphotos.com) for capturing all the action from the womens race today, a small selection here but see his site for a full album, also can be seen on facebook.

More photos taken by Peter Purfield can be found on his site irishcycling.com

full table of league results to follow..

Hotel Proprietor and Ras na mBan race sponsor Louis Moriarty may have provided us with comfortable modern apartments with every amenity, a fabulous choice of breakfast and most excellent coffee in a silver coffee pot, but he could not hold off the rain on saturday morning when the girls headed out from Sneem Hotel on their first training spin of the weekend, when they recce’d the first and second stage of the Ras na mBan. Luckily it dried up very quickly and the girls soon got to grips with the first mountain of the day, the famous Molls Gap, which most agreed that with its good surface and gentler than expected gradient was not such a fearsome monster after all. All riders managed to restrain themselves from succumbing to the temptations of the conveniently placed Avoca handWeavers coffeeshop at the top of the climb, and regained their breath on the undulating road back towards Sneem.

A slight detour took in the climb used on the lap of Stage 2, before heading back to a welcome lunch and as an extra treat, Louis surprised us with a round of cakes – I think he’s trying to fatten us up!

After lunch, ex-pro Paul Griffin shared his vast store of knowledge when he gave advice on training and stage racing and answered all the varied questions put to him by beginners and experienced riders alike. The evening was free to spend how we wished and some took advantage of the beautiful surroundings and borrowed the kayaks available to hotel guests and paddled out on the inlet, around to the village for a coffee stop and back in time for dinner!

Sunday was the type of day that Bord Failte waits all year for so they can shoot their ads for The Heathers to sing to – incredible views of wild irish hills dropping into azure seas with rocky outcropping islands – simply magnificent. As on day one, the girls split into 2 groups, with the less experienced riders being drilled on group riding, pacing and gearing by coach Gillian McDarby, and coach Paul Griffin leading the more experienced riders with a faster paced spin. Today the route was that of Stage 3 of the Ras, completing the recce of the entire race route.

The incredible scenery was a welcome distraction on the slope of coomakiste, on which all groups rode hard and got a taste of how it might feel on race day. The groups kept up a strong tempo on the flatter roads after Waterville before tackling coomakiste from the opposite direction-all agreed it was a harder climb from this side, but a much more fun descent! Before long we were back eating sambos in Sneem Hotel again before reluctantly heading home – I think we all wanted to spend more time in this beautiful corner of Kerry, and are looking forward to returning in 4 weeks for the Ras na mBan!

Many thanks to Louis Moriarty of Sneem Hotel for his hospitality and making us feel so welcome, to Valerie Considine for her work in organising the training weekend and to coaches Gillian McDarby and Paul Griffin for all their advice and help. Thanks of course to all the women who came training for the weekend, it was wonderful to see some new faces and hopefully all are encouraged to enter Ras na mBan!

Selection criteria for membership of the Women’s Elite Team Pursuit Track Squad 2010-2011

The criteria below will be used for selecting 5 riders for membership of the  2010-2011 Elite Women’s Team Pursuit Track Squad:

Riders must score 70 or over to be considered:

The selection panel will score each rider and the final decision will be the Performance Director’s.

It is envisaged that best 6 riders will be selected. The track squad for 2010/2011 will be announced by 20^th August 2010.

Once on the squad, any member will be eligible to race in any event deemed suitable by the High performance Team. Further selection for Major Championships will be released after the squad has been announced. Minimum standards must be met to compete in Major championships. Squad members will be required to meet the required standards outlined above on an ongoing basis to remain on the squad. New members will be considered when they have achieved standards that are equal to or better than existing squad members. Squad members must make themselves available for regular testing. Cycling Ireland reserve the right to change the size of the squad.

Orla set the 10TT record at 22min 49 sec on the 18th June, and Avril set the 100TT at 4hrs 01min 01sec. This is a monumental mark in women’s cycling, as there has been a campaign to get women’s veteran records acknowledged. Well done to you both – super times!

Tuesday nights are very quiet now since the end of the Orwell Ladies Criterium League and the Wicklow Women’s League.  In order to fill the gap left by the great racing and to continue improving the level of fitness Scott McDonald of the Winning Solutions Cycling Training Centre is running a women’s only spin class every Tuesday up to the Rás na mBan.  That’s 10 weeks in total, split into two blocks of 5 weeks each. Booking is a must!

These are specific classes which include all aspects of race fitness, and as they are indoors everyone can go at their own level without any fear of getting dropped.  Facilities at the Cycling Training Centre include state of the art cycleops indoor training bikes, 50inch plasma screen using race footage for motivation and tactical advice, and comfortable changing rooms and showers.  We’ll also provide free tea and coffee in keeping with the tradition of the league.

There is ample free parking at the centre and further details and directions can be found on his website: http://www.winningsolutions.ie

Cait on her way to 3rd spot

Well done on the great performances by our mountainbikers Mel Spath (Cycleways) and Cait Elliott (WXC MTB Team UK) taking 2nd and 3rd spot in Round 4 of the British XC Series race at the weekend.  Read on for Cait’s report on the race, also see report on Britsh Cycling.

Dalby NPS report by Cait Elliott

Mel and I were over in the UK on Saturday for the 4th round of the British NPS series on the world cup course in Dalby Forest. We set off, charging across the grass to get in to the first singletrack – I was 6^th or 7^th at that stage and had to get around a big loop before a passing opportunity. As soon as possible I got up to 3^rd behind Mel Spath and New Zealander Rosara Joseph. As we hit a fireroad Lee Craigie came flying past and I spent the rest of the first lap following her wheel. The course was relentless, no chance for a break at all, you’re working hard all the way through be it climbing, descending or flat. Although following Lee, I was keeping an eye of Mel Spath who wasn’t far ahead of us, and hoped that we’d be able to keep her in reach.

Looping around the grass field at the end of the lap, I was surprised when Lee went left, I was sure the course went right. I began to follow but realised just in time that she’d taken a wrong turn.  I veered back on track and put my head down to get as much of a gap as possible. The next couple of laps I concentrated on making the gap bigger, and by lap three I was sure I was clear. Although it was really hard, especially in the sun, I was having a great time. The course is so much fun and really comes alive in a race. Lots of big berms, nice singletrack and rocky, steep descents that seemed to get faster each lap with the adrenaline pumping.

Next target – Mel, familiar feeling!  I knew she was about a minute ahead at the start of the lap, though the nature of the course meant she was out of sight a lot of the time. On each lap I had her within sight as we went up one of the nasty climbs, but she’d disappear again on the flatter, more draggy 2nd half of the course. By the last lap I was pretty knackered and had to force myself to keep pushing on, but into that climb for the last time I realised I’d gained some time, Mel was less than 30 seconds ahead. That spurred me on to ignore the pain and dig deep, but I couldn’t quite find enough to get back up to her.

Results are here:

http://www.timelaps.co.uk/assets/uploads/EventReport.aspx?eventID=134Dalby03/07/2010

Many Thanks to Cait for the report and the photos!

Rita Boyle wins NPS Rd 5

On a windswept rolly course which tested the mettle of all racers today, it was Rita Boyle who blew away the opposition with an incredible display of strength when she got away halfway round the first lap and held a gap which hovered around the minute mark for much of the race.  Quick results below, full report later..

Thanks to Brendan Culleton who made the journey down to take some great photos, you can find his photos on his facebook album.

1 Rita Boyle (Slaney CC)

2 Jenny McCauley (Bray Wheelers)

3 Wendy Bates (Lakeside Wheelers)

4 Sarah Piner (Lakeside Wheelers)

5 Joanna Hickey (Usher)

6 Geraldine Gill (Bohermeen)

7 Orla Hendron (Orwell)

Leader Board

Round 5:

1 Naoise Sheridan (Orwell) U12

2 Rachel Kaye-Mellor (Orwell) U14

3 Eileen O’Sullivan (Sorrento)

4 Sinead Cailleau (South Dublin CC) Jnr

5 Caoimhe Ivory U16

6 Deirdre Haverty

7 Leah Dempsey (Orwell)

8 Fiona Duggan (Bray)

9 Jenny McCauley (Bray)

10 Joanne O’Shea (Sorrento)

11 Sadie Gleeson (Sorrento)

12 Orla Hendron (Orwell)

13 Eithne ni Chinneide (Bray)

14 Wendy Barry (Orwell)

15 Charlotte McDonald (Orwell)

16 Sandra Telford (Orwell)

17 Fionnuala ni Bhradaigh (Bray)

18 Anne Dalton (Orwell)

19 Ailbhe Ivory (Bray)

20 Aoife Sheridan (Orwell) U16

21 Carmel Buckley (Lakeside Wheelers)

22 Liz Ward

23 Fiona Madden (South Dublin CC)

FINAL OVERALL STANDINGS

1st  U12 Naoise Sheridan

1st U14 Rachel Kaye-Mellor

1st U16 Caoimhe Ivory

2nd U16 Aoife Sheridan

!st Junior Ashling Fitzpatrick

2nd Junior Sinead Cailleau

SENIORS

1 Eileen O Sullivan (Sorrento)       33 points

2 Joanne O’Shea (Sorrento)             29

2 Wendy Barry (Orwell)                   28

4 Fionnuala ni Bhradagh (Bray)   25

5 Mary Dawson (Bray)                      25

6 Charlotte McDonald (Orwell)      22

race report from Brian Nugent

The Irish Elite Women’s team finished the final 2 road stages of the UCI 2.2 Rabo Ster Eilanden 3-Day in very windy conditions. The wind caused havoc along the twisting lanes resulting in many crashes and spilts in the bunch affecting some of the Irish riders on both days. On Friday evening Siobhan Horgan put in a strong ride to finish in  83^rd position at 2min35min behind the winning break. Jennifer O Reilly, Kate Rudd, Heather Wilson and Michelle Geoghegan all came in the next group at 7min 42secs with Caroline Ryan arriving in the next group.

Cervelo Test teams Kirsten Wild again won the stage, this time in a sprint from her team mate Charlotte Becker to retain her overall lead.

On Saturday morning the race continued with a gruelling 135km stage again around the coast of Holland in driving wind and rain. Heather Wilson and Jennifer O’Reilly performed well to finish in the main bunch. Siobhan Horgan was unlucky to puncture at a crucial moment and ended up in large group containing the remaining Irish girls that were pulled out of the race on the finishing circuit.

The stage was won by Janneke Kanis of the Nederland Bloeit team with Kirsten Wild of the Cervelo Test team holding onto her overall lead. Jennifer O’Reilly and Heather Wilson finished 90^th and 92^nd overall respectively. Michelle Geoghegan of Movingladies finished in 99^th position.

The Irish contingent all gained valuable racing experience in the large fields with fast average speeds.

Irish International Michelle Geoghan, riding on the dutch Moving ladies team finished 158^th in  a time of 11.01. Cervelo Test teams Kirsten Wild won the stage in a time of 9.03, with her team mates Regina Bruins and Iris Slappendel finishing 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.  Marianne Vos multiple World and Olympic champion finished 7^th in  9.24 one place ahead of British World track champion Lizzy Armistead.

Tomorrow the race continues with a 115km stage around the coast of Holland, promising to provide hard racing in the windy coastal region. The conditions will test the Irish girls who are all members of the Elite Women’s exciting new high performance programme.

Photos from the TT can be found at the following links…

Caroline Ryan – HERE

Jennifer O Reilly – HERE

Siobhan Dervan/Horgan – HERE

Heather Wilson – HERE

Kate Rudd – HERE

Hazel Hall is part of a three person attempt to cycle the 32 counties in a week – she is taking on the North Route. Read the full report HERE

Ashling wins Rd3, photo Brendan Culleton

The future is looking bright for womens cycling with up and coming junior Ashling Fitzpatrick (Slipstream) winning the third round of the Wicklow League.   Ashling and  second placed Joanne O’Shea (Sorrento) rode strongly together throughout the race with Ashling getting away at the end to take the win just 13secs clear of Joanne.  Scratch rider Rita  Boyle(Slaney CC), who looked comfortable throughout, got 3rd after attacking her group on the last lap up the hill to get a gap and hold off the chasers Jenny McCauley, Siobhan Duggan and Mary Dawson(all Bray).

The flying U14  Rachel Kaye-Mellor(Orwell) took 7th place ahead of another promising junior, Sinead Cailleau (South Dublin CC) who had a great ride tonight despite a very hard race on Sunday when she rode with the senior women in the National Points League in Navan.  Another rider for the future, U16 Caoimhe Ivory (Bray) was 9th, with Eithne Dalby (Bray) hard on her heels for 10th.

Thanks to the marshals from Bray Wheelers and Sorrento for coming down to help out, and to all the riders who came out to race – it was a beautiful evening for it, sunny and warm with no breeze to slow us down, as evidenced by the very fast times tonight!  Many thanks to Brendan Culleton for coming out to take photos of the event(click on Ladies Wicklow League 2010),also on facebook here, we will miss you next week Brendan!  And very big thanks to Gillian, Tess and Eithne for helping me out with their delicious homemade cakes and biscuits, very popular tonight, not a crumb left! Always a good sign;-)

Two more rounds to go girls, remember best 4 of 5 races count towards the overall.  Results from tonight below, I will get the overall points so far up later in the week.  Bad night for mechanicals and bad luck for a couple of riders, hope all gets sorted out for next time.

1    Ashling Fitzpatrick (Slipstream)      40:27

2   Joanne O’Shea  (Sorrento)                    @13secs

3   Rita Boyle (Slaney CC)                            @32secs

4   Jenny McCauley (Bray)                         @37secs

5   Siobhan Duggan (Bray)                           @38secs

6   Mary Dawson (Bray)                                @39secs

7   Rachel Mellor (Orwell)                            @54secs

8   Sinead Cailleau (SDCC)                              @1:10

9   Caoimhe Ivory (Bray)                               @1:26

10 Eithne Dalby (Bray)                                   @1:28

11 Liz Ward                                                          @1:33

12 Naoise Sheridan (Orwell)                         @1:43

13 Wendy Barry (Orwell)                                @2:29

14 Sadie Gleeson (Sorrento)                          @2:47

15 Deb Meghen (Bray)                                      @2:49

16 Mary Brady                                                     @2:53

17 Eileen O’Sullivan (Sorrento)                     @3:39

18 Orla McEvoy (Bray)                                      @3:58

19 Leah Dempsey (Orwell)                               @4:03

20 Aoife Sheridan (Orwell)                              @4:30

21 Fionnuala Ni Bhradaigh (Bray)                @8:08

22 Anne Ford -1 lap

Gillian McDarby dnf

Orla Hendron dnf

Siobhan Keogh dnf

Congrats to these talented athletes, we hope to have a report from Fran and Catherine  soon to hear what it’s like to have a Worldcup medal!