Irish national MTB championships

Kilruddery Estate, Bray, September 23

Seymour, Owens retain national titles

By Shane Stokes*

Mountain bike riders Robin Seymour and Tarja Owens today further extended their remarkable winning sequences in national cross-country championship titles in an atmospheric, action-filled day of racing at the picturesque Kilruddery Estate near Bray. Owens shrugged off the disappointment of missing last weekend's world championships through illness to easily take her seventh consecutive title, while fellow Olympian Robin Seymour took his tally to eight straight victories.

Of the two races, the senior men's competition was the greater spectacle, with visiting English rider Liam Killeen and Seymour tussling throughout the two-hour contest. A focused Seymour was first out of the blocks, opening up a slight lead at the end of the first lap, but last year's European junior champion Killeen fought back as the rest of the field faded out of contention.

With two laps remaining a determined Seymour made a big effort to go clear but as his strained style suggested, he was starting to run out of steam. Killeen made his move one lap later, opening up a slight lead and pedaling smoothly clear on the flat and uphill sections. He finally crossed the line 47 seconds clear of a disappointed Seymour, but while the latter lost out on the win he had the consolation of beating the next Irish rider home by over 8 minutes and thus taking his eighth national title.

"It was good to get a good bit of competition today, I think it was 1994 since I was pushed so hard', he said afterwards. "I think Liam was a fair bit stronger -- I was taking a bit of time out of him on the technical sections but he was closing me down after that. Then on the final two laps I started to cramp and was struggling to hold his wheel."

Killeen was clearly pleased with his win and the 20 world ranking points he netted, praising both the course and the technical ability of Seymour. "It was a great course, it makes a change from the usual as it was so technical and the laps were so short. I knew that if Robin had a hand in designing it, it was sure to be technical. On sections like that I was losing a bit of ground to him but was able to close up afterwards, and then with a lap to go I got clear."

The 19 year old, who was an excellent 10th in the Napa world cup earlier this year, is hoping to turn professional next season.

Tarja Owens was equally pleased with her win, especially as she is only now starting to get over the gastroenteritis which ruled her out of last week's world championships. "I was pretty worried about today's race," she admitted. "I haven't been able to eat properly all weak as my stomach still isn't right and was only able to have a bit of pasta last night. My back was also quite sore during the race [she injured it with a heavy fall during the women's Tour of Italy] but I got a good gap on the first lap and was then able to ease back slightly. It is great that it all worked out okay -- I was worried that either my back or stomach could stop me today but fortunately I felt quite good."

Owens is likely to return to ride for the Michela Fanini team again next year, but like Seymour, is looking forward to a rest after a hectic season.

Meanwhile, dominant junior Glen Kinning went one place better than last year' silver medal with a dominant victory today. The XMTB rider forged clear in the early stages of the 5-lap race and finished over 8 minutes ahead of Johnny Reid. Knud Jensen was first veteran while sons Thomas and Chris took gold in the under 16 and under 12 races. Darren Quille took the under 14 title, Peter McConville the masters and Joules Dormer ran out the victor in the Sport race.

*Shane Stokes is a correspondent for the Irish Times (www.ireland.com) and Irishcycling.com

Results

Senior Elite

1 Liam Killeen (Y2K)           1.48.13
2 R. Seymour (Team WORC)          0.47
3 A. Landsley (Helly Hansen)      6.47
4 P. Cooper (Blue Sky Cycles) 
5 D. Travers (Banbridge CC) 
6 J. Mason (unattached) 
7 A. McDonald (Apollo CC) 
8 S. Loughlan (unattached) 
 
Women 
 
1 Tarja Owens (Michela Fanini) 
One lap behind:
2 Gillian Darby (IMBRC)
3 J. Vidal (Killarney CC) 
 
Masters 
 
1 Peter McConville (Newry Wheelers) 
2 J. Doris (Sorrento CC) 
3 R. Lamont (XMTB) 
 
Veterans 
 
1 Knud Jensen (Sorrento CC) 
2 A. Ryan (Sorrento CC) 
3 J. Synott (IMBRC) 
 
Junior 
 
1 Glen Kinning (XMTB) 
2 J. Reid (XMTB) 
3 P. Roche (Cycleways) 
4 M. McCutcheon (Cycle Ways) 
5 R. O'Shaughnessy (Cuchullain CC) 
 
Sport 
 
1 Joules Dormer (unattached) 
2 B. Joyce (unattached) 
3 P. Gilsenan (unattached) 
 
Under 12 
 
1 Chris Jensen (IMBRC) 
2 L. McTiernan (Sligo CC) 
3 G. Boyd (XMTB) 
 
Under 14 
 
1 Darren Quille (Newbridge CC) 
2 D. Malone (Garda CC) 
3 C. Bermingham (IMBRC) 
 
Under 16 
 
1 Thomas Jensen (Sorrento CC) 
2 G. Weston (IMBRC) 
3 M. Mulvena (XMTB) 

Previous results from Ireland