Date: Sunday 25 March 2007
Event: Round 2 K-Capital Cup
Location: Rostrevor
Host club: Banbridge CC
K-Capital at Rostrevor
International Cross Country Mountain Biking came to County Down Riviera on Sunday, Rostrevor to be precise, as Banbridge Cycling Club promoted the second round of the K-Capital Cup. The venue was Rostrevor Forest with the caravan site in Kilbroney Park serving as the main arena. Weather conditions were superb and helped produce a sunshine day to remember the 157 riders of all ages who took part.
The main event was the Elite Mens race which drew entries from Scotland, England, Ireland, Germany and South Africa. The race took place over eight laps of the 3.96km course, which meant the riders had to face the tortuous opening 1km climb eight times. Pre race favourite, Robin Seymour from County Wicklow, had to borrow a bike shortly before the start of the race after his own bike was damaged during practice.
For the opening three laps the large crowd was entertained by a four way scrap for the lead involving Seymour, Dubliner Niall Davies, Conor McConvey from Belfast and German rider Benjamin Sonntag. On lap four Seymour was forced to stop for almost three minutes to fix a broken chain, also loosing a place to English rider James Fraser Moodie. The battle for the lead became a dual when Sonntag had to pit for a wheel on the sixth lap after getting a front wheel puncture.
On the penultimate lap Davis broke clear of McConvey setting out on the final circuit with an advantage of 22 seconds. At the finish this gap had grown to 34 seconds and it was a jubilant Davis who crossed the line to take his first International win, a stark contrast to the opening round where he struggled to even finish.This was a tremendous result for Davis and now boosts his chances of representing Ireland at the Beijing Olympics. For McConvey it was a superb result in what was only his second outing at Senior level. Sonntag was overjoyed with his third place though he had to battle hard on the last lap such was the pace being set by a charging Robin Seymour, only 20 seconds representing the pair at the finish. For Seymour, it was his first defeat in Ireland since 2003, however fourth place was enough to keep him in the lead in the race for the K-Capital Elite Cup. Fraser Moodie was fifth with Scottish rider Gareth Montgomery just getting the better of the amazing Peter Buggle , the old man finishing 14 seconds down on Montgomery.
Ryan Sherlock (MAD) continued to impress in his first season in Elite competition taking eighth place. South African ace John Paul Pearton finished in ninth and admitted he was not used to riding on forest type courses. John Paul found it cold in Rostrevor as the natives bathed in the spring sunshine, in his last race in South Africa two weeks ago, the temperature was 40 degrees.
The Elite Ladies race was won by Dublin’s Beth McCluskey, winner of the opening round in Bray. Runner up was Scottish rider Ruth McGavigan with Belfast’s Ciara McManus taking her best ever International result by finishing third.
Team Worc’s Yvan Sugno took the honours in the Experts event, after he took the lead on the third lap from fellow Worc rider Phil Roche. The Experts set off along with the Masters, a superb sight as they charged up the main straight towards the start of the climb. Dave Barry (IMBRC) took a great second though Team BHB’s Matt Ferguson produced an equally good ride, finishing just 5 seconds down on Barry. The Masters race proved to be a real tussle between Peter O’Farrell (U/A) and Joe McCall (Rocky Mountain). After leading at the end of the first lap McCall had to make way for O’Farrell on the second lap, O’Farrell staying in the lead until the final lap when McCall moved back to the front. McCall took the win with a disappointed O’Farrell in second. Team Worc’s Gordon Lucas was third.
The Vets race saw Apollo rider Aidan McDonald hold off a determined challenge from Robbie Lamont(XMTB) to grab his second win of the series with new Vet Gerry McCabe a close third. Sean Downey repeated his first round success to win the Junior race, the Banbridge rider leading from start to finish. Downey’s fellow Banbridge rider Liam McGreevy overcame the disappointment of retiring from the first round due to injury to finish a good second. Neil McGimpsey (XMTB) was going well in the early stages and inspite of suffering sickness on the final lap he still managed to hold third place.
The Sports Mens race was another close affair with Luke Webber (U/A) just getting the better of Robert Magee(Nomad). Dromara CC’s Gary Gray finished a fine third. The Sports Womens race was dominated by Sadhbh Baxter (West Coast Wheelers) who led from start to finish. Newry based Ann Duff was runner up, Inga Doak (MAD) a close third.
Race promoters Banbridge CC saw their riders dominate much of the Youth action. In the U-8 race Banbridge riders filled the first five places, John Buller winning from Shannon Buller, Richard Baird, Stuart Dunlop and Shenna McKiverigan. In the U-10 event it was another case of Bann domination with James Curry winning from fellow Club members Rcahel Mayne and Joseph Baird. Mark Downey scored again for Banbridge with victory in the U-12 race, his team mate Dan Runciman in second and Dromara’s Zak Hanna in third. Jack Wilson (East Antrim Audi) broke the Bann success as he took a start to finish win in the U-14 class. Matthew Adair just held off fellow Banbridge rider Michael Runciman to take second. XMTB produced their own demolition job on the U-16 class, Jonny Beers winning from William Boyd, Jes Laird and Chris Cameron.
ELITE
1 Niall Davis IMBRC
2 Conor McConvey XMTB
3 Benjamin Sonntag Team Fuji Bikes/Germany
4 Robin Seymour Team Worc
5 James Fraser Moodie Pedal Power
6 Gareth Montgomery Team Enduro/Scotland
7 Peter Buggle Team Worc
8 Ryan Sherlock MAD
9 John Paul Pearton Team Meridia/South Africa
10 James McCluskey Team Worc
11 Dave O’Shea U/A
Lewis Ferguson Team BHB
Simon McConnell MTB Rider
MASTERS CLUB
1 Joe McCall Rocky Mountain
2 Peter O’Farrell U/A
3 Gordon Lucas Team Worc
4 Dave Gill Team Worc
5 Damian Mulchrone Epic
6 Alexandre Mesquitx U/A
7 Niall Quinlan Myhome.ie
8 Martin O’Hagan Newry Wheelers
9 Stuart Galloway Team Worc
10 Andy Wallace Northern CC
11 Robert Crommentuyn MAD
12 Fergal Kilkenny MAD
13 Paul Anderson Banbridge CC
14 Eoin Fitzgerald LMTB
15 Oscar Macananey EPIC
16 Derek Hanna Dromara CC
17 Jon Marsham U/A
18 Gareth Adamson XMTB
19 Jim Laird XMTB
20 Brian Stewart Usher RC
Darragh Maloney MBUL
Danny Hylands East Antrim Audi
EXPERTS CLUB
1 Yvan Sugno Team Worc
2 Dave Barry IMBRC
3 Matt Ferguson Team BHB
4 Conor Campbell Newry Wheelers
5 Oisin Boydell UCD
6 Donncha O’Brien West Coast Wheelers
7 Sean Downey MAD
8 Phil Roche Team Worc
9 Alfie Wallace Epic
10 Luke Manning IMBRC
11 Luke Smaul Epic
12 Luke Ireland Chain Reaction Cycles
Chris Burns U/A
VETS CLUB
1 Aidan McDonald Apollo CT
2 Robert Lamont XMTB
3 Gerry McCabe Cuchulainn
4 Andy Burns Orchard Wheelers
5 Paul McMenamin Specialized/Leisure Lake Bikes
6 William Mulligan Banbridge CC
7 Gary Wilson East Antrim Audi
8 Declan McCabe Cuchulainn
9 Justin May Epic
10 Jon Runciman Banbridge CC
11 Richie Byrne Epic
12 Simon Curry Banbridge CC
13 Steve Nicholson Team Worc
14 Les Walpole IMBRC
15 Eamonn McConvey Newry Wheelers
16 William Forsythe Banbridge CC
17 Maurice Mayne Banbridge CC
18 Derek King Apollo CT
19 Fred McSorley Apollo CT
John O’Reilly Epic
Johnny McCabe Cuchulainn
SPORTS CLUB
1 Luke Webber U/A
2 Robert Magee Nomad
3 Gary Gray Dromara CC
4 Seamus Byrne Cuchulainn
5 Earl McClenaghan Epic
6 Joe Jackman Epic
7 Liam Baxter Newry Wheelers
8 Colum Keane IMBRC
9 Oisin Fitzgerald MAD
10 Ross Galway Dromara CC
11 Cathal McCarthy MBCC
12 Gar Maguire IMBRC
13 Martin Grimley Dromara CC
14 Daniel Kurpisz MAD
15 Stephen Prentice Banbridge CC
16 Dwayne McCreadie North Down
17 Cameron Burns Apollo CT
18 Arkadiusz Gogojewicz MAD
19 Jer Price Epic
20 Mark Cromie MAD
21 Cormac Ahern MAD
22 Conor Graham U/A
23 Vincent Price U/A
24 Niall Clarke Cuchulainn
25 Ronnie Ogilby XMTB
26 Cornelius Duffy IMBRC
27 Nigel McConnell MAD
Matt Blaney U/A
Paul Bell Banbridge CC
JUNIOR CLUB
1 Sean Downey Banbridge CC
2 Liam McGreevy Banbridge CC
3 Neil McGimpsey XMTB
4 Robert McCabe Cuchulainn
5 Andrew Godfrey U/A
6 Stephen Scrivener MAD
Paul O’Brien IMBRC
Graham Boyd XMTB
LADIES ELITE CLUB
1 Beth McCluskey U/A
2 Ruth McGavigan The BicycleWorks .com
3 Ciara McManus XMTB
4 Cait Elliott UCD
Tarja Owens Team Worc
LADIES SPORT CLUB
1 Sadhbh Baxter West Coast Wheelers
2 Ann Duffy Newry Wheelers
3 Inga Doak MAD
4 Judith Maguire MAD
5 Harriet Mayne Banbridge CC
6 Joanne McCallum Banbridge CC
7 Nicola Oldham Banbridge CC
Nathalie Jedda Epic
U-16 CLUB
1 Jonny Beers XMTB
2 William Boyd XMTB
3 Jes Laird XMTB
4 Chris Cameron XMTB
5 Shane Geoghan MAD
6 Matt Quinn Banbridge CC
7 Ciaran Curson MAD
U-14 CLUB
1 Jack Wilson East Antrim Audi
2 Matthew Adair Banbridge CC
3 Michael Runciman Banbridge CC
4 Robert Scanlon U/A
5 Kyle McEwan XMTB
6 William Heslip Banbridge CC
7 Stuart Ballantine XMTB
U-12 CLUB
1 Mark Downey Banbridge CC
2 Dan Runciman Banbridge CC
3 Zak Hanna Dromara CC
4 Andrew McCabe Cuchulainn
5 Aimee Ogilby XMTB
6 Mairead McConville Newry Wheelers
U-10 CLUB
1 James Curry Banbridge CC
2 Rachel Mayne Banbridge CC
3 Joseph Baird Banbridge CC
4 Cain McConvey Newry Wheelers
U-8 CLUB
1 John Buller Banbridge CC
2 Shannon Buller Banbridge CC
3 Richard Baird Banbridge CC
4 Stuart Dunlop Banbridge CC
5 Shenna McKiverigan Banbridge CC
6 Jack Lamont XMTB
7 Scott Hylands East Antrim Audi
8 Fergal McConvey Newry Wheelers
9 Ben Hanna Dromara CC
10 Callum Stewart XMTB
11 Tristan Cameron U/A
12 Rebekah Ogilby XMTB
Report by Andy Potts