Write a commentLast weekend saw the start of the Open Racing cycling calendar with several races both North & South of the border and great results for Newry Wheelers riders.
Newry Wheelers got their racing off to a great start this weekend with an overall win by newly signed Andy Bye in the Travers Engineering Annaclone Road race while Jude Sands put in an impressive performance in the Traders cup in Dundalk on Sunday;
In Annaclone Andy dominated throughout and crossed the line with a lead of 2 minutes. The main 48 mile 6 lap race started with a large field of A3 riders having a 3 minute handicap over the smaller group of pursuing A1 and A2 competitors. With numerous breakaways unfolding throughout the race it all came back together on the penultimate lap. The A1 & A2 group only then caught the main A3 bunch on the last of six laps with 500m to go. The road was quite narrow leading up to the ‘uphill’ finish line it was impossible to get to the front.
Racing was aggressive in the bunch although a breakaway from the A1's and 2's stormed along the bumpy roads steadily eating in to the deficit.
The A4 category four lap race stayed together, however on the penultimate lap a crash brought down most of the bunch including Liam Hutchinson. The group was well split in the last lap as riders rode hard to get back together. Owen Henry of Newry Wheelers took sixth place.
Barry Monaghan and Cathal Grant gave great support during the race.
Newry Wheelers Riders
A2 - Gary Sheils, Jude Sands
A3 - Andrew Bye, Connor Curran, Conor McLoughlin, Andrew Hicks
A4 - Owen Henry, Barry Tinnelly, Kenny Bagnal, Liam Hutchinson, Tommy McCaul
Traders Cup 2015 - Dundalk
Newry Wheelers trio of Jude Sands, Kevin Lynch and Declan Gollogy rode in the annual Traders Cup on Sunday. The race hosted by hosted by Cuchulainn Cycling club consisted of 75k route in very tough weather conditions, wind and rain throughout. The trio rode well through however it was to be Jude’s day with an impressive performance taking 8th place overall and first A2.
