CRUNCH time comes for Cycling Ireland National Road Series leaders this Saturday, as the John Beggs Memorial Road Race in Banbridge, Northern Ireland signals a new phase of the elite road racing league.
The popular round, run by Banbridge CC, features as the third-last contest in the National Road Series, where the top three in the league have now established decent foundations in their positions.
With double points on offer for the finale at the Red Hand Trophy, back in Northern Ireland on Saturday, September 15, there could yet be upsets, but Men’s second Jamie Blanchfield feels it is now that those in podium position really become protected riders.
He said: “In the first few rounds there wasn’t much of a hierarchy, the racing was more open and aggressive. Now as we get to the final rounds, it will all depend on how the race is raced.
“Will it still be as open as it was in the last few rounds, or will there be more team work to help the riders already towards the top of the table?”
The Panduit Carrick Wheelers rider will have Cathal Purcell for company on Saturday, and expects Matthew Sparrow as a potential ally too. Based in County Waterford, Blanchfield trains with National Road Series leader Conor Hennebry, who is also set to race - and with strong support from his Viner-Caremark-Pactimo team mates.
Dublin triathlete Aine Donegan took the lead of the Women’s National Road Series table after finishing a gutsy second to defending champion Eve McCrystal at the Mullingar GP last month. The pair have since joined forces with fellow series leader Katharine Smyth to race for Ireland at the Kreiz Breizh Elites in France.
Last week, McCrystal also piloted visual-impaired rider Katie-George Dunlevy to defend their Para-cycling Road World Championship titles in the Women’s B Tandem Road Race and the Time Trial. The rainbow jerseys adding to the Irish National Road Race Champion’s jersey she won in June.
Donegan, Smyth, and McCrystal will be in Saturday’s field, along with improving Smugglers CC rider Isobel Oakes, who finished second on General Classification in the Women’s SPAR Tour of Omagh two weeks ago.
Irish international Lauren Creamer - another to race Kreiz Breizh Elites - adds spice to the mix, as a rare competitor in Ireland outside National Championships. The Brotherton Cycles rider finished fourth in the Irish National Road Racing Championships Time Trial in Sligo this June, but was forced to abandon the road race.
The John Beggs Memorial Road Races will begin at 12noon, rolling out from the event’s headquarters at Dromore High School. The Men’s National Road Series Race will cover four laps of the circuit, to race 128km, and the Women’s will cover three, to race 98km.
Both races will finish in Dromore town, atop Mount St for a grandstand finale to a crucial Round 5 of the National Road Series.