Top 10 finishes for Irish riders at UEC European Downhill Championships

Several Irish riders made the trip to Switzerland for the European Downhill Championships over the 10th and 11th of August.

A challenging course in Champéry saw several big crashes in seeding runs on Saturday, which ultimately saw the remainder of the seeding cancelled.

The Irish riders present met the challenging conditions head on, and in the Elite Category Ronan Dunne grabbed himself a top 10. A strong ride for the Wicklow native saw him just one second off a podium place.

Caolan Sammon came in 113^th, with Ross Ennis and Henry Kerr taking 127^th and 128^th respectively in a stacked Elite field.

In the Junior category, a heavy crash on Saturday meant Alex Hickey did not start the race on Sunday. Callum Morris, however, bagged himself a 9^th place, sitting just 3 seconds off the podium places.

Three Irish riders took the track in the Under 17 Category. Cailan Lancashire was the highest place at 47^th, while Ros O’Keefe finished 10 places back in 57^th. Darragh Ryan rounded out the Irish representatives in 71^st.

An immense ride from Diarmuid O’Sealbhaigh in the U15 category saw him take 6^th place, while Ireland’s only other representative in this category, Jamie Kennedy, placed 22^nd in a very talented field.

The Masters 45-49 saw two Irish riders in the top ten. Michael Cowan took 7^th place, just two seconds ahead of Dale McMullan in 8^th.

Michael White was Ireland’s sole representative in the Masters 60-64 category, and finished just off the podium in 4^th.

Full results are available here.