EIRE OG CYCLING CLUB

Busy Time For Martin Cadden Eire Og Racing Team

The Martin Cadden Monumental Sculptors sponsored Eire Og Racing Team have had a busy few weeks recently taking in races in Tuam, Castlebar, Donegal, Navan & Roscommon. The Club also ran The Connacht Road Race Championships in Coolaney where Charles Prendergast of Mayo Wheelers was first across the line with Michael Devins the best of the Cadden boys coming home in 7th spot and taking the prize for first 2nd category rider.

Over the last number of weeks the newer members of the team have been active in quite a few races around Connacht. Promising performances from riders such as Sean Flannery, Hugh Moran, John Walsh and Ronan Mc Namara bode well for the future and with some more races under their belts these lads will be biting at the heels of the squads more experienced riders.

Last weekend saw the Cadden sponsored squad travel to Castlecoote Co. Roscommon for the Donamon GP. Taking part for the Eire Og team were Michael Devins, Alex Carey & Daire Mooney. A field of 65 riders took to the start line under black skies for 6 laps of a 20 km circuit. Within minutes of starting the heavens opened and set the scene for the rest of the race with frequent heavy showers and gusting winds making the race a gruelling experience for all involved. A flurry of activity on the first lap saw a few breaks gaining a handful of seconds only to be brought back before a counter attack gained a few yards again. This continued for 3 laps with the Cadden boys in the thick of the action at the front of the peloton.

On lap 4 during a torrential downpour a group of 6 riders managed to slip away from the main riders and quickly opened up a 1 minute lead. At this point the alarm bells started ringing in the bunch some teams sent men to the front in an effort to reduce the gap. Michael Devins of the Cadden squad was one of the riders pulling on the front and showed some of his old class with some phenomenal efforts which had many of the riders in the bunch on the ropes and helped to bring the gap down to a handful of seconds coming into the last lap. Unfortunately the riders in the group ceased to cooperate on the last lap and the break opened the gap back out to 30 seconds and held it to the finish where David Brennan of Castlebar CC took the victory. Back in the main group the Eire Og squad were hoping to set up Alex Carey for the Vets prize and in the last 5 km the red train maintained the speed at the front of the peloton with Carey safely tucked in behind his teammates. Devins pulled hard from the 1k banner with Mooney taking over at 500m and launching Carey towards the line with 200m to go. Carey kicked hard but was narrowly beaten to the line by Peter Gillespie of Shannonside CC.

Next up for the lads are the Connacht Hill Climb Championships, the final rounds of the Connacht Road Race League and the Ballinrobe 2 Day. Also watch out for news of the impending Race Around Ireland, a 2200km nonstop race which will see a number of Eire Og riders participate.

Training takes place this weekend on Saturday morning at Markievicz Park leaving at 9 sharp. Follow all the latest news on our website www.eireogcycling.com