Round 3 of the 2025 National Cyclo-cross Series took place on Sunday 30 November at Limerick Racecourse hosted by Greenmount Cycling Academy. The club were hosting three races back-to-back at this venue with Round 4 of the Munster series last weekend, the National Series and then the following Sunday the Munster Cyclo-cross Championships. Great use from one venue and one course set up. The course had everything, steps, sand, steep banks and mud. Race day morning started with a beautiful sunrise into a blue sky. It was cold start to the day as people from all across Ireland arrived to either race, support or just spectate. Unfortunately the predicted rain did arrive at 2 pm for the final race of the day.
First up was the Under 6s race with four girls lined up for two laps of their course, half on grass, half on gravel. Well done to them.
The Under 8s had a longer course than the Under 6s. They were given two laps to do. Crossing the line first for the boys’ was Charlie McCarter (Un-Attached Connacht) with Conor McGrath (Fermoy Cycling Club) second, Daniel Storan (Greenmount CA) third and Vinny Cashin (Greenmount CA) fourth. Among the girls it was Sol Lally (Ballinasloe Cycling Club) who was first, a clean sweep of wins so far in the national series. Alice Bell (Un-Attached Ulster) was second with Evie Delea (Fermoy Cycling Club) third and Darcy Lyons (Fermoy Cycling Club) fourth.
The Under 10s did 10 laps of their course with a tricky 180 degree turn into the finish straight each lap. Naoise Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) had the early lead but Oliver O’Sullivan (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) got ahead of Naoise and crossed the line first taking his third win of the series to date. Naoise was second with James Kavanagh (Lakeland) third. Marian Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) crossed the line first for the girls, getting her second win of the series. Emily O’Mahony (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) was second with Étaín Usher (Western Lakes CC) third.
The Under 12s course was much longer with the riders completing two laps. Benjamin Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) was leading at the end of lap 1 but a crash took him out of the podium positions. Jaxon Jennings (Bear Cycling) was leading until they hit the tarmac road just before the finish when Lewis Bell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) managed to speed past Jaxon to take the win. Jaxon was just behind with Tadhg Connolly (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) finishing third and Benjamin fourth. Caroline Collins (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) took the chequered flag first for the girls. Sophia Quigley (Waterford Racing Club) was second with Emilia Tyszecka (MBCC) third and Aoife Roche (Greenmount CA) fourth.
Next up were the Under 14s, Under 16s and Women. They were the first to race over the full course. The Under 16 boys started on the first whistle, the Under 14 boys on the second whistle, the Under 16 girls on the third whistle and the women on the last whistle. There were no Under 14 girls racing. The women had 4 laps to complete with the rest completing 3 laps.
In the Under 14 boys race Daragh Quigley (Foyle CC) got his third win of the series. Billy Lord (Breffni Wheelers) was second with Max McGrath (Fermoy Cycling Club) third. There was a tight race in the Under 16 boys race with Eoin Davis (Bohermeen CC) getting himself to the front to take his third win of the series. James Geary (Fermoy Cycling Club) was second with James Cunningham (Team WORC) third and Kieran Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) fourth. Ava Baker (Breffni Wheelers) was leading the Under 16 girls race until the final sprint to the finish when Orla Mulhearne (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) came around Ava to take the win. Ciara O’Connor (Drogheda Wheelers) was third with Aoife Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) fourth and Ciara Flavin (Dungarvan CC) fifth.
Leading from start to finish in the women’s race was Masters rider Jean Wilson (EPIC MTB). Rachel Newell (McConvey Cycles) was second, still leading the overall series, with Aishling O’Connor (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) third. The national series provides prizes for the top 3 Masters, top 3 Seniors and top 3 Juniors in the Women’s race. This worked out well for the women who travelled to Limerick as all received a medal. Top 3 Masters were Jean Wilson, Aishling O’Connor and Sinead Parsons (Islandeady Cycling Club). Top 3 senior women were Rachel Newell, American rider Helena Stedman and Mary O’Donnell (Greenmount CA). Grace O’Rourke (Spellman-Dublin Port) was the only Junior in the race.
Next up were the Masters M50s, M60s and the non-cyclo-cross bike support race. They had 4 laps to complete. Despite skipping last Sunday’s Ulster series Round 5 due to illness, Barry Convery (Newry Wheelers CC) seemed to have recovered well as he took the win in the M50s race. Fearghal Regan (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) was second which keeps him top of the series. Chris Byrne (Park Wheelers) was third with Anthony Testa (Gaeltacht.cc) fourth and Niall James Murphy (Lakeland) fifth. In the M60s race Paul Birchall (Blarney Cycling Club) crossed the line first with Michael O’Reilly (EPIC MTB) second and Declan Hanrahan (Panduit Carrick Wheelers) third. There were just two riders in the support race, both from Greenmount Cycling Academy, with Shane Woulfe getting the better of Tomás O’Neill.
The final race of the day was for the Seniors, Juniors and M40s. The Seniors and Juniors had 5 laps to complete with the Juniors racing over 4 laps. Dean Harvey (Martigues Sport Cyclisme) was leading at the end of lap one with Tadhg Killeen (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) just 5 seconds behind him. Dean then had a problem on lap 2 and dropped back to almost 30 seconds behind Tadhg. Dean kept his cool and managed to get back to the front to take the win. Tadhg finished second with Richard Barry (St. Finbarrs CC) third. Robin Seymour (Team WORC) was fourth and currently leads the overall series. Ian O’Connell (Team WORC) was fifth ahead of brother Gavin O’Connell (Team WORC).
In the Junior race Roch Morgan (Un-Attached Ulster), normally based in Derby, England but over visiting for an extended period, was continuing to enjoy his trip to Ireland by taking the chequered flag. Conor Regan (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) was second with Ciaran O’Sullivan (Greenmount CA) third and Shane O’Brien (Fermoy Cycling Club) fourth.
The M40s saw a great battle between Glenn Kinning (Kinning Cycles Cycling Club), current M40 champion, and Darragh McCarter (Spellman-Dublin Port). Glenn lead for laps 1 and 2 but then Darragh got to the front for laps 3 and 4. It all came down to the final corner and the sprint to the finish line with Glenn Kinning managing to stay ahead of Daragh. This was Glenn’s second win of the series. Ronan O’Flynn (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) was third with Marcus Flavin (Dungarvan CC) fourth and Joseph Donworth (Greenmount CA) fifth.
Well done to Vincent Gleeson and Liam Kennedy and all at Greenmount Cycling Academy for putting on this event. The final round of the National Series will take place on Sunday 4 January 2026 at Ballinasloe hosted by Ballinasloe Cycling Club. Also look out for the night race on the Saturday night beforehand which will be a team relay style event.
Commissaires: Anthony Kenneally, Mick Twomey, Roddy Keane and Martin Grimley
Results
Series table after 3 rounds
Report by Martin Grimley
Photos
Sportsphoto Ireland (Facebook)
Youth
U14/U16/Women
M50 M60 Support
Senior Junior M40
Toby Watson (Facebook)
Youth and adults
