THE Cyclo-Cross (CX) season has got underway in Killarney and the local club riders have brought their superb form from the road and mountain bike season into the mix.
It may be early days but what a day 11 members of Killarney Cycling Club had at the first round of the Munster CX league, hosted by St Finbarr’s Cycling Club at Fota House and Gardens.
The star of the day was Eoghan Crowley who won his race in style in the underage category.
In the senior B race Killarney had six riders competing. Michael O’Connor was prominent at the front and from the get go and never slipped outside the top three, scorching home to take second place.
Colin Donoghue was right up there in mix from the start and Oran Kean was closing gaps and driving him on all the way. Also impressing were Ken O’Sullivan who bagged third place overall with veteran Colin Leahy and Sean Tangney also impressing.
The senior A race saw Killarney’s Richard Maes setting the pace on lap one with Matt Slattery as they worked together to stay clear for six of the eight laps but they were eventually caught by Kevin Kane. Richard took second place overall, narrowly pipping Matt to the line who rode home in third.
Patrick Clifford was the next club rider home in very creditable top 15 which was quite an achievement considering he hasn’t raced for three years.
John Crowley bagged another top three place in the Masters 40 category and showing great consistency, his lap times were all within 10 seconds of each other. Marcus Tracey made his debut to CX and rode a very solid race and he is a great prospect.
