Return of Clare Cycling Championships

With cycling racing on an upward swing again in Clare, the Dolmen club are reviving the county championships.
The handicapped race for county honours will be run off next Wednesday over a testing 60k lap, starting in Barefield, heading out to Clooney and Tulla and back home via Knockjames and the Gort Road.

The course is a single lap of the Rás Clár route, which is scheduled for July 29 and provides riders with a dress rehearsal at race pace.
The last county championships were held in Clare in the 1980s, although they have been ever-present in other counties.
“County championships have always been a great part of the buzz and colour of local cycling. It’ll be great to see the jerseys of Burren, the Crusaders, Dolmen and West Clare slog it out for bragging rights for the next year,” commented sponsor Fergal Cahill.
The flag will be raised by honorary marshall, Morty Kelly of Ruan, a great stalwart of the Clare cycling scene in the ’60s and ’70s.
Sign-on is at 6.45am at the Auburn Lodge. The championships are open to all Clare riders with a Cycling Ireland race or club competition licence. Prize giving will take place immediately afterwards in the Auburn Lodge Hotel.