Teen triumphs in county championships

Teenager Sam Moloney emerged as the surprise winner of this year’s Clare County Road Race Championships as the Greenmount Cycling Academy rider produced the race of his life.
Moloney showed experience beyond his years as he stayed near the front before making his move late on to seal the win.
The event, sponsored by Cahill Taxation Services and hosted by Dolmen CC, was an 80km cycle in total with the cyclists lining up at Kildysart road, before travelling via Ballybeg, Rockmount Cross, Kilmorane, before the cyclists returned to Kildysart. This is a 10km route which the cyclists completed eight times.
In this race a handicap system was used as A4/entry level riders started first at 7pm before the A3/Juniors commenced four minutes later.
The A2s began two minutes after that with the A1s starting 60 seconds later.
Often A1 and A2 riders catch up with those who gain a head start before powering to victory, but this was not the case last Thursday evening as Moloney, competing in the A3 category, managed to out manoeuvre household names on the Clare cycling scene.
In the tenth hosting of this competition, Race Director John Colleran believes the action last week surpassed anything witnessed previously in these Championships.
“This is the best race we’ve had. We didn’t know who was going to win right until the very end. The smartest riders did well this year as there were a lot of tactics involved. This was the strongest field we have had in years so it was a great evening.”
With strong crowds in attendance, the 45 strong group of cyclists were all vying for top honours. The average speed in lap two of the leading pack was 40km/h with the A3s catching the A4s.
Three experienced riders caught up to the leading pack as the defending champion Enda Murray (Burren CC), Dermot Radford (Club Rothaíochta na Sionainne), and Paul Kennedy (Burren CC) made their move.
At this stage in the race the leading pack was hitting speeds of between 50-60 km/h with the strongest riders beginning to pull away from the rest due to the relentless pace.
On the penultimate lap, Vincent Gleeson (Greenmount Cycling Academy) and Paul Kennedy attacked as they opened an almost 20 second gap to the rest of the field heading towards Rockmount Cross.
Junior rider Sam Moloney, who had placed himself nicely within the chasing pack, and Dermot Radford both took off in pursuit of Gleeson and Kennedy with the chasers managing to close in on the leading pair.
Moloney and Gleeson both cycle out of Greenmount Cycling Club as they worked together among the leading quartet. Radcliffe twice tried to move clear but he was unable to shake off Moloney. Close to the finish Moloney attacked Paul Kennedy on the climb as he managed to take the lead before holding off a late fightback to secure a narrow victory. Kennedy finished second with Radford securing third spot as Gleeson finished fourth.
Imogen Cotter of Keukens Redant Cycling Club in Belgium was the fastest woman while Gleeson was the first unplaced m40 cyclist home last Thursday evening.
Barry Sutton of Greenmount Cycling Academy was the best m50 on the day while his club mate Damien Roche was the first unplaced A3 to cross the line. All medals were sponsored by Collins Jewellers, Ennis.
The King of the Hill was competed for in laps four, five and six with Dean Minogue (Dolmen CC), Sam Moloney and Imogen Cotter each securing the honour.

by Ivan Smyth