Sixteen year old Sean Dillon has taken the 2012 Tipperary Wheelers Club League title. He was the overwhelming favourite going into the eighth and final stage of the league and he delivered on the night.
The final stage was held on the rolling Cashel Road out-and-back circuit, but the race itself belonged to a couple of Cat 1 riders. Given the improvements of the lower category riders’ time trial times, the handicaps were reduced from those calculated on Stage 4, where all the Cat 1 riders overhauled everybody on the road. Sean set off in the Cat 4 group out onto the circuit with a tailwind on the way out. The other groups followed and largely stayed together on the way out. The Cat 1’s however were blown apart after only a few kilometres with Simon Ryan and Dermot Radford combining to set a pace that could only be matched by Mike Looby. Mike held on for a while but eventually dropped off a few kilometres from the halfway turn on the roundabout. The pair continued to work together to overtake everybody on the road and lined up side by side for the sprint. Simon took the sprint by about half a wheel to gain maximum bonus points. The one remaining bonus point went to the improving Jimmy Hally who finished about 2 minutes back. Sean crossed the line comfortably in eighth position.
Sean took first place overall in the league, second place went to Jimmy “Veno” Beston and third went to Simon. There was a three way tie for fourth place between Nora Cunningham, Mary Ryan and Rob Walsh. There was also a prize given to the rider that was felt to best encapsulate the ethos of the club league, and that prize went to JP Dilian. Congratulations to all the winners and to everybody who participated. It is the participants that ensure the success of the league and we hope we have proved this year again that our league is unique in its ability to render a fair competition between cyclists of all levels and abilities.
The club would like to thank all participants, marshals and everybody who contributed in any way to making the league such an immense success. Congratulations to Sean and all the winners, until next year!.....
Enjoy the photographs below taken by Dick Walsh
The 2012 Tipperary Wheelers Club League was launched on Wednesday 27 June with a 16.1km (10 miles) time trial over the same course that was used in 2011. The route, from Bansha to the Cahir roundabout and back to the Silver Sands is reasonably flat with just a few slight drags. Although conditions were not bad, they were not ideal either. The best performance on the night went to Simon Ryan of DMG – Visit Nenagh, recording an impressive time of 22:04, second was Dermot Radford of Tipp Wheelers just 7 seconds back at 22:11 and third was Tommy Brynes of Tipp Wheelers with a time of 23:40. There were a number of other good times put in by the likes of Philip Ryan and Pat Ryan and further down the categories by Keith Kelly, Martina Byrnes, Stephen Ryan, Robert Walsh, Paddy Callaghan, Nora Cunningham and Sean Dillon.
Double points were awarded for Week 1 but it is still very difficult to see how the table is going to take shape. Points will be difficult to win at the next time trial as points will only be awarded for the 10 riders who improve their time by the greatest margin. Before that however, next week there will be a 28.66km handicapped road race with the following handicaps calculated from the time trial performances:
Sign on will be in Bansha village and the race route will take riders from Bansha to the Cahir roundabout, turning left and continuing to the next roundabout and racing all the way back to the start line again. Points are awarded for the finishing position within each category and additional points are awarded to the first three riders over the line, regardless of category. This forces each category to think about strategy and tactics right up to the finishing line. We want to say a special word of thanks to those who came out to help us with timing and marshalling on the night. If anybody has any queries on the league structure, results or anything else please email the club on tippwheelers@gmail.com Click tables to enlarge
Click the link "Liam Butler's Club Photostream" on the sidebar to see Liam Butler's excellent photographs from the final night of the Club League. A huge thanks to Liam for doing such a fantastic job in capturing the atmosphere of the night!
The 2011 Tipperary Wheelers Club League came to a conclusion on Thursday 01 September with Stage 8 of the series taking riders on a road race from Tipperary Town to Galbally, on to Lisvernane and up to the finish line at the top of the Christ the King climb. Jimmy Beston made his move on the climb through Lisvernane and managed to finish in first position, clear of the ever impressive Martina Byrnes in second and Keith Coyle in third. The climbing split things up considerably and Vinnie Maher was the first Cat 2 rider to cross the line, finishing in 6th position on the night, followed by his other Cat 2 competitors Noel Ryan and David Connor in 7th and 8th respectively. Dermot Radford was the first Cat 1 rider to finish, taking 9th, just managing to hold off Eoin Greene in 10th.
The overall winners in the 2011 league were:
1. Dermot Radford – 57 points
2. Tagdh Murphy – 53 points
2. Martin Breen – 53 points
The best improved time trial went to Tagdh Murphy with a 1min 39 sec improvement between stages 1 and 5.
A cumulative race finish competition was also being tracked where each competitor was awarded points based on their finishing places in each of the road races. As per the overall league, the best 3 from 4 race results are added to give a total points score and those with the lowest number of points come out on top. Congratulations to the winners:
1. Martina Byrnes – 4 points
2. Harry Towmey – 17 points
3. Ken Costello – 18 points
3. David Connor – 18 points
The final prize was awarded to the person who best embodied the spirit of the league. The criteria laid out included competiveness, sportsmanship and enthusiasm throughout the entire league and the person selected by the committee was Mick Kelly.
Congratulations to each person that participated during the eight weeks and we thank you for making the 2011 Tipperary Wheelers Club League such an immense success. We were delighted to see so many from other clubs and your contribution to the league was critical to its success. Also, congratulations to all prize winners. Ride safely and we hope to see everybody again in 2012!
Below is the map of the final stage of the Tippwheelers league for 2011. The route will finish on top of Christ the king. Sign on will be in the sports complex from 6:55 to 7:05. we will then move to the race start by the Tipp co op for a 7:15 start. We encourage everyone to show a face for the final stage and maybe come to the top of christ the king and watch the finish or be there for the prizes and sambos at the complex afterwards. If anyone can be available for steward on the night please contact Brian and let us know you can help as this will be one of the tougher routes to steward. it should be an exciting finish to the league. hopefully we will have a good turn out. This route will suit the climbers, we might see Danny Bresnan and Philip Ryan at this one as the finishing climb will suit them and their climbing ability. we encourage family members to come and have a look at the race. Their will be some lovely viewing spots on Christ the king at the finish of the race. And sambos for all at the complex after the race
The Tipperary Wheelers Club League Stage 8 - Preview
The Tipperary Wheelers Club League was first run in 2010, in the first year of the clubs re-emergence having been reformed in January of the same year. The 2010 league title was competed for over six weeks between its own members, with a small number of local riders from other clubs also participating. On that occasion it was Dermot Radford who emerged on top of the league, a slender few points ahead of Ruaidhri Devitt.
In 2011 the mission of the Tipperary Wheelers’ league was to formulate a race and time trial series that promoted equality amongst all participants whereby anybody was capable of winning the league by competing against people of similar abilities, yet also competing between the different categories for the overall title. The emphasis of the league was on enjoyment, giving those who have never raced or time trialled a chance to get a taste for the captivating thrill of competition while also increasing their enthusiasm for the sport. Experienced riders would also benefit by intense competition amongst themselves, torn between the need to stay together to ride down the categories in front and the necessity to outmanoeuvre their opponents.
The league has consisted four time trials and four (one remaining) road races on alternating weeks, with time trials used to establish handicaps for the road races. After seven weeks of competition, the last road race stage will be the decider and the overall winner of the 2011 league will have to battle it out on the road to Galbally, up the hill in Lisvernane, and cumulating on the slopes of the Christ the King climb to the hill top finish. The points race is very close at the top of the table, so who are the people who will be battling it out?
The current leader and last year’s winner, Dermot Radford, will not have the luxury this year of sitting on his closest rival on the climb to the finish line and relying on a final attack, he will first have to ride down the handicaps if he wants to claim the title, or will he decide to gamble on conserving energy and hoping to outsprint the other Cat 1’s to take 10 points and hope that will be enough? His current lowest race points score is 9 so if he rides to these tactics his maximum points gain to his overall tally will be only 1 point, which might not be enough unless he can claim so Stage top-three points also.
Tagdh Murphy has put in a late surge to take him up to second place in the league with exceptionally strong performances in consecutive time trials, claiming maximum points in Stage 5 and again on Stage 7. Tagdh is only 4 points off the lead but has a potential points gain of 8 should he cross the line in first position to gain the critical extra 3 points for the stage win. Even without the additional 3 points he still stands to gain 5 points if he can be the first Cat 3 to the top of the climb.
Is the early leader of the league, Mick Kelly of Worldwide Cycles, out of contention? He has an 8 point deficit with a potential gain of 6 if he crosses the line in first position on Thursday evening, this will not be enough to win but could be enough for second. He has been swapping the table-topping position with Dermot throughout the league but the difficulty in claiming time trial points has finally ousted Mick from the top.
Richard Bresnan has shown impressive form. Richard is new to competition but has shown a tactically astute approach and improving fitness each week to pull himself level with Mick in third position. Richard’s lowest race points tally is 7, perhaps that puts him out of contention for the overall title but he is certainly in for a mighty battle with those around him for a top three finish.
How about Martin Breen? Martin has been going somewhat unnoticed in amassing a fine points tally that puts him in a very strong position in claiming the title. Martin has only done two races to date, therefore his full points total for the final Stage will be added to his current 47 points total and is therefore well within reach of a table topping finish. He needs to climb well though, and with Richard, Mick and Tagdh all needing those points it will prove to be an epic battle on the climb.
Martina Byrnes has led the ladies throughout and proved more than capable of holding her own with the men and with some superb performances. Martina would be a worthy top-three finisher.
David Connor of Worldwide Cycles has put in consistent performances throughout to ensure he is also up there in the mix while Dave Stokes and Dinny Lynch are also in with a chance of a top three finish.
Predefined prizes have been decided for the time trials, however the predefined prizes for the road races are still up for grabs. These prizes will not be announced prior to the last stage but every single position gained on the last road race counts!
The Tipperary Wheelers Club League 2011 will be decided on the slopes of the Christ the King climb. Even if you are not competing, get out there and show your support for those that have battled it out over the previous seven weeks!
The Tipperary Wheelers Club League is rapidly approaching its conclusion and the league table is very close at the top. Stage 6 took place on Thursday 18 August on a flat route, starting in Bansha, headed towards the Cahir roundabout where the riders turned onto the Cashel road and turned around the next roundabout to head back to the start/finish line again. The route was flat with no climbs and the calm conditions ensured high average speeds for each category.
The Cat 2 riders managed to overhaul the handicap allocated to the Cat 3 group, however a number of Cat 3 riders managed to sit into the Cat 2 group and contest the finish. The Cat 1 riders were down in numbers and missed the strength and work rate of the likes of Simon Ryan, Tommy Byrnes and Declan Hanrahan. Their chances of overhauling any of the groups in front deflated with Pat Ryan’s tyre as he pulled up just 5km into the race.
Martina Byrnes again soloed to another fine victory to take maximum points on the night, followed by Paddy Callaghan competing for the first time in the league, and Vinnie Maher, another first timer, came over the line in third place. Harry Towmey and David Connor again put in consistent performances, followed by Mike Looby and the man on the pimped-out mountain bike, Keith Coyle.
The league table has taken another shake up, however the lead is maintained by Dermot Radford who has stretched his lead over the battling Mick Kelly. Martina moves up to third place, three points ahead of David Connor. The best three from four race and time trial points will count for the final table so realistically anybody in the top 10 has a good chance of winning, but somebody further down the table cannot be discounted from a late surge. Spot prizes have also been allocated so it is well worth putting in the effort for the final 2 stages (details of spot prizes will not be announced until after the final stage to ensure everybody has a fair chance).
The penultimate stage, Stage 7, is the final time trial of the series on the same Bansha to Cahir roundabout route and again points will be allocated based on the most improved times from Stage 5 with ten points down to one point available. This will make it very difficult for those that scored points in Stage 5 to score points again in Stage 7 and is sure to shake up the table once again. Due to the evenings getting shorter, next week’s sign on will take place in Bansha at 7pm with the first rider off at 7.15pm.
Stage 6 of the club league will take place on Thursday 18 August, starting from Bansha with sign on at 7.15pm. See below for a map of the 28.66km route.
Thursday 11 August saw Stage 5 of the Tipperary Wheelers Club League taking place with the third 10 mile (16.1km) time trial of the series. The maximum of 10 points went to Tagdh Murphy with a massive 2 min 17 sec improvement from his previous time trial. Next was Keith Coyle with a 1 min 20 sec improvement giving him 9 points and third was Richard Bresnan getting 8 points with a 1 min 6 sec improvement. Dinny Lynch put in a very impressive performance, giving him the fastest time on the night of 22 min 19 sec. Many riders failed to score points, however they will all get a chance again in Stage 7 where the winners on Stage 5 will find it very difficult to pull out a further improvement, allowing others perhaps to gain some points.
The overall league table has taken a big shake-up with Dermot Radford moving back to the top, dislodging Mick Kelly who drops to second place and Dave Stokes moves up to third, closely followed by Tagdh Murphy with his maximum points gain this week. Things are very tight at the top and nobody is running away with it considering only the three best time trial results and the three best race results will make up the final points tally.
Next week will see a return to the third road race in the series, which is flat and will prove to be fast. Details will be added to the website over the weekend, including the recalculated handicaps.
Stage 5 of the Tipperary Wheelers will take place on Thursday 11 August and will consist of a 10 mile time trial. Sign on will be at 7.15pm in Bansha village with the first rider off at 7.30pm.
Points will be awarded based on time improvements from Stage 3 of the league, or those that did not do Stage 3 will be awarded points based on their Stage 1 times or otherwise their finishing position within their category if it is their first time trial.
Stage 4 of the Tipperary Wheelers Club League took place on Thursday 04 August on a rolling route from Tipperary Town to the Cashel roundabout and back. The hills put some riders on the back foot as well as the strong headwind on the road home. Handicaps, calculated from Stage 3 time trial results, allocated to each Category proved to be accurate again, however the rolling roads and headwind proved to be an advantage to the Cat 1 riders who overhauled the main Cat 2 and Cat 3 bunches jut two kilometres from the finish.
Martina Byrnes performed superbly on the night. Being the only lady taking to the starting line, Martina started on her own and demonstrated how her strength has developed over the past 12 months by holding off all the pursuers to ride the entire route on her own and take the victory. Ken Costello of Worldwide Cycles also showed his strength by soloing away from the Cat 2 riders on the inbound journey to come in 45 seconds behind Martina. The leading Cat 1’s arrived a further 50 seconds back with Simon Ryan of Kanturk Cycling Club coming around Dermot Radford of Tipperary Wheelers to take third place.
Michael Kelly did just about enough to maintain the overall lead in the league, a slender one point ahead of Dermot Radford. Noel Ryan, having not competed in Stage 4, slips back to fourth position with Ken Costello moving up to third and Martina jumps up the table to fifth position. Overall positions are difficult to read at the moment with the best three time trial points results and the best three race points results making up the final points tally for competitors. Stage 6 will see a return to flat roads for racing so those that lost ground can easily make up points.
Next week’s Stage 5 time trial will also prove difficult for riders to gain points with only 10 down to 1 points being available. Points will be awarded for the most improved time over the Stage 3 times (or Stage 1 if riders did not compete in Stage 3) so those that gained improved times in Stage 3 will find it difficult to find a further improvement. Also, for those riders that have not taken part in any of the time trials, they will be awarded points (from a maximum of 10) based on their overall finishing position within their category on the night.
Thanks to Dick Walsh for the photos and if anybody wants digital copies of any pictures just drop the club an email and we will send them on.
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