Ballymoney CC riders in top 10 again

Ballymoney Cycling Club riders Jason Taggart, Phil Smith, Ryan Orr and Steven McAllister were in the heat of the action over the weekend. The Ballymoney riders were competing at the Wallace Caldwell Memorial Classic road race and also at the first youth road races in Bohermeen outside Dublin.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Mar 2012, 10:36 BST

The top ten placing went to under sixteen schoolboy Ryan Orr in the Under16 race run by Bohermeen CC at Dunboyne.

This race saw the winter’s frustration unleashed as the cream of Ireland’s best young cyclists lined up to flex their muscles on an early spring Sunday.

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Taking on our own young Ballymoney rider were Mark Downey from Banbridge, Michael O’Laughlin Carrick Wheelers and eventual winner Clough lad Aaron Swan. The race split early on and Stephen Shanahan from Limerick opened a gap and Aaron Swan jumped across and the two riders combined well until Shanahan was dropped and young Swan time trailed to the finish and was over 2minutes up at the chequered flag.

In the hectic bunch sprint for the line BCC’s Ryan Orr was eighth in the bunch, finishing 10th overall. This adds to his tally of 3 wins off road and now a top 10 placing on road racing scene.

Under16 Result was,

1st Aaron Swan (TSC)

2nd Stephen Shanaghan (Limerick)

3rd Fintan Ryan (Serrento)

10th Ryan Orr Ballymoney CC Racing Team.

Wallace Caldwell Memorial Classic 78 mile Road Race

Ballymoney CC Racing Team’s senior riders were on the start line with eighty other riders from all over Ireland as they took on the daunting task of the 78 miles that lay ahead, climbing the famous Keady mountain and finishing on the energy sapping climb of Tully on the way back to Galgorm.

BCC riders Phil Smith and Steven McAllister along with Jason Taggart. This was Jason’s first race of the season and the big fella was not in the least daunted by the task that lay ahead. Joking and laughing on the start line with the other riders, he literally rode himself to a stand still on the long climb out of Limavady. Phil Smith, who is a talented climber, enjoyed himself as he danced up the climbs only missing out on the break that saw the eventual winner in it. Phil along with team mate Steven McAllister both finished in the bunch 1 minute 40secs down on the flying Dubliner, and professional cyclist Ryan Sherlock.

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Ryan Sherlock (Team Cycleways) showed what a quality winter’s training can do as he made this race a solo voctory finishing onhis own, after the race had split to bits in the breezy conditions. The 30 year old had to ride hard to get across to a group of nine riders who had broke away early on in the race, before attacking the others in the lead group on the Tully climb out of Portglenone.

Ryan who went full time as a professional cyclist just at the end of last year said that he felt it was well worth his while.

He was recently training in Spain with the Sean Kelly “An Post” team and spending some time with the Tour de France team BMC and being coached by their team coach Max Testa. Runners up to Sherlock were Eurocycles rider Fraser Duncan and East Antrim’s Gary Cranston.

Coming Events

This weekend coming BCC Racers will be in action at the Clann Eireann Cup at Lurgan and also on Sunday at the PJ Logan in Coalisland. A full report and results will be in next weeks newspapers and on the BCC website www.ballymoneycyclingclub.com.

Related topics:Phil Smith