05/05/2015 Ulster 25m Team TT Championships Woodgreen

Gold for Cookstown and Phoenix at Team TT
Thirteen teams lined up in very blustery conditions to compete in the Ulster team Time Trial Championships. The weather all day had been very inclement with heavy downpours of rain which may have caused other teams to stay away as normally this event attracts over twenty teams. However the night remained dry but very windy and cold for the hardy competitors who lined up to race against the clock in the hope of winning an Ulster Championship medal.

Favourites on the night were the Phoenix teams in all categories but the Senior men were in for a surprise as it was the Cookstown CT squad of John McGlaughlin, Stephen Hutchinson, Jonathan Dempsey and Andrew Reid who recorded the fastest time on the night (54:15) to take the win and the Ulster Senior Men's Gold medal. The CCT outfit have been performing well all season in both road racing and time trialling and were due a break. They were delighted to take the first Ultser medals of the season. Jonathan Dempsey is no stranger to the podium spot in this discipline as he is probably the only man to take Gold in the TTT with two different teams having won a few years previous;ly with East Antrim Audi.

There was a tie for second place with both the Phoenix A Team and Team Madigan recording a 54:25 so they had to be separated by hundredths of seconds.

In the end the Silver Medal went to Team Madigan (Stephen Harkens, Nigel Laffin, Stuart Scott, Chris Hutchinson)  with a 54:25.17.  The Phoenix A Team of (Craig Rea, John Smith, Stuart Bennett, Christian Nachtigal) took bronze with 54:25.51.

There was just one full all veteran team in contention so the Gold Medal in the Veteran's Category went to Phoenix CC  (Jim Hegarty, Trevor Nixon, John Rooney, Mark Short) in a time of 59:46

There were four women's team on the night which shows how popular women's competitive cycling has become. The Phoenix A team of Judith Russell, Val O'Neill, Therese Smyth, Claire McIlwaine took the title with  a time of  1:01:04. The silver medal went to Ballymena CRC represented by Eileen Burns, Laura Blair, Claire Gillespie in a time of  1:02:45.

The Newry Wheelers team of Kerri Farrell, Catherine Sands, Catriona Courtney, Alwynne Shannon took bronze much to their surprise as they had never done a team time trial before. Their time of 1:07:32 saw them take Bronze ahead of the second Phoenix Team of Julie Rea, Karen Hull, Lisa Dunne and made the long journey up from Newry worthwhile.

Many thanks must go to all at Phoenix CC for an excellent promotion of this Championship which is unique in Ireland. They also barriered off the grass verges to stop cars parking there in line with PSNI advice. To Eamon Burns a big thank you for sign-on and start times and Gordon Parker and Alicja Černák for timekeeping and results.

Congratulations to all our new champions who will be formally presented with their medals at the Ulster Awards Night in January.

Please Note: Could all medal winners please check that their names are spelt correctly as these are the names which will engraved on the medals. If there are any mistakes please email me at marianlamb@ulstercyclingnews.com

Report and Pics Marian Lamb
Results Gordon Parker.

Mens 25 Mile Team Time Trial Results
Gold : Cookstown CT (Stephen Hutchinson, John McGlaughin, Andrew Reid, Jonathan Dempsey) , 54:15
Silver: Team Madigan (Stephen Harkens, Nigel Laffin, Stuart Scott, Chris Hutchinson) 54:25
Bronze : Phoenix CC A (Craig Rea, John Smith, Stuart Bennett, Christian Nachtigal) 54:25

Veteran Mens 25 Mile Team Time Trial Results
Gold : Phoenix CC D (Jim Hegarty, Trevor Nixon, John Rooney, Mark Short) 59:46

Women's 25 Mile Team Time Trial Results
Gold : Phoenix Women 1 (Judith Russell, Val O'Neill, Therese Smyth, Claire McIlwaine) 1:01:04
Silver : Ballymena CRC (Eileen Burns, Laura Blair, Claire Gillespie) 1:02:45
Bronze : Newry Wheelers (Kerri Farrell, Catherine Sands, C Courtney, Alwynne Shannon) 1:07:32

Ulster 25m Team TT Championship Full Results.

1. Cookstown CT (Stephen Hutchinson, John McGlaughin, Andrew Reid, Jonathan Dempsey) 54:15
2. Team Madigan (Stephen Harkens, Nigel LaffinStuart, Scott, Chris Hutchinson) 54:25:17
3. Phoenix CC A (Craig Rea, John Smith, Stuart Bennett, Christian Nachtigal) 54:25:51
4. Phoenix CC B (Mark Brown, Phil O'Neil, Ciaran McVeigh, Nigel O'Gorman) 55:46
5. Island Wheelers (Barry Hayes, Noel McLoughlin, Owen Campbell, Paul Quinn) 55:50
6. Phoenix CC C (Sean Hargan, Daniel Daly, Stephen Geary, Gerry Maguire) 58:07
7. Velo Café Magasin (Joe Henry, Mark Millar, Mark Hanna) 58:36
8. Phoenix CC D (Jim Heggarty, Trevor Nixon, John Rooney, Mark Short) 59:46
9. Phoenix Women 1 (Judith Russell, Val O'Neill, Therese Smyth, Claire McIlwaine) 61:04
10. Ballymena CRC (Eileen Burns, Laura Blair, Claire Gillespie) 62:45
11. Phoenix CC E (Michael Tolan, Jean Favreau, Gavin Gilbride, Seamus Walsh) 63:04
12. Newry Wheelers (Kerri Farrell, Catherine Sands, C Courtney, Alwynne Shannon) 67:32
13. Phoenix Women 2 (Julie Rea, Karen Hull, Lisa Dunne) 67:57