Gillespie and Dunwoody sprint to national road race victories

Lara Gillespie (UAE Development Team) and Seth Dunwoody (Cannibal B Victorious) raced to victory on Saturday’s national road race championships, winning the women’s and junior men’s events with strong final efforts.

Gillespie comfortably outsprinted Caoimhe O’Brien (Belco Van Eyck), Megan Armitage (Arkea Pro Cycling Team), defending champion Alice Sharpe (Israel Premier Tech-Roland Development), 2021 winner Imogen Cotter (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Linda Kelly (Spin The Bean Power By Coffee) to the line in Dungannon after those six shook off the rest of the field.

Dunwoody got clear with Liam O’Brien (Fermoy Cycling Club) and Cal Tutty (Dungarvan CC) and outsprinted those two breakaway companions at the end of the junior event.

The result is O’Brien’s second silver of the championships after he finished runner-up to Adam Rafferty (US Colomiers) in Thursday evening’s junior time trial.

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Gillespie previously won the national title in 2020 and described the feeling of being champion again as “amazing.”

She will now wear the distinctive white and green national champion’s jersey for the coming 12 months. “I am so happy and I can’t wait to wear it for the next year. It means a lot.”

The 122-kilometre race saw an early attack by Ellen McDermott (Team Boompods). She went clear on the 35.4km opening loop before the four laps of the finishing circuit, establishing a 1′45 second lead by the first crossing of the finish line.

However the professional riders Cotter, Armitage, Gillespie and Fiona Mangan (Soltec Team) were all launching attacks in a bid to reduce the contenders and this aggressive racing saw McDermott recaptured the second time up the Killyliss climb.

That prompted a solo move by Thursday’s time trial winner Kelly Murphy (Awol O’Shea), who was clear for several kilometres before she took was reeled in. Cotter was trying to get clear while Armitage put in a number of very strong surges, and she went clear with Gillespie and Sharpe on the penultimate lap.

There was a regrouping with approximately half an hour of racing left, but further attacks saw Armitage and Gillespie go clear once again the final time up the climb.

“The top 10 girls are all super, super strong, internationally and nationally,” Gillespie said afterwards. “On every hill there was an attack, whether it was Megan or Imogen. Megan was really, really strong today and I knew she had the most punch out of everyone, so I really tried to stick on her wheel and cover all of her attacks.

“I couldn’t necessarily follow through with the attacks, but I was able to be there all the time.”

Cotter was chasing hard and she, O’Brien, Sharpe, Kelly and Mangan were able to get back across before the sprint, where Gillespie topped the podium ahead of O’Brien and Armitage.

“It kept splitting and coming back, splitting and coming back,” Gillespie continued. “I was always there at the front so I knew I was strong and then I backed my sprint in the end.”

Her victory also saw her win the under 23 title, with sisters Caoimhe and Aoife O’Brien (Spellman-Dublin Port) rounding out that podium.

Meanwhile Dunwoody, O’Brien and Tutty pulled off a big move to secure the medals in the junior road race. That break began when Tutty and Samuel Coleman (Villeneuve Cycliste) went clear on the opening loop before the finishing circuit, with this duo gaining momentum when O’Brien and Dunwoody bridged across.

They had just 26 seconds beginning four laps of the finishing circuit but ramped up the pace, with Coleman slipping back to the chasers. Behind, Joseph Mullen (Navan Road Club) was trying to bridge, as was Patrick Casey (Anexo Group Race Team), but the leaders would stay clear until the end.

Dunwoody won the sprint with some ease, taking the title.

“It’s pretty surreal so far, it hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he said. “It’s been in the calendar a long time, with it being close to home. I’m only about 20 minutes living away from here. It’s one I’ve been targeting for a while so to finally pull it off is a dream come true.

“It was kind of just aggressive from the word go, just with the weather and the course today. There was no hiding. The three of us who were on the podium were the three who most deserved it. It was set in stone from a long way out. It’s a kind of race that I enjoy, it suits me well. So happy enough.”

“I was pretty confident in my sprint. But I knew that Liam and Cal would go all out on the hills before it to try their best to stop me. It was a pretty entertaining run in to the finish. The nerves were jangling, but happy for it to come down to a sprint.”

Like Gillespie, he will get to wear the national champion’s jersey now, a prestigious entitlement for the race winners.

“It’s the thing I’m most proud of,” he said. “Hopefully I can just do the jersey proud for the rest of the year.”

The championships continue on Sunday with the Elite and under 23 men’s title, plus the junior women’s road race.

National Road Championships, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone

Elite/U23 Women’s Road Race: 1 Lara Gillespie (UAE Development Team)* 122km in 3 hours 27′15, 2 C O’Brien (Belco Van Eyck), 3 M Armitage (Arkea Pro Cycling Team), 4 A Sharpe (Israel Premier Tech-Roland Development), 5 I Cotter (Fenix-Deceuninck), 6 L Kelly (Spin The Bean Power By Coffee) all same time, 7 F Mangan (Soltec Team) 19″, 8 E Mc Crystal (Bellurgan Wheelers) 23″, 9 E Mc Dermott (Team Boompods) 29″ 10 V Fursden (Clones Cycling Club)

Under 23: 1 Lara Gillespie (UAE Development Team) 122km in 3 hours 27′15, 2 C O’Brien (Belco Van Eyck), 3 A O’Brien (Spellman-Dublin Port) at 1′50, 4 D Harkness (VC Glendale) at 13′22, 5 E Grace Creighton (McConvey Cycles)

Junior men: 1 Seth Dunwoody (Cannibal B Victorious) 122km in 2 hours 57′36, 2 L O’Brien (Fermoy Cycling Club) 1″, 3 C Tutty (Dungarvan CC) 5″, 4 P Casey (Anexo Group Race Team) 1′05, 5 J Mullen (Navan Road Club) 1′07, 6 J Callaly (Navan Road Club) 1′42, 7 O Ferrity (Team Caldwell Cycles) 3′03, 8 E Lattimore (Dungarvan CC), 9 D Doherty (Flanders Color Defever Team), 10 T Harkness (Scott Bright Motor Group)