After a season hampered by a lingering knee injury, 1998 junior world champion Mark Scanlon posted the clearest sign yet of a return to form last weekend, when he outsprinted four breakaway companions to win the Tour de Quatre Cantalons. Scanlon lines up in the Bordeaux to Saints Mavic classic this Saturday, where the 19-year-old will hope to build on his auspicious start with the VC Etupes squad.
There were mixed fortunes during the week for other Irish riders competing abroad: Aidan Duff performed strongly to record second and fourth places in other French events, while Dermot Finnegan was hospitalised with concussion after a fall in the Brussel-Zepperen amateur classic. Finnegan is reported to be recovering well from his collision with a parked car.
Ciaran Power is at present competing in his biggest assignment to date, the Tirreno Adriatico in Italy, while fellow professional Morgan Fox is riding the Omloop Waasland Kemseke and the GP Boson this weekend.
On the domestic front, following Philip Cassidy's authoritive display in Navan last Sunday, the new season continues with several fixtures this weekend. Kilcullen and Bangor (11.0 and 12.0 respectively) are the venues on Saturday, while the Aghagallon Cup at 12.30, the Ras Luimni at 12.0 and the Coombes Connor Memorial at 1.0 are the competitions on offer the following day.
Mountain biking gets a further boost with the staging of a three-day, £3,000 St Patrick's Millennium race next weekend. The innovative competition comprises three stages based mainly around the Ring of Kerry.
Unfortunately, racing commitments in England mean that the national male and female MTB cross-country champions Robin Seymour and Tarja Owens will miss the Kerry event. Last weekend Seymour finished 12th in the three-day Afnexia Cyprus event, won by world number Filip Meirhaeghe, while Owens was fourth in the women's race.
