Cowan times sprint perfectly in triumph

Cowan times sprint perfectly in triumph

1 April 2015

DROMARA CC’s Richard Cowan put on a strong display in tough conditions on Saturday to win the A4 road race at the Cicli Sport GP. 

The A4 event, part of a packed programme of six races hosted by East Tyrone CC, was held over four laps of an undulating 9.5-mile triangle circuit near Moneymore.  The challenging course was made even more difficult by 30-40mph gusting westerly winds.  

Richard, along with Dromara clubmates Stephen Irvine, Robert McDonald and Graham Beckett, lined up in an 80-strong field of riders.

After a fairly uneventful first lap in which any early breaks were easily reeled in by the bunch, the main protagonists at the head of the group — Cowan included — gradually wound up the pace. 

The fierce crosswinds on the homeward leg of the triangular course left nowhere to hide for those without the legs or lungs to keep up, and by the time the leaders came into view on the finishing straight for the fourth time, only 20 odd riders were left in the lead group. 

Richard, who had ridden strongly throughout the race and never looked to be struggling to maintain the pace, timed his sprint to perfection and held on to take the win by a bike length from Gerard Scullion of Carn Wheelers.  

The icing on the cake for the Dromara man is that the victory gives him enough points for an automatic upgrade into the A3 category, where he is sure to relish the challenge of competing against faster riders over longer distances.

In the A1/A2 race, Dromara CC’s Ronnie Smyth rubbed shoulders with some of the most talented road cyclists in the country, including Ulstermen Fraser Duncan and  Roger Aiken of the newly formed Team ASEA.  This race was set off first and had to cover 6 laps of the same course. The A2s were given a three-minute advantage over the A1’s but this had been reduced to two minutes at the end of the first lap. 

A small group of A1s broke away and put the hammer down to chase the A2s. As the A1 leaders caught and passed the A2 bunch, Ronnie was amongst a small group of A2 riders who tried valiantly to hang on for the ride, but the insanely fast pace driven by the elite field was too much.  Ronnie went on to finish strongly in the main bunch, alongside some A1 riders.  Well done sir!

Well done also to Peter Davison, who was sixth junior to finish and 35th overall out of 250 riders in the Vitus First Tracks Enduro at Castlewellan at the weekend.