This weekend the mountainbike scene switches to Glenarm as the Irish National Points Series gets underway on Sunday.  Located on the East Antrim coastline in the Glens of Antrim, anyone who competes in the annual Tour of the Glens ride will know the village well.  As one of the most popular circuits in Ireland, Glenarm has been hosting mountainbike races for years, and although this will be the first time an NPS race will have been held there, it’s always provided a great race with one of the toughest circuits about.  It really does incorporate everything you would want in an MTB race and will favour the most well rounded riders in the field.  MORE »

Just a note to mention that the message board has been taken down for a few days to allow for essential maintenance work to take place.  I’ll hopefully have it up again ASAP.

Contributed by: Andy Potts

The International K-Capital Cup series came to a superb end today at Castlewellan Forest Park, the fourth and final round promoted by XMTB. Once again the weather was kind with the forecasted rain thankfully staying away and following the recent dry spell the course was in immaculate condition.

Robin Seymour clinched the Elite title with an emphatic win, Wicklow rider finishing well clear of the Niall Davis, winner of rounds two and three. Scottish rider Gareth Montgomery was third with German rider Bennjamin Sonntag fourth. In the Elite Ladies class. Beth McCluskey once again reigned supreme as she took another convincing win ahead of Tarja Owens, Scotland’s Ruth McGavigan and XMTB’s Ciara McManus. The Junior race was an all Banbridge CC dominated affair as Sean Downey and Liam McGreevy spent the entire five laps in nose to tail formation, with Downey taking the win by less than a bikes length, Downey also taking the overall title.

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“This is a race that suits me when I’m having a good day. On the other hand, if you don’t have the legs, this is the worst place you could possibly be.” - Jo Planckaert, 2004 

This weekend cyclings toughest single day race will take place in Northern France.  Yes, it’s mid-April, it’s the rain season and that means it’s time for the Paris-Roubaix aka The Hell of the North aka Queen of the Classics, a 260km nightmare of a race across all sorts of terrain, including 54kms of cobblestones culminating with 750 meters on the Roubaix velodrome.  Conditions are usually treterious as the picture above suggests with riders crossing the line looking like they have just completed a mountainbike race in January.  This is what a classic race is all about.

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Contributed by: Andy Potts

The third round of the K-Capital MTB XCO Series took place on Sunday 1st April at Carlingford Forest in County Louth, with Niall Davis (IMBRC) taking maximum points in the Elite race for the second week in succession. The venue was literally a last minute choice, and congratulations must go to those who set out a superb course in such a short time. The mixture of non stop sunshine and great action on course made it another K-Capital day to remember.

The Elite race was an eight lap affair and from the start Niall Davis looked a picture of composure. The opening three laps saw Davis lead an all Irish quartet, the Dubliner joined by Irish Champion Robin Seymour(Team Worc), Belfast teenager Connor McConvey (XMTB) and the very ‘youthful looking 46 year old Peter Buggle (Team Worc). By the end of lap four, the halfway point, Davis had made his move as Seymour began to struggle with slipping gears and an injured knee which he hit while having a trip over the handlebars.

Race Photos »

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