Mullen retains TT Championship as Gillespie takes her first
The hottest day on record saw Lara Gillespie claim her first TT National Championship in Co. Mayo.
The Wicklow native took top spot ahead of Dan Morrisey’s Linda Kelly in second, 90 seconds back and Lidl Trek’s Marine Lenehan in third.
Gillespie said afterwards “My heat training finally paid off! I did some serious heat training before the Giro and I still suffered so I was so glad it paid off today. I’ll ride the road race course tomorrow and try and get some recovery in, and get stuck in Saturday.”
Ryan Mullen retained his Senior Men’s title, his 8th. The NSN rider finished 47 seconds ahead of second placed George Peden, with EF Education rider Darren Rafferty in third in a podium that mirrored last year’s in Navan.
Mullen reflected on his win afterwards; “I love getting back over here to ride these Champs. I built my career on TT's so to be able to come back and do them every year really means a lot. That rain was really welcome towards the end after that heat.”
Adam Rafferty took top spot in the U23 category, retaining last year’s title. The Hagens Berman Jayco rider finished 46 seconds ahead of APS Pro Cycling’s Matthew Walls while Bahrain Victorious rider Seth Dunwoody took third. Rafferty said afterwards “Really glad to come back and retain the title for another year. It was tough competition again this year.”
Jack Lawless took top spot in the Junior Men’s race followed by James Armstrong in second and Freddie Winkley in third, with the top three separated by just 30 seconds over the 30km course.
Emer Heverin added another national championship to her tally for 2026 as she took the junior women’s title by almost three and a half minutes. Holly McCaffrey took second ahead of Ffion Dolan in third.
Ciaran O’Toole, piloted by Con Scully took the win in the tandem class, followed by Sinead Greenan and Claire Ní Reachtagáin in second and Damien Vereker and Mitchell McLaughlin in third.
Richael Timothy took top spot in the C class ahead of Heather Jameson and Cormac O’Callaghan.
The H class was won by Stephen McGowan, a minute ahead of Allister MacSorley in second and Declan Slevin in third.
All eyes now turn to Saturday and Sunday with road race action in on