Road National Series Round Six Preview
The penultimate round of the 2023 Road National Series offers the leaders and contenders in the overall categories a chance to stake their claim for victory in Round Six on Sunday, July 16th.
The Mullingar Grand Prix, hosted by Lakeside Wheelers, brings riders along Lough Derravaragh in Co. Westmeath, along the roads that hosted the 2014 Road National Championships.
Conn McDunphy and Imogen Cotter picked up big victories last month in round five in Currow, Co. Kerry, ahead of the 2023 Road National Championships, McDunphy leads the senior men's overall standings while Caoimhe O'Brien remained in the overall lead in the senior women's category.
Killian O'Brien has a chance to solidify his lead in the junior men's standings while Hannah Hayes can also reinforce her lead in the junior women's rankings after an encouraging performance in round five.
Here's everything you need to know about round six of the 2023 Road National Series.
The Route
All races will be run over the same 34km circuit which initially incorporates an undulating section followed by a long flat road across the bog where the wind often dictates the outcome of races. Riders will know they need to save a bit in the legs for a sharp uphill run to the finish line.
The Senior men and Juniors will tackle this route over four laps giving an overall race length of 136km while the Senior and Junior Women will fight it out over two laps totalling 68km.
You can view the race route profile here.
Race HQ And Start Time
Race HQ is located at Multyfarnham Community Centre, N91AX5A.
Racing is set to commence at 11am with all races scheduled to be underway by 11.15am
Quotes Corner
Lakeside Wheelers said:
“Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar has been promoting top level road racing on the Irish cycling calendar for several years. The Mullingar GP on July 16th will bring the focus of Irish racing back to the roads around the former Tidy Towns winning village of Multyfarnham, where the club staged the Elite National Championships in 2014.”
“Lakeside Wheelers Mullingar has always endeavoured to promote racing for all categories and is delighted to have the GP returned to the Cycling Ireland National Series status this year.”
Round Five Recap
Imogen Cotter took an impressive win while Conn McDunphy made it two in a row after an exciting fifth round of the Road National Series on Sunday, June 11th.
The John Drumm Cup, hosted by Currow Cycling Club along the roads of Co. Kerry, saw Cotter improve on her runner-up finishing the previous round to take a brilliant solo win in the women's race while McDunphy's second win in a row extended his gap in the overall rankings.
Riders took on a demanding circuit around Currow, Castleisland and Scartaglin as some decisive climbs ensured exciting races from the outset.
The men's race was five laps of the circuit as well as the start and finish, totaling 130km. The women's race was three laps of the circuit as well as the start and the finish sections, making for an 82km course.
You can read the full report from Round Five here.
Current Standings
Men's ranking
1st - Conn McDunphy (Lucan CRC)
2nd - Daire Feeley (All Human/VeloRevolution)
3rd - Aaron Wade (Cortizo Aluminium Team)
Women's ranking
1st - Caoimhe O’Brien (Belco Van Eyck)
2nd – Jemma Speers (North Down CC)
3rd - Aoife O'Brien (Spellman-Dublin Port)
Junior men's ranking
1st - Killian O’Brien (Orwell Wheelers)
2nd - Willem O’Connor (JEGG-DJR Academy)
3rd – Liam O’Brien (Fermoy CC)
Junior women's ranking
1st - Hannah Hayes (TC Racing)
2nd - Shauna Finn (Arcane CT)
3rd – Aine Doherty (VC Glendale)
Full rankings are available here.
Find out more about the 2023 Road National Series here.
Entries are open here.