Mia Griffin claims victory in national road race cycling championships
Kilkenny woman Griffin, riding for the Switzerland-based Roland team, was part of a ten strong group that dominated proceedings for most of the race.
This front group also contained last year's winner Fiona Mangan (Winspace Orange Seal), Caoimhe O'Brien (Cynicsa), Aoife O'Brien (DAS Hutchinson), Linda Kelly (Spin the Bean), Emma Jeffers (Liv AlUla Jayco), Lucy Benezet Minns (Lotto Ladies), Abi Conway of Westport Covey and Dan Morrissey duo Marine Lenehan and Aine Doherty.
After a cagey affair for much of the day, defending champion Mangan put in a couple of attacks on the final of four 25km laps. This sparked several counter attacks from her breakaway colleagues, none of which stuck until Benezet Minns took off solo with around 12km to go.
A strong time triallist, Benezet Minns opened a gap of 18 seconds as she passed through the finish line and went out onto the 9.4km finishing circuit. Her lead began to dwindle however as the nine chasers got their act together and worked hard to bring her back. Her advantage fell to ten seconds with 5km to go and the junior road race and time trial champion for the past two years was caught just inside the final kilometre.
In the gallop for the line, Kilkenny woman Griffin used her track speed to blitz the sprint and take the title by a bike length from Caoimhe O'Brien, with Marine Lenehan taking the bronze.
Emma Jeffers finished fourth to take the under 23 title from fifth placed Aoife O'Brien with Abi Conway taking the bronze in seventh place.
After an impressive victory in the junior women's time trial championship on Thursday night, Aliyah Rafferty stormed to victory in the junior women's race, finishing over a minute and a half clear of Greta Lawless of Dawson racing who outsprinted Dungarvan's Aoife O'Donovan for silver.
In the earlier junior men's race, Conor Murphy of Caldwell Cycles soloed clear of two breakaway colleagues to add the road race title to the time trial title he claimed on Thursday night despite an early bike change.
Rory Condon of Zappi Racing took silver at 1:22, while France-based Darragh Byrne (AS Villemur Cyclisme) outsprinted Matthew Walls of Lucan for bronze 44 seconds later. James Armstrong, who had been in the three-man break until the dying kilometres took fifth ahead of VC Glendale teammate Toby Sweetman
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Late birdies see Leona Maguire and Jennifer Kupcho keep Dow Championship hopes alive
Leading by one stroke overnight, they were four over for the day with two holes to play when Kupcho made birdie putts on the last two greens. Their two-over 72 left them tied for fourth on 11 under, just two strokes behind Sarah Schmelzel and Albane Valenzuela. The US-Switzerland duo shot a 68 in the day three foursomes to lead by one stroke on 12 under from Belgium's Manon de Roey and France's Pauline Rossin-Bouchard and Koreans Jin Hee Im and Somi Lee at Midland Country Club. 'I think they were huge,' Maguire said of their two closing birdies. 'I think it gives us a chance going into tomorrow. 'Just really got nothing going today, but we tried to stay patient and keep giving ourselves chances; we eventually did on the last holes. Jen holed two great putts.' Playing under the team name the Irish Goodbyes, Maguire and Kupcho bogeyed the first, eighth, ninth and 16th before their late birdie brace left them in a three-way tie for fourth. 'There wasn't a whole lot of talk between each other,' Kupcho confessed. 'Myself personally, I just was leaving a couple of putts short. 'I hit a couple of good shots that really just ended up in bad spots. So I just told myself it was a good swing. Just move on. 'That's pretty much what we did. I feel like we took it how was it and kept fighting.' Despite their struggles, they know they still have a chance in the fourball betterball format after carding a ten under 60 to take the lead on Friday. 'Just try and go low and try and post a number early and see what happens,' Maguire said of their Sunday game plan. 'I think it was nice to see two putts go in at the end.' At the Amundi German Masters on the Ladies European Tour, Malaysia's Shannon Tan carded a five-under 68 to lead by three shots from England's Hannah Screen on 12 under. Anna Foster made five birdies in a level par 73 to share 13th on two under, while Lauren Walsh was 29th on one over after a 76.
The 42
10 hours ago
- The 42
Mia Griffin crowned women's elite national road race champion
MIA GRIFFIN HAS been crowned the women's elite national road race champion after a brilliant performance in Meath. Riding with Roland, Griffin used her experience to edge out Cinisca's Caoimhe O'Brien and Dan Morrisey rider Marine Lenihan at the line. The leading group of ten riders could not shake each other, despite several attacks from reigning National Champion Fiona Mangan and U23 rider Lucy Benezét Minns. Benezét Minns eventually got a break going into the last lap, with the gap reaching 17 seconds at it's widest point. The group of nine riders behind left it until just 2km from the end to catch the Lotto rider, setting up a bunch sprint to decide the title. Advertisement 'I've dreamed of winning a national championship for so long, it honestly just hasn't set in yet,' Griffin said after winning her first national championship. 'I know when Lucy [Benezét Minns] gets a good lead she can really suffer and push through, so I was determined to make sure we worked together in the group to catch her.' The Elite race was also combined with the U23 race. Narrowly missing out on the overall podium, Emma Jeffers of Liv Alulu Jayco took the U23 title. She finished ahead of Das Hutchinson's Aoife O'Brien and Westport's Abi Conway. The Junior Women's race took off a few minutes after the Elite and U23 race. Aliyah Rafferty took a big lead early on and managed to hold it for the duration. Dawson Racing's Greta Lawless and Dungarvan's Aoife O'Donovan battled to try and close the gap, but ultimately ended up second and third respectively. Rafferty, riding for Tofauti, added the road race National Championship to her Time-Trial National Championship won on Thursday evening. The Junior Men's race took place earlier in the day as Conor Murphy, James Armstrong and Rory Condon made an early break. Murphy and Condon eventually managed to shake Armstrong, who was eventually caught by the two chasers Darragh Byrne and Matthew Walls. Murphy managed to shake Condon, and ultimately rode solo to the win ahead of Condon in second. Walls and Byrne ended up in a sprint for third, with Byrne coming out on top. The elite men's race follows tomorrow.
Irish Independent
15 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Mia Griffin claims victory in national road race cycling championships
Kilkenny woman Griffin, riding for the Switzerland-based Roland team, was part of a ten strong group that dominated proceedings for most of the race. This front group also contained last year's winner Fiona Mangan (Winspace Orange Seal), Caoimhe O'Brien (Cynicsa), Aoife O'Brien (DAS Hutchinson), Linda Kelly (Spin the Bean), Emma Jeffers (Liv AlUla Jayco), Lucy Benezet Minns (Lotto Ladies), Abi Conway of Westport Covey and Dan Morrissey duo Marine Lenehan and Aine Doherty. After a cagey affair for much of the day, defending champion Mangan put in a couple of attacks on the final of four 25km laps. This sparked several counter attacks from her breakaway colleagues, none of which stuck until Benezet Minns took off solo with around 12km to go. A strong time triallist, Benezet Minns opened a gap of 18 seconds as she passed through the finish line and went out onto the 9.4km finishing circuit. Her lead began to dwindle however as the nine chasers got their act together and worked hard to bring her back. Her advantage fell to ten seconds with 5km to go and the junior road race and time trial champion for the past two years was caught just inside the final kilometre. In the gallop for the line, Kilkenny woman Griffin used her track speed to blitz the sprint and take the title by a bike length from Caoimhe O'Brien, with Marine Lenehan taking the bronze. Emma Jeffers finished fourth to take the under 23 title from fifth placed Aoife O'Brien with Abi Conway taking the bronze in seventh place. After an impressive victory in the junior women's time trial championship on Thursday night, Aliyah Rafferty stormed to victory in the junior women's race, finishing over a minute and a half clear of Greta Lawless of Dawson racing who outsprinted Dungarvan's Aoife O'Donovan for silver. In the earlier junior men's race, Conor Murphy of Caldwell Cycles soloed clear of two breakaway colleagues to add the road race title to the time trial title he claimed on Thursday night despite an early bike change. Rory Condon of Zappi Racing took silver at 1:22, while France-based Darragh Byrne (AS Villemur Cyclisme) outsprinted Matthew Walls of Lucan for bronze 44 seconds later. James Armstrong, who had been in the three-man break until the dying kilometres took fifth ahead of VC Glendale teammate Toby Sweetman
