Young Irish rider Liam O’Brien showed clear promise in his international cyclocross debut on Sunday, overtaking over half the field to finish 19th in the junior race at the European cyclocross championships.
The national under-16 criterium champion is stepping up to the junior ranks and, lacking international experience, was gridded only 51st out of 65 starters in the event. That didn’t deter him though, with the Corkman overhauling rider after rider to eventually finish inside the top 20 in the event.
First to the line was the Belgian Aaron Dockx, who beat David Haverdings
(Netherlands) and Luca Paletti (Italy) by over 40 seconds.
O’Brien was originally to be one of two Irish riders in the event, but Travis Harkness was forced to miss travelling to the race due to illness.
Meanwhile there were two Irish competitors in the under-23 women’s race.
Darcey Harkness was 28th and Roisin Lally placed 31st.
In other news, Liam Collins was elected president of Cycling Ireland at Saturday’s AGM, taking over from outgoing president Ciaran McKenna.
Newcastle West Wheelers member Collins has multiple national titles to his credit and more recently has been running various events including last year’s national road championships. He has been working in finance for over two decades and is currently the group finance director at the Saint John of God Hospitaller Services Group.
“I am honoured to be elected as President of Cycling Ireland,” he said.
“The sport of cycling in Ireland has a rich history and has produced some of Ireland’s most memorable sporting moments. It is also one of the largest participation sports in Ireland and as such has enormous potential. I am looking forward to working with members of the cycling community to further develop the sport.”
Also elected were two members of the board of directors. Carl Fullerton extends his previous role while Conor Campbell takes up the position.
The full board comprises Fullerton and Campbell, Collins, Brendan Tallon (vice president), Anthony Mitchel (secretary), Eugene Moriarty (treasurer), Orla Carolan and Noel Mulroy.
European Cyclocross Championships, Col du Vam, Drenthe, The Netherlands:
Junior men: 1 Aaron Dockx (Belgium) at 47 mins 6, 2 D Haverdings
(Netherlands) at 47, 3 L Paletti (Italy) at 48, 4 V Vandenberghe
(Belgium) at 59, 5 M Huising (Netherlands) at 1’ 8
Other: 19 L O'Brien (Ireland) at 2' 55
Under 23 women: 1 Shirin van Anrooij (Netherlands) 44 mins 9, 2 P Pieterse (Netherlands) at 17, 3 F van Empel (Netherlands) at 1’ 3, 4 L Burquier (France) at 1’ 19, 5 A Fouquenet (France) at 1’ 40
Other: 28 D Harkness (Ireland) at 2 laps, 31 R Lally (Ireland) at 3 laps
