Dermot Cooney & Mark Donnelly-Orr | Contributing Writers
Anytime DUCC has locked horns with UCD, we have always been the underdogs. They had more and stronger riders. However, this time would be different. With three of our finest riders for the championship race, Bennett Thomson, Dermot Cooney and Mark Donnelly-Orr, we were in a position to put up a dauntless fight. In the challenge event, we have the pride of introducing one of our new riders, Paul Mannix to the peloton.
In October 2014, the All-Ireland Intervarsity Cycling Road Race Championships took place in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin, where a cycling specific track would determine the champion. The course consisted of a 1.3km circuit, which was pan flat except for a very slight drag coming over the finish line. Other than that it was a great track with perfect road quality, safe corners and sharp and sweeping turns.
This race can be summed in two words: jaw-dropping. Never before have our mouths been pulled open so unstoppably at the sight of the effort of a single rider on the domestic scene. Mannix changed that precedent. Straight from the gun, he put in a savage attack into the peloton. At first, they didn’t perceive him as a threat. But after six or seven minutes of racing, people started to try and bridge to Mannix. After a few laps, they failed. Within five laps of the finish, he lapped the field, and all he had to do was sit in and wait. He had already won. However, this wasn’t enough for him. In the DUCC tradition of putting on a show, he moved to the front and continued to put on the hurt. He did all this in runners, and not cleats, which further had the spectators (riders waiting for the start of the championship race) standing in shock and awe.
The Championship event consisted of 45 minutes of racing and another 3 laps on top of that. The championship race comprised of A3, A2 and A1 riders, with UCD coming in overwhelming force of 7 riders. One of these riders being Séan McKenna; the top ranked A1 rider in Ireland. We had no doubt he was he man to beat, but we wouldn’t let that deter us. Racing was fast and aggressive from the gun, with McKenna breaking away early from the peloton to get a solid lead in hoping to lap the field, something DUCC did in the challenge event.
Donnelly-Orr was not satisfied sitting around waiting for McKenna to wear himself out, he had to do something. He and his large frame attacked and began the unrelenting pursuit for McKenna. He entered the all too familiar pain cave in his attempts to intercept McKenna.
After a chase that lasted no more than a lap, Donnelly-Orr had him in his sights. The two began to work well together increasing the lead they had over the peloton trying to make a bridge to the breakaway as difficult as possible. Due to McKenna’s immense power, whenever Donnelly got onto his wheel, it didn’t provide much of a respite. He had to stay in the red to keep his wheel. As the remainder of our riders realised what was happening ahead, we then took the role of suppressing any attacks from the peloton to give the breakaway the best possible chance of succeeding.
With Cooney in what turned to be the winning break, Thomson and Donnelly-Orr chased down every attack the peloton attempted. Thomson soloed off the front and was followed by another rider, but soon sat up in order to preserve DUCCs chances of a medal. Once they were reabsorbed, the DUCC riders in the peloton stayed to the front riding a controlled pace to enlarge the already difficult gap. This left the peloton to fight for minor placings in the race.
Up in the breakaway, Cooney realised what the two UCD riders were doing. They were trying to wear him out, a difficult feat. Knowing this, he eased the pace in the final lap trying to get them to work, but to no avail. At 300m to go, Cooney launched his attack for the win, hoping to shake UCD off his wheel and prevent him from being boxed in. But what he feared happened. In the final corner, he went in at high speed to keep as much momentum as possible coming out of the corner. UCD cut on his inside, interfering with his line and they rode in for the win, Cooney coming over the line with 4th.
With the winning break half a lap ahead, one rider went long to snatch 5th place, with the remains of the peloton sprinting for the remaining places. A UCD rider attempted to outpace Donnelly-Orr for the line, leaving him with 7th place.
Our tactics throughout the race were near perfect with us riding aggressively, which aided us in gaining an excellent result for this time of year. From the day, we won the challenge event, and 4th place in the Championship race, so all in all a great close to a record breaking season, with riders claiming over 5 wins throughout.
