Round 4 of the Irish Cross-country Mountain Bike National Point Series took place on Sunday 15 June 2025 in a new venue of Carey’s Castle Forest, Glenabbey, County Waterford. This venue was close to the Waterford/Tipperary border with Clonmel the nearest town on the other side of the River Suir. Host club Clonmel MTB had used the venue previously for enduro races. Carey’s castle, which lies in the middle of the forest, was built in the 1800s by the Carey family and now lies as a ruin. For this event, the castle formed part of the full circuit with competitors able to race through its courtyard. The forest had a mixture of fast downhill single track trails, grass expanses, a road crossing, long climbs up the forest roads, some single track climbs before returning to the main event field. The club had obtained permission from Tom the landowner to use his two fields as the event field including the parking area. The fields were on a slope so the riders had a zigzag climb back up to the finish line. The course itself was in good condition. The weather over the weekend was warm and dry with only a short, heavy shower on Saturday. Those travelling down from the Dublin direction faced heavy rain along the east coast on Saturday but in Waterford it was a great weekend.

Weather for Saturday practice

Doing race commentary for the youth races was Eunan Campbell – his first time on the mic.  Thanks Eunan.  Keith Colville then took over for the later races.

The Under 6s had a short course around the main event area, tackling the long grass for two laps. Well done to the 9 young riders.

Under 6s lined up

The Under 8s course was in a figure eight. Evan McTavish (Western Lakes CC) made short work of this circuit completing 7 laps in the target time of 5 minutes. This was his fourth win from four rounds. Thomas Ryan finished second with Fionn Fitzgerald (Un-Attached Munster) completing the boys’ podium in third place. Among the girls Katie Cashin took the win with Fiadh Bradley (Un-Attached Leinster) second, Evie Delea (Fermoy Cycling Club) third and Grainne Bradley (Un-Attached Leinster) fourth.

The Under 10s course took them out of the main field into the single track descent. They reappeared at the bottom of the field and had the zigzag climb back up to the finish line. Finn McTavish (Western Lakes CC) had led for the first 2 of 5 laps but it was Josh Ruddell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) who went on to take the win. Finn was second with John Donovan (Fermoy Cycling Club) third and Daniel McGrath (Fermoy Cycling Club) fourth. Ríonach Campbell (Square Wheels) won the girls’ race and finished just behind Josh Ruddell. Marian Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) was second placed girl and finished just behind Finn McTavish.

The Under 12s was an extension of the Under 10s course taking them further into the forest. Benjamin Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) lead the race for all 4 laps. Max McGrath (Fermoy Cycling Club) was second with Brian Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club) third and Nathan Baker (Breffni Wheelers) fourth. Lewis Bell (Shelbourne/Orchard CC) was expected to be at the front of the race but a mechanical on lap 1 scuppered that plan. Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) put on another strong performance winning the girls’ race, finishing third overall. Lara Burton (Un-Attached Leinster) was second with Sophia Quigley (Waterford Racing Club) third.

Around noon the Under 14s, Under 16s, Senior 1 women, Senior 2 women and Senior 4 open riders lined up in the lower field to begin their race. On the course was a shortcut for the Under 14s to take. All other riders *should* have completed the full lap.

In the Under 14 boys’ race we were expecting the usual close battle between James Cunningham (Team WORC) and Oscar Moran (EPIC MTB) but James put in some very fast lap times to win comfortably ahead of Oscar at this event. These two riders now tie on points across the series so it will be down to the final round to decide the overall winner. Cian Walsh (IMBRC) was third with Ronan Patrick McCarthy (MBCC) fourth. Ava Baker (Breffni Wheelers) won the Under 14 girls’ race ahead of Ciara O’Connor (Drogheda Wheelers).

In the 3 lap Under 16 boys race Fionn Crinion (IMBRC) was the first to appear back to the main field, unfortunately having accidently taken the Under 14s shortcut. The Under 16 boys race was won by Shane O’Brien (Fermoy Cycling Club) with Conor Regan (Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial) second and Darragh O’Keeffe (EPIC MTB) third. There was one entry for the Under 16 girls race with Ysabella Huele (TC Racing) completing 2 laps.

The Senior 4 open race was held over 2 laps. Michael Coghlan (Killarney Cycling Club) took the chequered flag finishing ahead of William Rock (EPIC MTB) with James Ryan (Clonmel MTB Club) third, John Moran (EPIC MTB) fourth and Justin Doherty (Dunloy CC) fifth.

The Senior 2 women had 2 laps of the full course for their race. Fiona Lally (EPIC MTB) got her third straight wain of the series. Catriona Wheeler (Agivey Cycling Club) was second with Sinead Greenan (Galway MTB) just getting ahead of Aine Maccarthy (Sorrento CC) at the end of the race to take third and fourth respectively.

There were only two entries for the Senior 1 women’s race. Tara Brennan (Team Giant Dublin) appeared first after accidently taking the Under 14 shortcut on lap 1. Joanna Bula (Team WORC) went on to win the 3 lap race.

At 2 pm the final races for the day lined up. First away were the riders in the Senior 1 open category along with the single entry in the Junior men’s race – Ben O’Keeffe (Newcastle West Cycling Club). Ben had to complete 3 laps. The Senior 1s had to complete 5 laps. Also starting were the Senior 2s and Senior 3s.

The Senior 3 race was held over 3 laps. There were 32 riders in this category. Leading from start to finish was Michal Metlicka (Club Rothaiochta Na Sionainne). Anthony Testa (Gaeltacht.cc) was second with Fergal Kilkenny third, Enda McLoughlin (Un-Attached Connacht) fourth and Peter Davey (Un-Attached Ulster) fifth.

The Senior 2 riders had 4 laps to complete. Michael Burton (Team WORC) finally made it to the top step of the podium after finishing third at Round 2 and second at Round 3. Current series leader Colm Bradley (EPIC MTB) was second with last round’s winner Ian O’Connell (Team WORC) having to settle for third. Barry Kellett (Dromara Cycling Club) was fourth and John Mason (All human/VeloRevolution Racing Team) was fifth.

David Montgomery (Spellman-Dublin Port) looked strong across all 5 laps in the Senior 1 race to take the win. Behind him was a close battle between team mates Daniel Brickenden and Robin Seymour (both with Team WORC). Daniel managed to hold off the legend that is Robin Seymour. Nathan Kurensky (Dan Morrissey Pissei Cycling Team) was fourth with Lee Clarke (Cycleology Racing Team) fifth. A big thanks to Senior 1 rider Gareth McKee who stopped to support fallen rider Colm O’Byrne (Senior 3) and escorted him back to the finish and the ambulance.

A huge thanks to John, Evan, Darryl, Keith and to all at Clonmel MTB Club and friends for hosting a super event in an excellent location. Thanks to Tom the landowner for the use of the field and to Coillte for the use of the forest. Thanks to Solid Gear Footwear for providing the caps and buffs for the series. The final round will be held in Ballinastoe Mountain Bike Trail, County Wicklow hosted by Biking.ie. Take note that the event timetable will be running one hour earlier to accommodate a downhill race taking place in the same location. See details here https://irishxcnps.ie/?page_id=2323.

Commissaire: Martin Grimley

Results here

Series table after 4 rounds here

Report by Martin Grimley

Photos
Trevor Nesirky (icloud) – here
Keith Colville (Facebook) – here and here
Eamon Bracken (Facebook) – here and here