UCD Cycling Club hosted the 2011 Inter-varsity Road Race Championships in Batterstown, Co. Meath on Saturday, 13th of August. It was the first edition of this race since 2008 and the Belfield team were determined to compete for both the Men’s and Women’s Team prizes.

The Men’s team was made up of current Club Captain, Ian Richardson, Gavin Haberlin, Ross Collins, Robert Manning, Thomas Doyle and Gearóid Duane, while the Women’s team consisted of Niamh Stephens, Heather Boyle and Claire Robinson.

The Championship got off to the best possible start from a UCD perspective as Ian Richardson – a specialist against the clock – romped to victory in the 8.9km time trial. NUIG’s Charles Prendergast was 10 seconds behind and UCC’s Richard Hooton was third fastest. Gavin Haberlin put in a very fast time to place 5^th but most importantly, the team built up a 1 minute and 3 second advantage over their nearest challengers DCU going into the afternoon road race.

The Women’s TT was won by Belfast Met College and Irish international rider, Rachel Withers. Niamh and Heather finished 2^nd and 3^rd respectively. With Claire Robinson finishing 4^th, they were firmly in control of the team award.

The second stage of the inter-varsity consisted of laps of a 21km circuit. UCD remained firmly focused on the team classification at the expense of individual awards, even if it meant that overall leader Ian Richardson would have to sacrifice his position. After some aggressive riding in the opening 2 laps, UCD found themselves with 2 riders (Gavin and Ross) in the leading group of 6 and another 2 (Ian and Thomas) in the chasing group of 7 which augured well for the team. Pre-race favourites, Tim O’Regan (DCU) and Charles Prendergast (NUIG) attacked from the leading group of 6 on the 3rd and final lap. Prendergast pipped O'Regan for the gold medal in the photo finish and University of Limerick’s Stephen Clancy was next home to claim a bronze medal.

There was plenty of action from the UCD team in the Women’s 2 lap race. Heather attacked after just a couple of kms and built up the sizeable lead she sought to challenge for the individual gold medal. Her brave move was pegged back and as she was caught, it was the turn of Niamh to attack. She opened up a decent gap at one stage but unfortunately she was caught in the closing metres of the race and lost out to Rachel Withers on the line and had to settle for silver again. Heather was next to finish to claim her second bronze medal of the day.

In the team category – which was prioritized by the Club – both the men and women ensured a UCD double. Gavin, Ian and Ross finished 5^th, 6^th and 9^th overall and that was good enough to claim the prize whereas the women were even more dominant with Niamh, Heather and Claire finishing 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th overall. Niamh, adding to her 2007 & 2008 team wins, set a new Championship Record by becoming the first woman to win 3 Inter-varsity Cycling team titles. The men were elated to have achieved their goal of winning the team award, a feat last achieved in Limerick in 1996 and two members of that victorious team of 15 years earlier, Club founding members, Cormac and Maoilíosa Ó Dubhthaigh, were on hand to congratulate the riders.

The Club would like to thank all those who helped with the running of the varsities, especially Gavin Haberlin.

Results:

Men’s Individual Time Trial
1^st  Ian Richardson                    (U.C.D) 11:32
2^nd Charles Prendergast            (N.U.I.G.) 11:42
3^rd  Richard Hooton                  (U.C.C.) 11:47

Men’s Individual Road Race
1^st  Charles Prendergast            (N.U.I.G.) 1:26:18
2^nd Tim O Regan                      (D.C.U.) @ same time
3^rd  Stephen Clancy                  (U.L.) @ 27 secs

Men’s individual Overall
1^st  Charles Prendergast            (N.U.I.G.) 1:37:00
2^nd  Tim O'Regan                      (D.C.U.) @ 1 min 22 secs
3^rd  Richard Hooton                  (U.C.C.) @ 1 min 32 secs

Men’s Team Overall: University College Dublin

(Gavin Haberlin, Ian Richardson, Ross Collins, Thomas Doyle, Robert Manning & Gearóid Duane)

Women’s Individual Time Trial
1^st  Rachel Withers                   (Belfast Met College) 14:20
2^nd  Niamh Stephens                 (U.C.D.) 14:59
3^rd  Heather Boyle                    (U.C.D.) 15:17

Women’s Individual Road Race
1^st  Rachel Withers                   (Belfast Met College) 1:05:39
2^nd  Niamh Stephens                 (U.C.D.) @ same time
3^rd  Heather Boyle                    (U.C.D.) @ 4 mins 25 secs

Women’s Individual Overall
1^st  Rachel Withers                   (Belfast Met College) 1:19:59
2^nd  Niamh Stephens                 (U.C.D.) @ 39 sec
3^rd  Heather Boyle                    (U.C.D.) @ 5 mins 22 secs

Women’s Team Overall: University College Dublin

(Niamh Stephens, Heather Boyle, Claire Robinson)