It has been a long, busy campaign for some of the top men, who started racing in Malaysia on February 3rd, but a late-season surge of international activity starts on Sunday.
Eugene Moriarty, Michael McNena and Dermot Finnegan, members of the first Irish team in action in 1999 in the Tour of Malaysia, are off to Australia next month for the Herald Sun Tour from October 14th to 24th. For final preparation they take in the Melbourne to Warrnambool classic on the ninth. Ciaran Power was on the team of six in the Tour of Rhodes in Greece at the end of February, with David McQuaid and David O'Loughlin, and Power went on in March to the Tour of Egypt, where Moriarty and McNena were also involved.
On Sunday, Power, McNena and Moriarty leave for the Tour of Hokkaido in Japan, and they are joined by Paddy Moriarty and Bill Moore. When they return from that assignment, Power, McNena, Eugene Moriarty and Finnegan go to Australia with Morgan Fox.
So it's a case of "have bike will travel" for all these top men and there is still the world B championship to come in Uruguay in November. The Beechmount Cup race is at Kilmessan on Sunday, but Tommy Evans, Stephen O'Sullivan, McQuaid and O'Loughlin will be taking part in the Tour of the Peaks in Derbyshire. Robin Seymour also leads an Irish team in the world mountain bike championship at Are in Sweden over the weekend. National team director Richie Beatty has finalised the Irish team for the world under-23 championship at Verona on October 8th. There are a couple of surprises, as chosen for that assignment are McQuaid, who returns on Monday to his Italian club near Verona, O'Loughlin, Derek Finnegan, Keith Gallagher and Paul Roland.
Already chosen for the world junior title race on October 9th are the Lynch twins, Denis and Daniel, Michael Dennehy and Willie Curtin, all from the Kanturk club, with Junior Tour winner Brian Ahern.
Classic League - final placings: 1, B Kenneally 16 pts; 2, P Moriarty 8; 3, I Chivers 7; 4, D McQuaid and D O'Loughlin 6; 6, E Moriarty, S Byrne and C Bracken 5; 9, R Clarke, A Crowley and B Moore 4.
