Rory Townsend regains national champion jersey
RORY TOWNSEND WILL once again wear the National Champion jersey after the 29-year-old took the win in the Elite Men's race today, having previously been champion in 2022.
The rain that drenched the course for yesterday's Women and Junior Men's races abated but the air remained warm and heavy, making conditions tough for all riders in the race hosted by Navan Road Club and Yellow Furze Road Club.
Townsend takes home another Road National Championship 🏆
Read the full report👇https://t.co/2RrOZDv2ZN pic.twitter.com/35fojJbu1G — Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) June 29, 2025
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Local rider Sean Nolan made an early attack on his home roads but was shut down. The race saw attack after attack for the rest of the race, until a breakaway group of 10 riders got away. The group increased to 20 riders, and saw repeated attacks from Conn McDunphy and both Adam and Darren Rafferty.
The sharp climbs on every lap began taking victims, and the average pace of almost 50km/h was too much for many.
By the time the last lap came, a lead group of just four riders left the title to be decided by a sprint. Q36.5 rider Townsend got the jump on Jamie Meehan, and took the win ahead of Meehan in second and Patrick Casey in third.
Townsend said afterwards: 'It sounds crazy but this just means so much, it's the biggest thing for me, it means everything.
'A National Championship is something you always want to win as a kid, and it makes you feel like a kid when you come back here. It's the only race I come to with my family where they're my support crew, and they have to put up with me the morning of the race, so it's a big relief to pull it off.'
Along with taking silver in the overall, Meehan also took the U23 title. The AVC Aix Provence Dole rider took to the top step of the podium, ahead of Casey in second and Bahrain Victorious rider Seth Dunwoody in third.
Meehan said afterwards: 'I knew if I could have went one more time, one more move, that that'd be the move, but I just didn't have it. Disappointed to lose out to Townsend in the sprint but still delighted to take home the U23 title.'
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The 42
10 hours ago
- The 42
Rory Townsend regains national champion jersey
RORY TOWNSEND WILL once again wear the National Champion jersey after the 29-year-old took the win in the Elite Men's race today, having previously been champion in 2022. The rain that drenched the course for yesterday's Women and Junior Men's races abated but the air remained warm and heavy, making conditions tough for all riders in the race hosted by Navan Road Club and Yellow Furze Road Club. Townsend takes home another Road National Championship 🏆 Read the full report👇 — Cycling Ireland (@CyclingIreland) June 29, 2025 Advertisement Local rider Sean Nolan made an early attack on his home roads but was shut down. The race saw attack after attack for the rest of the race, until a breakaway group of 10 riders got away. The group increased to 20 riders, and saw repeated attacks from Conn McDunphy and both Adam and Darren Rafferty. The sharp climbs on every lap began taking victims, and the average pace of almost 50km/h was too much for many. By the time the last lap came, a lead group of just four riders left the title to be decided by a sprint. Q36.5 rider Townsend got the jump on Jamie Meehan, and took the win ahead of Meehan in second and Patrick Casey in third. Townsend said afterwards: 'It sounds crazy but this just means so much, it's the biggest thing for me, it means everything. 'A National Championship is something you always want to win as a kid, and it makes you feel like a kid when you come back here. It's the only race I come to with my family where they're my support crew, and they have to put up with me the morning of the race, so it's a big relief to pull it off.' Along with taking silver in the overall, Meehan also took the U23 title. The AVC Aix Provence Dole rider took to the top step of the podium, ahead of Casey in second and Bahrain Victorious rider Seth Dunwoody in third. Meehan said afterwards: 'I knew if I could have went one more time, one more move, that that'd be the move, but I just didn't have it. Disappointed to lose out to Townsend in the sprint but still delighted to take home the U23 title.'
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Irish Times
Rory Townsend, Mia Griffin best in aggressive Irish road race championships
Three years after he first won the title, Rory Townsend recouped past glories when he took the men's national road race championships in Yellow Furze in Meath on Sunday. The 29-year-old Q36.5 Pro Cycling professional was best in the sprint to the line, beating Jamie Meehan (AVC Aix Provence Dole). Patrick Casey (Israel Premier Tech Academy) and defending champion Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) were close by, finishing three and six seconds back respectively. 'It sounds crazy but this just means so much,' Townsend said. 'It's the biggest thing for me. It means everything. A national championship is something you always want to win as a kid, and it makes you feel like a kid when you come back here.' The day was full of aggressive racing, with Conn McDunphy (Team Skyline), Rafferty and his brother Adam (Hagens Berman Jayco) among the most active. The leading quartet were clear heading on to the final lap, with Townsend using his greater experience and sprinting power to triumph. READ MORE Meehan, who finished second overall in the Rás Tailteann in May, took the under-23 title. 'I knew if I could have went one more time, one more move, that that'd be the move,' the AVC Aix Provence Dole rider said. 'But I just didn't have it. I'm disappointed to lose out to Townsend in the sprint but still delighted to take home the U23 title.' Saturday's elite and under 23 women's road race featured a very aggressive performance from Lucy Benezét Minns (Lotto Ladies). The talented 19 year old, who took a superb fourth in the world championship junior time trial two years ago, attacked on the final lap and opened a gap of 17 seconds. However she was reeled in with two kilometres to go, with Mia Griffin (Roland) beating Caoimhe O'Brien (Cynicsa Cycling), Marine Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Pissei Cycling Team) and five others to the line. 'I've dreamed of winning a national championship for so long, it honestly just hasn't set in yet,' Griffin said afterwards. 'I know when Lucy gets a good lead she can really suffer and push through, so I was determined to make sure we worked together in the group to catch her.' Emma Jeffers (Liv AlUla Jayco) took fourth and the under 23 award. Aliyah Rafferty (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) won the junior women's road race on Saturday, while Conor Murphy shrugged off mechanical issues to take the junior men's title on Sunday. National road race championships, Meath Elite and under 23 men: 1 Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Procycling), 2 J Meehan (AVC Aix Provence Dole) at 1 sec, 3 P Casey (Israel Premier Tech Academy) at 3, 4 D Rafferty (EF Education Easypost) at 6, 5 S Dunwoody (Bahrain Victorious Development Team) at 29, 6 F Crockett (VolkerWessels Cycling Team), 7 G O'Neill (Athlete Nutrition Coach HD), 8 O Doogan (Team Caldwell Cycles), 9 C McDunphy (Team Skyline), 10 L O'Brien (Lidl-Trek Future Racing) at 32 Under 23: 1, Meehan, 2, Casey, 3, Dunwoody Elite and under 23 women (Saturday): 1 Mia Griffin (Roland) 3 hours 11'06, 2 C O'Brien (Cynicsa Cycling), 3 M Lenehan (Dan Morrissey Pissei Cycling Team), 4 E Jeffers (Liv Alula Jayco), 5 A O'Brien (DAS – Hutchinson), 6 F Mangan (Winspace Orange Seal), 7 A Conway (Westport Covey Wheelers Cycling Club), 8 L Kelly (Spin The Bean Power By Coffee) all same time, 9 A Doherty (Dan Morrissey Pissei Cycling Team) at 5 secs, 10 L Benezet Minns (Lotto Ladies) at 12 secs Under 23: 1, Jeffers, 2, A. O'Brien, 3, Conway Junior women's road race (Saturday): 1 Aliyah Rafferty (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) 1 hour 36'04, 2 G Lawless (Dawson Racing) at 2'41, 3 A O'Donovan (Dungarvan CC), 4 E Tandy (Tofauti Everyone Active Majaco) at 6'56, 5 F Dolan (TC Racing) same Junior men's road race (Sunday): 1 Conor Murphy (Team Caldwell Cycles) 2 hours 44'42, 2 R Condon (Zappi Racing Team) at 1'22, 3 D Byrne (Asvillemur Cyclisme) at 2'06, 4 M Walls (Lucan Cycling Road Club), 5 J Armstrong (VC Glendale) at 2'42
Irish Independent
11 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Rory Townsend sprints to victory to claim second national road race title
Townsend and Meehan were part of a large breakaway group that spent most of the day out front before fragmenting on the final 9km circuit around Yellow Furze. This early ten-man move also contained WorldTour duo Ryan Mullen (Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe) and Darren Rafferty (EF Education) and was driven along by local hero Mullen for much of the day. 'For sure, the strongest guy all day was Ryan,' said newly crowned champion Townsend afterwards. 'He really took the race to everyone, rode so strong, but in the end the aggressive nature of the race maybe caught up with him a little bit. It was carnage.' This lead group of ten whittled down to just four in the finale, with Meehan leading them out onto the final lap with just Townsend, Rafferty and Patrick Casey of Israel Premier Tech U-23 Academy able to hang on. From this group, Townsend jumped clear again with 3km to go, with only Meehan able to bridge across to him. At the finish, the bigger more powerful Townsend had the upper hand in the sprint, with Meehan having to settle for silver in the elite race and gold in the U-23. 'There was a rolling section with about 3km to go with a bit of a tailwind that suited me so that's where I clipped away from our group,' said Townsend. 'I saw I was distancing Darren [Rafferty] and, at that point, I was feeling pretty confident. I was a little bit less confident when Jamie jumped across to me, because he's such a talent. 'I just sat on him and then banged him with 300metres to go. It's pretty simple maths – 75 kilos outweighs 50 kilos in a sprint like this. Townsend was emotional after the line and was mobbed by family and friends from Waterford where his father grew up before moving to London, and where the new national champion first took up cycling during his summer holidays. ADVERTISEMENT 'It sounds crazy but this is the biggest race of the year for me,' said Townsend through tears afterwards. 'It's the only one I struggle to sleep the night before and stuff, so it's really special. It's the one race you want to win from when you're a kid, so it makes you feel like a kid every time you come back and gives you the same feeling when you win. 'It's the only race I come to with my family, where they're my support crew and they have to put up with me in the morning before the race. It's a big relief to pull it off and make some apology for my foul mood this morning. 'We've been staying down in Lemybrien. I've been doing the old roads over the last few days. I've got my brother my dad, my uncle, all my family here with me, so it's really special. This is the biggest thing for me.' Second-placed Meehan was philosophical after going home with two medals in the combined elite / U-23 race. 'To get the elite would have been special,' he admitted of his second place on the day. 'Maybe in a few days I'll be happy with winning the U-23 but for now I'm disappointed. I had to fully commit with that group of four, stay out of that big group behind because I don't have a sprint, so I wanted as few as possible with me. 'I knew if I took a chance I could maybe get away, but Townsend put in a dig. I just hit it as hard as I could and got over to him. I went over the top of him, but he jumped on. 'I gave it another dig but he held it and said he wouldn't ride. He put in an attack and I had to give everything to hold the wheel. 'I knew if could have went one more time, that was the move, but I just couldn't go one more time, so I knew coming into the finish with him it was only going to go one way really.' Patrick Casey took third overall and the silver medal in the U-23 race three seconds later, with Darren Rafferty fourth at six seconds and recent Giro NextGen stage winner Seth Dunwoody (Bahrain Victorious U-23) leading home the chase group for fifth, 29 seconds back, and taking the bronze medal in the U-23 race.
