Robin Seymour and Tarja Owens yesterday further extended their remarkable winning sequences at the Irish cross-country mountainbike championships with victory at Kilruddery Estate, near Bray. Athens-bound Seymour went clear of the rest of the field at the start of the six lap elite men contest and finished the race minutes and 17 seconds clear of Richie McCauley. He was a further minute and six seconds up on bronze medallist Don Travers.
Seymour's win was his eleventh consecutive victory in the championships. His dominance of off-road racing is such that he has also one downhill and thirteen cyclo-cross gold medals in his collection.
For her part, Owens took her tenth consecutive women's title yesterday. Like Seymour, she went clear on the first lap of her race and while silver medallist Beth McCluskey did what she could to stay in contact, Owens reached the line 57 seconds in front. Jenny McCauley finished 1 minutes and 30 seconds off the winning pace, taking third on the day.
Seymour will line out in his second Olympic Games in August. Owens had been aiming to do likewise but the Sydney Olympian lost out to McCauley in their three-race fightoff earlier this year. Finishing two places ahead of her yesterday will bring a degree of satisfaction, even if the crucial decision has already gone in McCauley's favour.
Filed by Mark O'Neill-Cummins
