Left to right: Matthew Ward 2nd, Martyn Irvine 1st, Cathal Smyth 3rd.

Martyn Irvine of Ards Cycling Club who has recently been training with the Irish Sean Kelly team in Belgium, won last Saturday's tough Madigan Grand Prix at Kilroot.  After 55.5-miles of racing on a hilly circuit it was a sprint for the finish line between Irvine, Matthew Ward (Usher IRC) and new kid on the block Cathal Smyth (Phoenix CC) with Irvine taking it from Ward by only half a wheel and Smyth three metres behind.  The chasing bunch were 2-minutes 18 seconds behind.  The event which has been run in Carrickfergus for 19-years by Team Madigan Cycling Club was again kindly sponsored to the tune of £450 by Ronnie McKeegan proprietor of Madigan Pro Bike Centre in Carrickfergus.  This was also Ronnie's 19th year sponsoring the event.  

 

Earlier, there were several breaks on the first lap, however it was not until lap 2 of the 3 that a group of 10 broke away, Irvine, Ward and Smyth then broke clear from this group, and soon opened a 1-minute gap on the seven who were then caught by the main bunch. At the bell going into the last lap Ward, Irvine and Smyth were still working hard together as the gap remained at 1-minute on the bunch.  So determent were they, they opened the gap to 2-minutes as they reached the Lizard climb at Glynn with only the Seven Sisters climb to come.  Over the top of the Seven Sisters they were still going away from the chasing bunch, the gap was opening and at the finish at Kilroot it was 2.18.  Martyn Irvine took the sprint on the line, Matthew Ward was a very close second and Cathal Smyth third.  Richard Waters (Harps CC) won the bunch sprint for 4th place.  Liam Curran (SiS.com) was 5th and Sean Downey (Banbridge CC) was 6th.  Gordon Scott (East Antrim-Audi) was 7th and first unplaced Veteran, while his team mates Gary Cranston and Jim McConnell were 8th and 9th.  David Mulholland (Apollo RT) was 10th; Conor McAllister (Ballymena, Scotts) was 11th and first unplaced Second Cat.  John Kennedy (Apollo RT) was 12th and Thomas Martin (Clann Eireann) was 13th and first Junior.  James McMaster (Northern CC / Dave Kane) was 14th and Mel McCann (Team Madigan) was 15th.  Mel took the Tony Purnell Cup for being the first Madigan rider in the race. 

 

Rider of the race must have been Matthew Ward, the Crumlin man was in all the breakaways right from the start of the race.  He took both the tough Seven Sisters primes on laps 1 and 2 and finished runner-up overall — making him the highest prize money earner on the day.

 

Team Madigan Cycling Club wish to thank Mr Ronnie McKeegan for his kind sponsorship of the race once again.  Carrickfergus Borough Council for use of the Eden Playing Fields facilities.  Carrickfergus Police.  St Johns First Aid.  Also all the officials and club members who helped in any way with the event! 

Well done to the Madigan lads Mel McCann, Stephen Farr, Simon Stockton, Colin McCluskey and Geoff Swann for having a bash around this tough 3 lapper race!