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Glyn is Irish Hero
O’Brien leads the way at World Masters Champs
The Masters World MTB Championships took place at the weekend at Pra Loup in the Southern French Alps with Irish riders grabbing a share of glory, showing just what a great depth of talent there currently is in Irish mountain biking. These championships are for riders over the age of thirty and at the weekend almost 1000 riders from around the world took part in the French event. Riders in both DH and XCO are placed in age related classes. Top of the Irish performers was Newry’s Glyn O’Brien, the Downhill legend almost taking a world title!
On Saturday afternoon Glyn O’Brien (Team Kona/Sombrio UK) came ultra close to snatching a World title in the DH 30-34 class which had 80 entries. The much traveled Newry rider failed by a mere .36 of a second to take the World title, Glyn loosing out to Shaums March from USA. Glyn has been racing on the international stage since the age of seven, this must rank as one of his best ever performances. Irish Masters Champion Michael Cowan (Chain Reaction Cycles) finished in 28th.
The 35-39 DH class saw Cycling Ireland’s International DH team Manager Joe Ward (Chain Reaction Cycles) finish the best of the Irish lads, Joe finishing 17th out of the 78 entries. Other Irish finishers: Ian McIntyre 21st, Nigel ‘Super snapper’ Elder 55th, Paul Callan 69th, Mark Dickson DNF. Ireland had two riders in the 40-44 DH class which attracted 63 entries, Stevie Bell finishing 20th and Stephen Davidson 33rd. A superb set of results by the entire Irish DH squad.
The Irish Cross Country riders also achieved a fine set of results. Epic’s Beth McCluskey suffered heartbreak on Saturday in the 35-39 XCO event. Beth was holding second place until she was forced to retire on the second of three laps with a front wheel problem. On Sunday Beth’s brother James (Team Worc) finished a brilliant seventh out of 80 entries in the 30-34 class, fellow Team Worc rider Dave Gill was 36th.
Peter Buggle, Team Worc’s ageless wonder, grabbed sixth place in the 45-49 event, 75 riders in the entry. Epic rider John O’Reilly, still recovering from a broken elbow and at one stage this season thinking his career was in ruins, finished a superb 28th. The 35-39 class attracted 106 entries with Ireland’s number one Master Joe McCall (K-Capital/Rocky Mountain) finishing 21st. Team Worc’s Dave King-Smith was 70th.
Andy Potts
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