Games over, at least for the quintet of Irish cyclists. It has been a sobering Olympics for most of our competitors - Sonia O' Sullivan excepted. For most the tale of Sydney has been of personal bests unreached, pre-competition expectations not being realised.
It has been no different for our cyclists. Robin Seymour and Tarja Owens both had targeted top-20 finishes in the mountain bike cross-country events; Seymour rode well to lose by just over 11 minutes to gold medallist Miguel Martinez, but found himself 28th at the end of two hours 20 minutes of racing. Owens, a late call-up to the Games, was lapped after mechanical problems and was classified 29th. Nevertheless, Seymour has the consolation of a more-than-respectable performance against the world's best, while 23-year-old Owens has many more years to improve and develop as a cyclist.
Best performance of the five goes to 1996 Olympian David McCann. The 27-year-old was prominent near the front of the main bunch throughout, made an audacious attack against the world's finest cyclists in the closing stages and came in just one minute 38 seconds behind winner Jan Ullrich. Forget his finishing position of 43rd, McCann was part of the main bunch sprinting for 14th place alongside such established names as Erik Zabel, Marco Pantani, Alex Zuelle, plus current and past world champions Oscar Friere, Oscar Camenzind and Laurent Brochard.
A most impressive ride for an amateur and one which warrants a pro contract.
Ireland's current professional, Ciaran Power, finished alongside former Tour de France stage winner Viacheslav Ekimov, and ahead of tipped-riders Stuart O'Grady and Peter Van Peteghem, but was disappointed with his 74th place of the 158 starters. However, he has had a long first season as a professional and will come back refreshed next season to build on his strong debut.
Deirdre Murphy (41), the New York cyclist, never settled into the women's road race, losing contact early on and then pulling out of the race when she punctured. Disconsolate with her DNF, the performance will once again prompt complaints from those who lost out under what they considered an unfair selection process.
In particular, France-based Geraldine Gill will feel aggrieved, yet national team director Richie Beatty was adamant before the Games that Murphy had the better career record.
FIXTURES
Sunday: Munster MTB Championships, Faungorth, Kenmare. Sign on 11 a.m. senior, junior, under-age.
IVCA/Cycleway's "2 up" time trial, starts Black Bull at 11 a.m..
Racing Hearts Mater Hospital leisure cycle, 25, 50 and 100 miles. Starts Eccles street, 10 a.m.. LCF/Cyclesuperstore Leisure League 2000. Racing Hearts cycle. Contact Joseph MacAvin 01 8302061.
