Errigal Youth Tour

Errigal Cycling Club hosted the 4th Errigal International Youth Tour over the three days of the August Bank Holiday weekend (July 30th, 31st , August 1st), The event is among the top youth races in the Irish Calendar and a race that attracts the very best in youth cyclists from the UK, Europe and beyond. Three of our youths, Ronan Fanning in the U16’s and Ronan O’Connor & Lara Gillespie in the U14’s - took part and they had an exciting and eventful weekend . Here the two Ronan’s tell us about their experience.

Ronan Fanning

I spent the bank holiday weekend up in Donegal racing for Orwell Wheelers at the Errigal International Youth Tour. It was my second stage race and my first where times were used for GC. It’s the top youth cycling event in Ireland. We had 4 stages over 3 days. They told us in advance it would be hilly terrain and they were honest. Lara Gillespie and Ronan O’Connor were there for the U14’s too. I was in the U16’s race. All the top Irish youths were there and there were teams from Belgium, Isle of Man, South Africa and Scotland as well.


Waiting in the “starting pen” (photo with thanks to Paul Fanning)

Stage 1 was on Saturday afternoon. It was 5 laps of a 9.4km circuit starting and finishing in the village of Churchill. The pace was fast and the laps were hilly. I got a good start and was comfortable with the front bunch for the first three laps. Somewhere along the fourth lap I got on the wrong wheel and when a gap opened I couldn’t get back. I finished about 3 and a half minutes down on the main group. I was 42 in GC out of 103. There’d been a few crashes and falls but luckily I avoided them all, with a few close calls.

Stage 2 was a 3.8km uphill time trial on Sunday morning. I went off at 10:56. My time was 07:15. That was good enough to hold on to 42nd spot on GC. We’d a break then until early evening because of a funeral so I had to plan food and drinks properly for the day.


Finishing Stage 1 (photo with thanks to Suzanne Clarke)

Our Stage 3 race didn’t start until 7pm. The U12’s and U14’s had gone off earlier. I didn’t usually see Lara’s and RonanO’s race as I was either in the starting pen for mine or warming up on Lara’s rollers (thanks Lara!), so it was good to see them racing today. It was still bright though and the rain held off – I was happy with that because I’d had the wind and rain for my time trial in the morning. This was 5 laps of 9.6km and included two Cat 1 climbs – one of these was the famous Keeloges Hill where all the spectators lined the road and we squeezed through with them cheering us on. That was steep and good fun. There was a crash at the very tight corner at the top of this hill at the end of Lap 1. Four or five went down. The race was fast and there were spectacular crashes. One guy hit a tree and another speed wobbled trying to avoid a bridge wall. He went over the handle bars and his back wheel hit me in the chest. Luckily I stayed up and was able to keep going. I was with the front bunch until the end of the 3rd lap. I went too hard for one of the KOM mountains stages and ended up in 3rd place for it but by doing so I didn’t have the energy to keep up with the front group when the bunch split in the next hill. I finished 4 and half minutes behind the winner.


Top of Keeloges Hill at end of Lap 1 – I’m #81 (photo with thanks to Paul Fanning)


Keelogues Hill, Stage 3 (photo with thanks to Suzanne Clarke)


St Keelogues Hill, last lap, 500m to go, I caught the guys in red (photo with thanks to Suzanne Clarke)

Stage 4 was a Criterium in Letterkenny. We had 35 minutes racing and then 5 final laps. Each lap was 1.2km. It was the fastest race I was ever in. It was flat but speeds on the straight were 50kph and more. Lapped riders were eliminated. I managed to stay with the pace all the way for the 35 minutes but the Commissionaires pulled five of us in before the 5 race laps even though we hadn’t been lapped. The same happened to Lara. That was a pity. We were not going to win but we would not have been lapped either. My mistake was I didn’t get to the front of the main group earlier.


Peleton at start of Criterium, #81 on right (photo with thanks to Paul Fanning)

I ended up 46 ex 103. My time was 03:38:54 which was just over 10 minutes behind the winner. It was a great weekend as well. I got to know all the other guys and talk to them. Everybody was happy to talk to each other after the races and in the pen before starting. They all said this was the toughest youth race, harder than the Leinster’s and the National’s. So I’m pretty happy with my times. I’ve learnt a lot. You have to be careful of the wheels you are on in case of a break. In Criteriums you have to get near the front from the start. I have to improve stamina and flat speed. I also realised that my bike position might not be right, I seem to be much higher than most, so I will also have to get that checked out. Lara and RonanO did really well too. The three of us completed all the stages and did not crash or fall. They both cheered me on after their races. I saw RonanO finish his Stage 1. I was in the pen waiting to start. He led his group in and took the group sprint really well. Lara was very unlucky on Stage 3. She had two punctures and then a mechanical on the Keeloges Hill about 500m from the finish line. Even though she ran up the hill the two girls chasing her on GC caught her. She’d have been one of top placed girls otherwise.

It was a great race. The atmosphere was great. The crowds cheered us on all the way. Coming up Keeloges Hill was like what you see on TV. I’d seriously recommend this race to all U12’s, U14’s and U16’s.

I’m now looking forward to the Leinster Youths Championships which are on this coming weekend and the Nationals which are in are in 2 weeks.

Ronan O Connor

Last weekend I took part in the Errigal International Youth Tour along with Lara Gillespie and Ronan Fanning. It is four stages over three days.

It was a great experience of fast and competitive racing. I really enjoyed the racing over three days. I loved the atmosphere before and after the stages -it was really exciting.

Stage One was 3 laps of 9.5km a lap around Churchill. It was a little bit scary at the start, there was 84 riders at the starting line, all trying to get a good start position. The race was neutralized for about 1km and then the race started. I found myself near the end of the group of riders but I fought my way back up to the fourth main group of about 10 riders.

I was really excited to be part of this group, there was international riders from South Africa and England, all working together. I loved the experience of riding and working together over those laps. I felt really strong and in control of the group. With a kilometre to go – I attacked and crossed the line ahead of my group.

Stage Two was a 3.8km uphill time trial. I felt good during this stage and crossed the line in 8mins and 7 seconds.

This stage returned to Churchill along a different route, three laps, 28.5km in total. This route had a Category One climb called Keelogues. I was nervous again at the start of this race. All the riders were together waiting in a fenced pen waiting to be let out to the starting line – we were there for about 45 mins – this was the worst part. When they opened the gates there was lots of elbows and pushing. I didn’t get off to a good start. This stage was very fast and it was difficult to catch up to the main groups but I was happy with my performance and worked my way back up the group.

I really enjoyed the climb at Keelogues. It was a tough climb but there was people cheering all along the climb urging us on. It was really exciting.

Stage four was the criterium around the streets of Letterkenny. It was a 1.3km loop. We raced for 25mins and then raced for a final 5 laps.

I was with the main peloton heading out over the first km when a rider went down and caused a big pileup. I just narrowly dogged the crash and the race had to be neutralised. All the riders set off again.

This time the race went at a very fast pace and after 2 laps I dropped out of the front group and found myself in smaller group in the middle of race. Our group was pulled in towards the end of the race but I was really happy that we were able to stay out for as long as we did and happy with my place.

It was really exciting be part of the Errigal Tour. It was great to be able to watch Ronan Fanning ride in the U16 race who did really well over the three days. Lara was riding in my race and even though she had problems with her bike on stage three, Lara did really well. It was great to have two Orwell Wheeler teammates with me at Errigal, that was a big part of the weekend.

Overall I finished 56th out of 85 in the U14 category over a very exciting weekend. I’m already looking forward to coming back next year and finishing stronger. But for now it is back to training and getting ready for the Youth National Championship in Kanturk in three weeks.

And courtesy of Edmond here is a clip of Lara doing the Froomey – you’d wonder what was going through the guy’s head who can be heard on the clip – maybe he has seen it all before.

And finally , some photos that capture the event (with thanks to Edmond O'Connor, Suzanne Clark & Paul Fanning)