Open Racing

Orwell are very active on the national scene - see all the results and reports from open races here.

The weekend was another busy one, starting on Saturday with Rachel Glendon taking home a national medal, and former member Lydia Boylan taking the top of the podium in a regional champs in the UK! On Sunday, while our eyes were on the start of the An Post Rás, at least two Orwell Wheelers were busy elsewhere: Philippe Bourdarias took a fighting third spot in A3 Emyvale, while A4 Neil Whelan also scooped a brilliant third in Dungarvan!

Tomorrow sees the start of the An Post Rás 2013: eight days of suffering for amateur and pro riders alike, with the longest stage being 160 km, and the penultimate one winding through the Wicklow mountains. For the second year running Orwell will be entering a five-man team to compete for the county prizes, we profile them below!

Sunday's A4 Dunsany GP once again provided an Orwell rider with a maiden win, as David Halpin followed in Eric's Downey's footsteps to surge up the finishing ramp and outsprint all other comers! Halpin took home some magnificent glassware, and a well-deserved upgrade to A3. Read on to hear about that win, and plenty of other results for the club over the weekend!

The May bank holiday weekend was a busy one on the racing scene for Orwell, with riders active in Ulster, Cork and the UK. But it was the Frank O'Rourke Memorial in Wexford that saw the best result for the club, with Jamie Busher sealing his upgrade to A3 with a 2nd place that was inches from an outright win.

Orwell's Sandra Telford once again showed her sprinting prowess by winning the bunch gallop to take fine second place at the National League race in Bohermeen on Sunday, while Junior rider Rachel Kaye Mellor underlined her ability to mix it with the Seniors by taking seventh. Two A4s netted their first placings of the season - David Halpin finished 5th in the A4 race on Sunday, and Neil Whelan got an unplaced prize at Mondello on Tuesday.