Popham places fifth

Cycling News round-upTalented young Irish downhiller Jamie Popham placed a superb fifth in the junior race at the European mountainbike championships in Graz, Austria over the weekend, a scorching performance which confirms his potential in the sport.

The Wicklow rider finished 13 seconds behind the gold medallist Gee Atherton of Britain and just one second off the bronze medal position.

Fellow Irish riders Ben Reid, Andrew Smith and Greg O'Keefe also rode very strongly, finishing 20th, 24th and 29th in the race.

The senior riders also performed with distinction at the championships, with John Lawlor a fine 22nd, 18 seconds off the winning time set by Frenchman Julien Camellini. National champion Colin Ross was 11 seconds further back in 37th, with Glyn O'Brien 46th and Will Corry 68th.

There was however bad news from the cross-country event as Irish Olympic hope Tarja Owens suffered a serious setback to her chances of reaching Athens when she crashed and cracked her collarbone. The unlucky Wicklow rider was unable to finish the event and is likely to miss several weeks of competition.

Jenny McCauley took 12 points for her solid 39th in the same race, while Robin Seymour rode strongly during the men's race, won by Ralph Näf of Switzerland. Seymour was running inside the top thirty for much of the event but then faded on the final lap, eventually taking NINE points for his 42nd place. Lewis Ferguson was a solid 55th in the junior cross-country race, 14 minutes and 53 seconds behind Czech winner Jaroslav Kulhavý.

Elsewhere, Mark Scanlon continued on from his impressive ride in the recent Tour of Denmark when he took an excellent sixth place in the top ranked GP Ouest France in Plouay, Brittany yesterday.

The 22-year-old went clear in a small breakaway group during the 198km event and selflessly reeled in an attack by Joseba Albizu (Mercantone Uno) inside the final kilometre, setting the stage for a sprint win by his Ag2r team-mate Andy Flickinger.