Ryan Mullen (Bora-hansgrohe) beat defending champion and Giro d’Italia stage winner Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) to win the Irish time trial championships on Thursday evening, taking the title for the sixth time in his career.
The times of the WorldTour professionals were close throughout the 31.2 kilometre test in Dungannon, with Mullen accelerating towards the end to prevail by eight seconds. Last year’s silver medallist George Peden (Team PB Performance) put in a great ride to finish just 34 seconds behind Mullen in third.
“I came in really nervous,” Mullen said. “Everyone knows how well Ben Healy has been going this year. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think I could beat him. I don’t do a great deal of TT work any more, I focus most of my training on lead outs and being a bit more punchy but I was motivated and I gave what I had on the day and it was enough.”
He is one of Sam Bennett’s leadout men in the Bora-hansgrohe team and has changed his approach to the sport as a result. However his natural ability as a time trial rider stood to him.
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“I grew up doing TTs. Even though I’ve taken my eye off the ball a little bit in the last number of years I love them and am passionate about them.”
He will now wear the distinctive white and green national champion’s kit in time trials. “Obviously it’s a huge honour to wear this jersey, it’s the biggest race of the year.”
The women’s race saw a more dominant victory by defending champion Kelly Murphy (AWOL-OSHEA). She covered the distance almost two full minutes quicker than 2022 runner-up Joanna Patterson (Wahoo Le Col). Linda Kelly (Spin the Bean Power by Coffee) was a further 16 seconds back in third.
“I’m really relieved I think I can relax for another year,” Murphy said. “Every year I feel like the competition hits up and new people appear. I feel like people learn about the game and so it gets tougher every year, so I’m very, very happy.
“You spend a lot of time training on your own so you never know where you’re going to compare next to other people, I guess. So it’s nice to know it pays off.”
Hosted by Island Wheelers, the course had a final drag to the line which gave the stronger riders a chance to dig in and make the difference.
Brothers and local riders Darren and Aaron Rafferty were best in the under 23 and junior categories respectively. Darren Rafferty recently finished a superb second overall in the Giro Next Gen, the under 23 Giro d’Italia, and used that form to finish more than 30 seconds ahead of runner-up Dean Harvey, winning the title for the second year in a row. Harvey’s Trinity Racing team-mate Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing) was third.
Rafferty’s younger brother Aaron had a tougher battle. Last year’s bronze medallist beat Liam O’Brien (Fermoy Cycling Club) by five seconds and Patrick Casey (Anexo Group Race Team) by 12.
Lucy Benezet Minns (Tofauti Everyone Active) had a dominant win to take the junior women’s title. She was almost three minutes ahead of Aine Doherty (VC Glendale), who in turn was just over three minutes clear of Lucy Brown (Phoenix CC).
The races also encompassed the paracycling time trial championships. Those races were factored, with times weighted to enable riders of different categories to compete together.
Allister MacSorley (Unattached Ulster) beat Declan Slevin (Rosemount Cycling Club) and Seamus Wall (Barrow Wheelers) to take the handbikes title.
C4 European champion Ronan Grimes (Orwell Wheelers) beat William Clifford (Galway Bay CC) and Chris Burns (Banbridge CC) in the C class, while Damien Vereker and Marc Mizgajski (Comeragh CC) triumphed in the tandems. The pairings f Donnacha McCarthy and Sean Husband (Sandymount Dodder Wheelers) plus Josephine Healion and Jennifer Bates secured silver and bronze.
Racing continues in Dungannon on Saturday when the senior women’s and junior men’s races take place.
The junior women’s road race and the elite/under-23 men’s road race follow on Sunday.
2023 Time Trial National Championships, Dungannon
Elite men: 1 Ryan Mullen (Bora Hansgrohe) 37′03, 2 B Healy (EF Education-Easypost) at 7.65″, 3 G Peden (Team PB Performance) at 34.42″, 4 M McLaughlin (All Human/VeloRevolution) at 1′34.76, 5 M Christie (Banbridge CC) at 1′59.09
Senior women: 1 Kelly Murphy (AWOL – OSHEA) 41′19.93, 2 J Patterson (Wahoo Le Col) at 1′56.05, 3 L Kelly (Spin the Bean Power by Coffee) at 2′12.64, 4 I Cotter (Fenix-Deceuninck) at 3′49.12, 5 A Murphy (Longcourt Hotel – NCW Wheelers) at 4′18.51
Under-23 men: 1 Darren Rafferty (Hamens Berman Axeon) 37′43.86, 2 D Harvey (Trinity Racing) at 31.68″, 3 K McCambridge (Trinity Racing) at 57.54″
Junior men: 1 Adam Rafferty (US Colomiers) 38′49.51, 2 L O’Brien (Fermoy Cycling Club) 38′54.66, 3 P Casey (Anexo Group Race Team) 39′01.79
Junior women: 1 Lucy Benezet Minns (Tofauti Everyone Active) 46′14.87, 2 A Doherty (VC Glendale) 49′03.77, 3 L Brown (Phoenix CC) 52′18.80
Paracycling results
Handbikes (factored): 1 Allister MacSorley (Unattached Ulster) 49′35.23, 2 D Slevin (Rosemount Cycling Club) 50′44.62, 3 S Wall (Barrow Wheelers) 58′32.39
C Class (factored): 1 Ronan Grimes (Orwell Wheelers) 39′47.72, 2 W Clifford (Galway Bay CC) 43′03.17, 3 C Burns (Banbridge CC) 43′36.95
Tandems (factored): 1 Damien Vereker and Marc Mizgajski (Comeragh CC) 39′28.99, 2 D McCarthy and Sean Husband (Sandymount Dodder Wheelers) 40′10.87, 3 J Healion and Jennifer Bates (Tullamore CTC) 41′14.69
