New venue in Kildare announced for Irish National Road Race Championships

The 2016 Irish National Road Championships will take place in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare, from the 23-26 June.

The process of securing a location for this year’s National Championships has been a long and arduous one, with two changes in race headquarters and routes happening due to circumstances outside the control of event organisers Orwell Wheelers.

Dublin based club Orwell Wheelers had originally been successful in securing the Phoenix Park as a base for the Championships, however, the untimely visit of Joe Biden, Vice-President of the USA, to Ireland resulted in a high security alert in the city centre park, drawing on the resources of Dublin based Gardaí and forcing the event organisers to change the race location.

The race was then relocated to Blessington, Co. Wicklow, where the Gardaí and local authorities worked together with the race organisers to plan an exciting route.

Unfortunately this clashed with a local charity event that has been very important to the local community and plans were quickly made to relocate the race from the area.

The new venue for this year’s race is Kilcullen, with the Kilcullen Cycling Club kindly offering their assistance with local support for the event.

The race route in Kilcullen is a popular one with road racers, offering a challenging and competitive circuit which will suit the aggressive rider. Orwell Wheelers have Championship events in the programme for Elite Women, Elite Men, U23 Men, M40, M50 and M60 categories.

The Road Races will take place in Kilcullen over 25-26 June, with the Time Trial course being announced later in the week. Entries opened for the Championships on Wednesday, 25th May.

Cycling Ireland President Ciaran McKenna acknowledged that the event had overcome some difficult issues saying “The National Championships has come up against two unforeseen issues in the past weeks, but thanks to the patience and support of Orwell Wheelers, alternative locations and circuits were agreed with all the local authorities. Cycling Ireland would also like to acknowledge the support of the Garda Síochána and Kildare County Council who have been enormously supportive with the venue changes. A special thanks goes to Liam Walker who has been assisting Orwell Wheelers with local considerations.”

Event Overview
Time Trial Thursday 23rd 6pm start
Para Athletes 20km Athy – Kilcullen
Senior Men, Women, U23
40km Kilcullen – Athy – Kilcullen

Road Races
Saturday 25th
M40 Start Time 10.00am 4 Laps 26km circuit (104km)
M50 Start Time 10.10am 3 Laps 26km circuit (78km)
M60 Start Time 10.15am 2 Laps 26km circuit (52km)

Sunday 26th
Women’s (including Master’s) Start Time 9.00am 3 Laps 31km circuit (95km)
Men (including U23) Start Time 10.45am 6 laps 31km circuit (188km)

Circuit Details 26km Circuit Saturday’s Events
The start and finish for all races will be on Main Street in Kilcullen.

All races will proceed south, along the R448. Races will be neutralised until reaching the R448/R418 junction

Races will continue south on the R418 for 10.2 kilometres, turn left onto the L8016, continuing along this road, to Narraghmore onto the L8015, continuing to the junction of the L8015 and the R448.

Races will turn left onto the R448 and follow this road for 6.7 kilometres to the junction with the L6080, where they will again turn left, onto the L6080.

The race will follow the L6080 for 2.4 kilometres until turning left to re-join the R448. At this point the race will immediately turn left again, onto the R418 to start a new lap or finish.

Circuit Details 31km Circuit Sunday’s Events

The start and finish for all races will be on Main Street in Kilcullen. All races will proceed south, along the R448. Races will be neutralised until reaching the R448/R418 junction

Races will continue south on the R418 for 10.2 kilometres, turn left onto the L8016, continuing along this road, to Narraghmore onto the L8015, continuing to the junction of the L8015 and the R448.

Races will turn right onto the R448 and then immediately turn left onto the L8032. The route will follow the L8032 for 1.6 kilometres to turn left at a T junction. After a further 1.4 kilometres the races will turn left again passing Colbinstown Stud which is the start off the 3.3km climb before turning left again then right at Kilgowan Cottages re-joining the R448.

After 4.3 kilometres, the races will turn left and will follow the L6080 for 2.4 kilometres until turning left to re-join the R448. At this point the race will immediately turn left again, onto the R418 to start a new lap.