Bingham just misses out on cyclo-cross gold

We may be a week into 2017 but the dust has only just settled on 2016 for Cuchulainn Cycling Club's cyclo-cross riders who were in action at the National Championships in Tollymore Forest Park in Newcastle, Co Down last Sunday.

Cuchulainn had riders competing across a number of different categories, but the main eyes were on Alan Bingham in the Masters 40 race.

Having recently won gold in the Ulster Championships, Alan was one of the favourites for the event but one of his main rivals, Robyn Seymour - a two-time Olympian and a holder of over 15 national elite cyclo-cross titles - dominated on the day.

In the end, it was a tight affair with less than a minute separating the first three riders but Seymour took the gold ahead of Bingham.

The Cuchulainn CC man had a late race technical, which meant Brendan Doherty pushed him all the way for the silver medal. Martin O’Hagan and Sean Daly also competed in this category, finishing further down the field.

In the Masters 50 race, Aiden McDonald came home just outside the top five in the sixth position, in a race which saw Newry Wheelers pull off a first and second.

In the women's race, Anne Duffy had a good day by sneaking inside the top 10 to come home in ninth position. The race was dominated by full-time cyclist Beth McCluskey, who took her second consecutive national title.