Irish Cycling fans turned out in their droves as 8,000 people attended the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Dublin stage in the Sport Ireland Campus on Sunday, December 11th.

And the strong support from the Irish cycling community made for a fantastic atmosphere as spectators enjoyed all the action.

Sunday’s action was part of a weekend that featured a host of support races on Saturday, December 10th, that gave U14 and U16 boys and girls and domestic senior and masters riders the chance to ride the World Cup course.

Flanders Classics CEO Tomas Van Den Spiegel said: "This first Dublin round was an absolute success. Those 8.000 fans enjoying the first UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup on Irish soil turned the Sport Ireland Campus into a fantastic winter cycling event. We hope everyone loved this as much as we did, and we are happy to look at the possibility of coming back here next season."

Sport Ireland CEO Dr. Una May said: “Sport Ireland is really thrilled to have seen so many people here on the Sport Ireland Campus today having a fantastic time and a great experience at this event. I hope that everybody enjoyed it as much as the riders seem to have enjoyed it as well as all our visitors from overseas. The event has been a huge success.”

Belgian champion Wout van Aert finished took the headlines as he surged to the lead in the penultimate lap and held the gap to take victory in the men’s elite race.

In the women’s elite race, Dutch duo Fem Van Empel and Puck Pieterse battled at the front of the race throughout before Van Empel pulled away in the final straight to take the win.

Oliver Akers and Katie Reilly were the winners in the morning’s UCI junior races.

RESULTS

Junior Men
1. AKERS Oliver 17 GBR
2. GRINDLEY Sebastian 16 GBR
3. O'BRIEN Liam 17 IRL 5
4. MULLEN Joseph 16 IRL
5. FERRITY Oisin 17 IRL
6. HARKNESS Travis 17 IRL

Junior Women
1. REILLY Katie 17 IRL
2. WALLACE Elena 17 GBR
3. LINDSAY Zoe 16 IRL
4. HAYES Hannah 16 IRL
5. BENNETT Chloe 16 IRL

Elite Men
1. VAN AERT Wout JUMBO-VISMA BEL 1994 59:36
2. SWEECK Laurens CRELAN - FRISTADS BEL 1993 +0:14 30
3. PIDCOCK Thomas INEOS GRENADIERS GBR 1999 +0:17 25
4. VAN DER HAAR Lars BALOISE TREK LIONS NED 1991 +0:19
5. VANTHOURENHOUT Michael PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL BEL 1993 +0:22
6. ADAMS Jens BELGIUM BEL 1992 +0:33

Elite Women
1. VAN EMPEL Fem PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL NED 2002 47:13
2. * PIETERSE Puck ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK NED 2002 +0:02
3. BETSEMA Denise PAUWELS SAUZEN - BINGOAL NED 1993 +1:37
4. VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge 777 NED 1999 +2:26
5. * SCHREIBER Marie TORMANS CYCLO CROSS TEAM LUX 2003 +2:27
6. BAKKER Manon CRELAN - FRISTADS NED 1999 +3:39


Full results from the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup Dublin can be found here...