{"id":580498,"date":"2026-08-02T16:09:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:09:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/580498\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T16:09:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:09:11","slug":"oneill-recovers-from-near-catastrophe-to-win-in-down-ireland-also-on-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/580498\/","title":{"rendered":"O’Neill recovers from near catastrophe to win in Down, Ireland also on top"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Gareth O’Neill went on a solo raid that very nearly came a cropper, though he had the composure, and the legs, to finish the job in Co Down (Photo: Toby Watson)<\/p>\n

Gareth O’Neill (Athlete Nutrition Coach HD) has recovered from almost throwing his chance away at the North Down GP to hold off the charging bunch and win the event for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n

Though known as a fast finisher, O’Neill is also an aggressive road man and that came to the fore today when he went solo with two laps to go in the North Down Cycling Club promotion.<\/p>\n

O’Neill had two passages of the 14.7km circuit in Donaghadee remaining when his made the move, with the C1 group already having long caught the C2s at that point of the handicapped race.<\/p>\n

However, with just one of those two laps completed, O’Neill arrived at the finish line, to go out onto the final lap, and thought the race was over.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, he was able to regroup mentally, and still had a decent gap on the chasing pack. And when Dean Harvey (McConvey Cycles) got across to him on the last lap, the duo combined well.<\/p>\n

Up the finishing straight, the bunch was breathing down their necks, with Ciaran Maguire (Dan Morrissey) going long in the sprint and making serious inroads into the slender advantage held by the two leaders.<\/p>\n

However, while Maguire ate up the road with his effort, and managed to pass Harvey, thus pushing him into 3rd place, O’Neill had done enough to win.<\/p>\n

After O’Neill, Maguire and Harvey on the podium, Nathan Mullen (Banbridge CC) was 4th, with Paul Kennedy (Burren CC) in 5th and Sean O’Kane (Orwell Wheelers) 6th.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Results<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Griffin\u2019s<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Thomas Ireland (Newry Wheelers) won the C3 race from Ryan Kane (Northern CC) and Ryan Latimer (North Down CC), with Rachel Newell (McConvey Cycles) winning the women’s category.<\/p>\n

Paul Kane (Northern CC) won the Masters race from Dolan Dunlop (Harps CC) and Jonny Webb (North Down CC).<\/p>\n

Sun, July 2nd | Haldane Fisher North Down CC<\/p>\n

Donaghadee, Co Down<\/p>\n

Promoted by North Down CC<\/p>\n

C1-C2 Race<\/p>\n

Gareth O\u2019Neill Athlete Nutrition
\nCairan Maguire Dan Morrisey
\nDean Harvey McConvey Cycles
\nNathan Mullan Banbridge CC
\nPaul Kennedy Burren CC
\nSean O\u2019Kane Orwell Wheelers
\nJames Mackey Foyle CC
\nShane Trimble Newry Wheelers
\nJack Lightfoot Saint George
\nJavan Nulty Unattached Leinster
\nPeter McLean Velo Caf\u00e9 Magasin
\nDarnell Moore Caldwell-Powerhouse
\nJames Alexander McConvey Cycles
\nElliott McKeegan Caldwell-Powerhouse
\nJonathan Coen Dromore CC<\/p>\n

C3 Race<\/p>\n

Thomas Ireland Newry Wheelers
\nRyan Kane Northern CC
\nRyan Latimer North Down CC
\nPaul Ferguson North Down CC
\nRonan Conway Bear Cycling
\nNeil Compton Dromore CC
\nMark Baird Dromore CC
\nAndrew Crothers North Down CC
\nOwen Byrne North Down CC
\nTom Rogers Dromore CC<\/p>\n

Women’s Winner<\/p>\n

Rachel Newell McConvey Cycles<\/p>\n

Masters Podium<\/p>\n

Paul Kane Northern CC
\nDolan Dunlop Harps CC
\nJonny Webb North Down CC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gareth O’Neill went on a solo raid that very nearly came a cropper, though he had the composure,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-580498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}