Shropshire cycling team wraps up successful season

Holohan Coaching Racing Team saw top results in both the team and individual classification at the British National Hill Climb Championships and also in the overall classification of the Vuelta Majorca Masters stage race.

The National Hill Climb Championship took place on the climb of Haytor in Devon on Sunday, October 27.

Team rider Kirk Vickers took sixth overall against a very high-class field, including full-time professional riders.

Coach and team rider Liam Holohan also took part along with Ollie Hayward, of Ludlow, and the team placed second overall.

Chris Pook, of Shrewsbury-based estate agents Cooper Green Pooks, who manages and sponsors the team with Ben Lawrence, of independent chartered insurance brokers Beaumont Lawrence, said: “Kirk has based the last few months of his training around producing one flat out 12-minute effort.

“Between the three riders, their combined time was good enough for second overall team; a fine way to end what has been a great season overall.”

In the Vuelta Majorca Masters, from October 15 to 18, a strong, experienced team of three competed with the goal for overall win.

Liam, who runs Holohan Coaching in Shrewsbury, secured an overall third place on the podium after strong work from teammates Matthew Davies and Chris.

During stage two, Chris managed to get up the road in a five-man breakaway.

Stage three of the event was an individual time trial, which saw Liam score a podium finish and lose only a handful of seconds to real specialists in the discipline.

The final stage was a 105km race that included the ascent, via Caimari, of Lluc – a famous 20-minute long climb in the island.

Liam achieved third on that stage and ultimately third in the overall classification, while Matthew and Chris finished 13th and 21st respectively having ridden as ‘domestiques’.

For more information about the team, see their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/holohancoachingrt