Callaghan riding high in World Series
KILLIAN Callaghan is fast emerging as one of the country’s most promisingmountain bike racers thanks to a string of strong results in some top international meets.
Competing in the Under 21 division of the World Series, the 17-year-old competitor from Walkinstown finished ninth in the third round of the championship in Scotland after having recently really turned heads in the second round on Carrick Mountain in Wicklow where he carded a stunning third-place finish.
The Irish round attracted almost 10,000 spectators, and making the podium served as a massive boost as he prepares to take part in the UCI European Enduro event in Tyrol, Austria on June 21.
The specialized discipline of Enduro Mountain Bike racing is based on a similar concept to car rallying where competitors complete a course of approximately 60-70km through timed special stages throughout the day.
The winning difference is timed down to 1000th of a second, with no more than one second separating 10 placings in the overall standings at the close of proceedings in Wicklow.
Racing for the Wicklow-based mountain bike rental company, Biking.ie, Callaghan is only in his second season in the sport having previously been a ten-time Motorcycle Trials Champion as well as a National BMX Racing title winner.
“It was when I broke my leg BMX racing that I said I’d give some mountain biking a try” recalled Callaghan.
“I’d €200 and bought a very old bike from an uncle of mine, but soon discovered how challenging and enjoyable the sport was” he added.
A cousin of Greg Callaghan- an Elite division rider who is currently second in the world after victory in Wicklow and a third place finish in Scotland- the St MacDara’s pupil first garnered some attention last year when he finished ninth in his division and just outside the top 100 placings overall at the Mega Avalanche in France in which 3500 riders took part.
This was followed by a fourth-place finish in his category in a Super Enduro in Italy before he returned home to secure a ranking of third in the National Championships.
Former Mountain Biking champion Niall Davis quickly recognised his potential and signed him up for the 2015 season.
A deal was reached with Chain Reaction Cycles whereby Callaghan would race the Irish-based bicycle brand Vitus, and he duly repaid their faith by giving Vitus their first ever podium position in a Enduro World Series event when he competed in Wicklow.
Delighted with this result, Simon Cordner, Vitus Brand Manager said “Seeing Killian on the podium of the Irish World event, on our Irish bike- we simply couldn’t ask for more. A great day for Irish mountainbiking.”
Also having to contend with preparations for his leaving certificate exams, Callaghan will be back out in the World Series in France on July 16.
Spending six weeks based there and in Italy, he will return home to raise funds to contest the final two rounds in Spain in September and Italy the following month.
Needing to work in order to subsidise these international outings means he will miss out on championship rounds in Canada and the United States, but, currently sitting seventh in the world rankings, he has the potential to make up a lot of lost ground on the homerun.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the Dubliner and his World Series quest should check out his Facebook Page at Killian Callaghan Racing.
