Matthew Walls and Eimear Nicholls claimed the 2026 Irish National Hill Climb titles on a tough 5 km ascent of Slieve Croob in Co Down, with riders leaving everything on the climb in perfect autumn conditions.
The 2026 Irish National Hill Climb Championships course was a serious 5km test of pure climbing ability, starting at Peter Morgan cottage on Dree Hill in Finnis.
From there riders tackled the public road up Dree Hill before swinging onto the private concrete transmitter path that wound to the summit of Slieve Croob.
The climb gained roughly 350 metres at an average gradient of around 7 %, with the final 2 km after the picnic area gate averaging a steeper 8 %.
The course was excellently marshalled, with sheep safely penned in to give a completely clear run on a beautiful dry, sunny morning with temperatures around 12 °C.
Road surface was generally good all the way to the top, aside from a few areas on the final section where the edges had suffered water erosion and fallen into minor disrepair, though none of these presented any major obstacles.
On the day the riders faced into a mild SSW breeze then got a little more shelter after the picnic-area car park at the bottom of the ‘off-road’ section, but they became more exposed towards the top once they left the relative protection of the hillside to their right.
From roughly 700 m to 100 m to go it was pretty stiff. A welcome flattish section around the 400 m mark, followed by a sharp kick out of the final corner and a three-quarter tailwind all the way to the line.
Men’s Championship
Matthew Walls, APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery, produced a dominant ride to claim his first national title, stopping the clock in 14:13.
Happy with this and the whole season to be fair.
then today was a nice cherry on top to finish it off.
– Matthew Walls, APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery
The powerful young rider has been enjoying his racing in recent weeks with form building nicely, and the longer effort on Slieve Croob suited him well compared to shorter climbs of previous years.
He paced the ascent well, though later admitted the short downhill section in the final 500 metres caught him slightly by surprise and he could have kicked harder into it.
In the end it made little difference as he powered to a clear victory, describing the win as the perfect cherry on top of a strong season.
Callum McCaffrey, Natural-Greatness-Rali-Ale, took a fine silver in 14:50, while Gareth O’Neill, Athlete Nutrition Coach Nordic Labs, claimed bronze in 14:59 in what has been another superb season for him.
O’Neill was denied a three-in-a-row of the Slieve Croob Hill Climb Challenge Perpetual Award attributed on the same day.
Tom Hughes, Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial, finished a tantalising six seconds off the podium in fourth, with Darnell Moore, Caldwell Powerhouse Racing, a rider who knows this climb intimately, rounding out the top five.
Women’s Championship
Eimear Nicholls, Inspired Cycling, produced a sensational performance to take the women’s national title in 18:29.
The former professional IRONMAN athlete felt she may have started a little too hard but simply kept driving all the way to the summit in what she described as one of the “hardest efforts” she has ever put in on a bike.
it’s probably one of the hardest efforts I’ve ever put in on a bike.
I really was pushing very, very hard.
– Eimear Nicholls, Inspired Cycling,
Completely spent at the finish, she was left shocked and over the moon to claim the win by a substantial margin.
Defending champion Caoimhe May, Team WORC, took silver in 19:44 after a well-paced ride on a climb that was noticeably longer than the previous two editions.
Coming towards the end of her off-season, she had done some late intensive training to minimise the damage but was ultimately beaten by a stronger rider on the day.
She has shown solid consistency this year in the Lloyds National MTB Cross Country Series with multiple top-5 finishes as well as two podiums, and also claimed silver at the Irish nationals.
it was a really tough climb.
I was actually happy with how I paced it, and happy with my ride.
– Caoimhe May, Team WORC,
The 2025 Champion still took satisfaction from her performance and the type of fun that only a hard hill climb can deliver, carefully managing her effort for the steeper switchbacks once off the main road.
Elena Wallace, Harps CC, completed the podium in 19:53.
2026 Irish National Hillclimb Championships Results
Men’s Championship
- Matthew Walls, APS Pro Cycling by Team Cadence Cyclery 14:13
- Callum McCaffrey, Natural-Greatness-Rali-Ale 14:50
- Gareth O’Neill, Athlete Nutrition Coach Nordic Labs 14:59
- Tom Hughes, Kilcullen Cycling Club Murphy Geospacial 15:05
- Darnell Moore, Caldwell Powerhouse Racing 15:28
- Daniel Stone, Roadman Cycling Club 15:35
- Padraig Moran, Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club 15:38
- Lindsay Watson, Caldwell Powerhouse Racing 15:42
- Kevin McKinney, Cycleology Racing Team 16:04
- Nathan Mullan, Banbridge CC 16:22
Women’s Championship
- Eimear Nicholls, Inspired Cycling 18:29
- Caoimhe May, Team WORC 19:44
- Elena Wallace, Harps CC 19:53
- Niamh O’Dwyer, Dan Morrissey Pissei Cycling Team 20:53
- Holly McCaffrey, Longcourt Hotel – NCW Wheelers 21:59
Men Masters 40
- Stuart McCaughey, Phoenix CC 16:13
- Tristan Druet, Un-Attached Leinster 16:35
- Sean McIntyre, Caldwell Powerhouse Racing 18:37
Men Masters 50
- Dermot Radford, Dan Morrissey Pissei Cycling Team 16:04
- Neil McKenna, AHC Racing 17:24
- Tomas McCabe, Moynalty Cycling Club 18:08
Men Masters 60
- Eamonn Byrd, Un-Attached Leinster 18:50
- Shaun Kelly, Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club 18:52
- John Madden, Inspired Cycling 19:27
A superb day of racing on a really tough road climb, hosted superbly by Dromara Cycling Club.
Excellent reporting as always and the photos to go with it 👍