Ireland has momentum at major championships – Lara Gillespie winning a world and European title last year, two Europoean track titles this year and four medals at the road Worlds and Europeans last season, including David Gaffney, above (Photo: Xavier Pereyron)
For a small nation in the cycling world, and one whose domestic scene has been under pressure for the best part of a decade, Ireland has punched well above its weight at major championships of late.
Medals at road Worlds or Europeans are notoriously hard to win, yet Irish riders took no fewer than four last year, and that wasn’t the extent of our success.
And now as the national team selection has been named for the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal next month, Cycling Ireland’s head coach Neill Delahaye says everyone in the Irish camp wants to keep the success going.
A total of 12 riders have been picked. And though there are no female U23 or elite selections, after expressions of interest were down due to the climbers’ course in Canada, Team Ireland will go to the Worlds with clear chances of winning medals.
Liam O’Brien was so close to a medal in the U23 road race at the Europeans last year and he is a man to watch this time around in Montreal (Photo: Toby Watson)
“Quotas were tight in some categories and provided a big challenge for the selection panel for this event,” said Delahaye of the always tricky task of making selection decisions when so many athletes are in contention.
“And in other (categories) we had more a more generous quota allocation but fielded much less interest. There’s no doubt the courses in Montreal provide a tough challenge which suits a particular type of rider.
“(The course) lends itself to selecting teams that can support specific strategies to be competitive in the race. So it’s understandable not everyone has put their hand up for this one.
“It certainly feels like we are building on some momentum we have been generating in recent championship events.
“And it’s great to see some of our current and past HP pathway riders making their World Championships debut or progress into the next age category. I’ve no doubt they are well positioned to benefit from this event.”
Seth Dunwoody has already won a European title this year and is a medal prospect in the TT at the Worlds (Photo: Tommaso Pelagalli-Sprint Cycling Agency)
Last season, Ben Healy took an incredible bronze medal in the men’s road race at the Worlds in Rwanda, with one of the best rides ever in an Irish jersey.
The following week, there followed the Europeans in France. Conor Murphy won silver in the junior TT, Adam Rafferty took bronze in the U23 TT and David Gaffney claimed bronze in the junior road race.
Gaffney’s bronze was the first medal an Irish rider has ever won in the road race at a Europeans.
Already this year, Emer Heverin has won gold and silver on the track – in points race and omnium – at the junior Europeans in Germany. At the same championships, Seth Dunwoody claimed gold in the U23 points race.
And on the track and in paracycling, at senior level, there has been incredible success on the biggest stages, including gold medals. Lara Gillespie claimed gold in the elimination race at both the Worlds and Europeans last year.
More recently, just two months ago, Katie George Dunlevy and her pilot, Linda Kelly, won gold at the paracycling Europeans, where Richael Timothy also became European road race champion.
It will be very tough to win a medal at the Montreal Worlds. However, we have real prospects, especially with Ben Healy in the elite men’s road race, Adam Rafferty and Seth Dunwoody in the U23 TT and Liam O’Brien in the U23 road race.
It will also be very interesting to see how the juniors compare their international rivals on the biggest stage.