Mia Griffin, the Irish road and track international, had an eventful year in 2024 which culminated in her making her Olympic debut, but not until she was forced into a battle to make the Games following a bad crash.
And while that cycle of recovery and getting to Paris dominated her year, next season sees her move back up to World Tour level for the upcoming road season. She joins team pursuit team mate Lara Gillespie as a World Tour rider next season.
Griffin will be riding for Roland, the team known as Israel Premier Tech Roland when she rode for them in 2023. Still registered in Switzerland, but now have gone it alone with the Roland title sponsorship, the squad has just confirmed Griffin among its roster for next season.
"This year, I want to make progress on the road. I'm really motivated to work with my team-mates and try to bring results to the team," said Griffin, who has already been on the podium at a World Tour road race, with 3rd in last year's Tour of Guangxi (1.WWT).
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The new contract is very good news for the Kilkenny women, who crashed hard while sprinting it out for victory at Cyclis Classic (1.2) back in May; falling at full sprint speed in what was an awful incident for several riders.
Though she suffered from concussion, and did not ride on the road again for another four months, she managed to recover and regain her condition in time to take her place in Ireland's team pursuit line-up in Paris in August.
Griffin - along with Gillespie, Alice Sharpe and Kelly Murphy - smashed their own national record at the Games to finish 8th; a memorable performance for the quartet, who were the first Irish team pursuit line-up to qualify for an Olympics.
And though other riders may have enjoyed themselves for a time after an Olympic debut, Griffin got back into action on home roads in Kilkenny. She was part of the national team that took on strong foreign rivals at Rás na mBan, where she won two stages and the overall.
