Ireland will have a ProContinental team in the pro peloton for the first time this year, but there are also plenty of other things to look forward to in Irish cycling at home and abroad (Photo: Karen Edwards-Aqua Blue Sport)
9 things stickybottle looks forward to in 2017
Roche with BMC Racing Team
Nicolas Roche’s decision to leave scandal-hit Team Sky was a masterful call and at BMC Racing Team he’s going to enjoy a much more relaxed atmosphere.
In his new colours he is part of an exciting roster that includes a brilliant Classics team, some strong testers and a couple of GC men in Tejay Van Garderen and former Sky teammate Richie Porte.
We can’t wait to see where Roche fits in, given his versatility.
Bennett to get less pressure and more luck
He started well and finished very well with a couple of wins as the season was winding down, but 2016 can only be described as the Carrick man’s annus horribilis.
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Given the number of opportunities for sprinters at the Tour de France he was his Bora-Argon 18 team’s go-to rider.
But a crash on stage 1 ended any hopes he had of challenging for a stage win.
The good news is the team has signed Peter Sagan for the coming season and that will undoubtedly take some of the pressure from Bennett to get big wins – and that’s exactly when he’s most dangerous.
Martin to challenge for the podium at the Tour
Martin cracked the top 10 in the Tour for the first time in his life and said afterwards how much he learnt from the experience.
His natural instinct is to attack and perhaps he did too much attacking, unlike many others in the top 15 who were happy to conserve energy and consolidate positions on GC.
He was ninth overall, but just three minutes off the podium and he lost most of that on the long time-trial stage 13.
There are two time time-trials next year - a 13km opener and another 26km test later in the race - so if he can improve here he has everything else to really challenge the podium.
Dunbar to make his mark in America
The young Corkman had a very good season despite breaking his collarbone at a very unfortunate time.
That injury, sustained while out training in Kanturk, ruled him out of the Tour of California but it proved a blessing in disguise as he got to ride the An Post Rás.
There, he took a stage win, and though his ‘only’ UCI race of the year he got better and better as the year went on, notching brilliant top 10s in both the time-trial at the European and World Championships.
His performances in Alberta (2.1) and the Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc (2.2) were just as impressive, given the aggression with which he rode.
If he gets a start in the Tour of California (2.WT), Utah and the Tour of the Gila next year he can do damage on the climbs and really show what he is made of.
Aqua Blue Sport challenge in the big pro races
A massive year for Irish cycling awaits with the country’s first-ever professional cycling team taking on the biggest events with a string of Irishmen on board.
They have a hugely ambitious management team, a very strong roster of experienced riders and some of the best technical/support staff also.
Nothing has been left to chance so we can’t wait to see what races they’ll get invites for and indeed, how they’ll prepare for and contest the races.
Move towards having a velodrome
Excuse the pun, but this one seems to be going round in circles with a few years now.
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Maybe the time has gone to really push for it, given three of the best track riders we ever produced in Martyn Irvine, Ryan Mullen and Caroline Ryan have all left the scene.
But a track is not just about the 0.1 per cent who will win at elite level, but the 99.9% who want it as a training venue, as a safe learning centre, as a full-time Cycling Ireland headquarters.
There has been no meeting with Government since February about pursuing the matter, according to a report by the track commission in their annual report this year.
Planning permission was granted back in March 2013 but the required monies were not forthcoming, thanks to the Government’s last budget who had no specific capital allocation for the construction of one.
CEO Geoff Liffey said last month there was “no significant advancement” on the matter. Time we changed that.
New names to emerge at home
The junior scene is beginning to thrive again and numbers are steadily rising. More riders are emerging and challenging for the big events.
There are U23, junior and women-only teams on the brink of being formalised, with TC Racing being the latest of these.
It gives riders something to really aim for, especially at the age that sees the greatest drop-off (18-23).
Xeno Young (pictured) really burst onto the scene at home and ended up riding for Ireland at the UCI World Championships in Doha in October.
Thankfully, there are more and more coming on stream, armed with knowledge and ambition to make an impact.
An U23 team based abroad
Ireland has been blessed with some super talents over the years and to harness them, an U23 team based abroad, training together, would do a world of good.
Dunbar’s Axeon Hagens Berman team were a classic example of this when they first started; a team of 18-23 year olds, mainly Americans.
When they began they had 12 riders and three full-time staff.
The riders got just about enough to cover their costs. No different to An Post Chain Reaction, you might say.
It’s the environment that needs to change and Belgium has proven to be a very harsh place for riders coming straight out of the junior ranks.
Yes, there have been success stories like Bennett but those not blessed with his talent are not so lucky.
Recently-recruited Irishman Robert Jon McCarthy was a classic example of this as he quit very prematurely, though he has subsequently returned.
Belgium effectively cracked him. Loneliness and language barriers will do that to a teenager.
How about a team based in Majorca for much of the year, making use of the Cycling Ireland house?
Greater awareness of cyclists on the roads
This is a huge area and covers cyclists of all level and experience, from commuters to racers.
Too often this year we wrote tragic stories about deaths of cyclists on Irish roads after being in collisions with cars.
Cyclists are not blame-free for how they conduct themselves on the road but motorists have a far greater duty of care than they ever had before.
There are way more cyclists on Irish roads than ever before and thus the chances of collisions are also higher.
Thankfully, 30kph speed limits are being implemented in the capital and this will certainly make the roads safer places for everyone.
It is just one measure being taken by advocacy groups to make Ireland (and particularly Dublin) more cyclist-friendly.
The proposed Liffey Cycle Route is another. Ask yourself, 'what can you do to make cycling more enjoyable and accessible for all in 2o17?'
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