The Irish Government has decided to fast track re-opening the country from Covid19 restrictions, with businesses to open sooner and people allowed to travel much further than previously planned.
Overall, the lockdown was set to be eased over five phases,
the last one beginning on August 10th. However, that has now been
condensed into four phases and a lot of easing of restrictions have now been
brought forward.
The precise implications of all the changes for cycling
and other sports are not immediately clear, though more detail is expected
soon.
Most immediately, while cyclists are currently only
permitted to train within a 5km radius of home, from next Monday they will be
able to train within a 20km radius and they will also be able to train anywhere
in their home county.
Advertisement
The move to allow people exercise in a larger, 20km, radius from home had always been planned from next Monday, when Phase 2 of the easing of restrictions starts.
[banners_ad id=55]
However, the decision to allow people exercise anywhere
in their home counties is new and will be of great benefit to many cyclists.
While cyclists had been allowed to meet in groups of
four, with social distancing, for rides in recent weeks that has now been
increased to 15 people.
Related News
Cafés and restaurants can also re-open from June 29th
meaning a coffee spin is back on the table, but at outdoor or social distanced
seating areas in cafés.
Furthermore, all forms of travel restrictions will be
removed earlier than anticipated, with June 29th the new date.
Elite athletes will also be able to return to training venues such as stadia, swimming pools and arenas.
Greyhound racing will be able to resume next week, but without spectators, and it has been decided to re-open all shops next week; steps that do not directly impact cycling but which indicate the pace of change now taking place.
Cycling Ireland had always envisaged group activities – training, sportives and races – resuming in Phase 5, from August 10th, and has been planning for that.
But it had said initially when events resumed cyclists many only be able to travel to sportives or races in their locality – either home county or home region.
However, with general travel restrictions now being eased
more significantly than expected next week and with all travel restrictions
scrapped from June 29th, it is less likely that cyclists would be
restricted to their own counties when racing and sportives resume.
There was no immediate indication if the re-commencement
of events like races and sportives, from August 10th, will be
brought forward but we will bring you news of that when it becomes clearer.
Topics
