Cycling Ireland recently reported the findings of a six-week review of road racing trends following the introduction of changes to racing categories at the start of the season. The headline figure is very, very positive. The number of riders with racing licences - 'full competition membership - is up 18 per cent on last year, to 2,259 at present.
That is excellent news and comes as a major relief, especially against the backdrop of the decline we saw since 2017. It is unclear if the increase is a result of the recent changes made or, perhaps more likely, is an organic rebound after seven years of decline. Maybe it's a bit of both. Whatever the case, it's great news and we'll definitely take it.
Cycling Ireland, to its credit, is now engaging with road racing - in a bid to try and boost numbers - in a meaningful way. And even the publication of this new six-week review of the road racing changes is positive.
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However, some of the data - especially relating to the 'national races' that recorded the biggest increase in riders compared to last year - is far from straightforward. The data on some of the national races skews this review, and does so significantly. There is also a danger new changes now planned may sabotage some of the progress made with lower and mid tier races in recent weeks.
The rider feedback about the quality of racing, rider fields and how road racing compares between the four provinces is mixed. So let's go through some of the key points, including those that come with a health warning and which we definitely should not get carried away with.
National Level Events
The stars of the show here are the Seamus Kennedy and the Des Hanlon and not the Galway Classic or Sliabh Luchra, despite what the data says. The fact the Seamus Kennedy Memorial secured a 42 per cent increase in numbers is a credit to Navan Road Club and a reason for optimism for Irish cycling.
The crucial thing here is that it's a like-for-like comparison. The Seamus Kennedy was held on the same weekend - the opening Sunday of the season - this year and in 2024. And that means comparing entry numbers for both editions is a solid exercise.
The news for the Sliabh Luachra Clasaici and the Galway Classic looks even better - with rider numbers up 68 per cent and 74 per cent. Unfortunately, much of that is down to a switch in dates; from later in the year in 2024 to the busiest time of the season this year.
Last year Sliabh Luachra Clasaici was run in June and the Galway Classic was run in early August. Races in held in March-April are much more likely to secure larger fields than those held during the summer months. For example, when the Galway Classic ran early in the season in the past - before the switch to summer - it was much more successful at attracting riders than it was for last's year summer edition.
The much larger numbers at both races this year is fantastic for the promoting clubs - Galway Bay CC and Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club - and for the riders, who got better racing. But it would be foolish to point to those numbers and assume the recent changes made to categories were the reason for surge in riders pinning on numbers.
Anyone who knows Irish cycling will not need to be told the switch in dates, from the summer to the always action-packed spring, is the main reason more riders turned out. In stickybottle's experience, for over a decade now, the interest in domestic road racing reduces very, very significantly after March and April.
And that dip in the scene has occurred every year since we've been reporting on Irish cycling, even when numbers were at their peak. Put simply, the longer the season goes on, the fewer riders turn up for races each week, and there is a cliff edge in enthusiasm after the end of April. That cliff edge is even earlier in seasons when Easter falls early.
The Des Hanlon Classic, though very marginally down on last year, was by the far the biggest of the national races held this year; a credit to Carlow RCC, which always runs a great race. The Donal Crowley Memorial, organised by Blarney CC three weeks earlier than last year, was up by eight per cent. And the PJ Logan promotion, by Island Wheelers, was slightly down on the previous year.
So taking the Sliabh Luachra Clasaici and the Galway Classic out of the numbers - simply because of the significant calendar changes for both this year - what are we left with? In a season when racing numbers are up by 18 per cent, one of the races increased turnout by a whopping 42 per cent, another was up by eight per cent and the other two were marginally down.
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In short, it will take another couple of months before we know how the new 'national event' designation is working. It is definitely best to suspend judgement for now.
Regional Level Races
These figures for regional races are hard to understand in the sense the numbers are down in the first weeks of the season before increasing. Maybe that is a sign the new categories are working, with more racing licence holders being encouraged out to race as the weeks progressed?
That is possible, certainly for the C3 and C2 categories. They may have found racing better suited to them this season due to the category changes, compared to going up against the C1s - or A1s - of last year.
However, through no fault of Cycling Ireland or the road review group, one big omission here is the Easter stage races. Easter Sunday fell on March 31st last year - weekend five of the season. Yet those races, among the biggest of the year, are not included here because Easter 2025 does not fall within the review period.
And this is a massive - completely unavoidable, to be fair - weakness of this six-week comparative process between 2024 and 2025. More time is required before we can get a true sense of what is happening with road races this year.
However, with changes to the spread of racing this year - some fixtures going or returning and others being moved around in the season - we may not get a true comparison during this season, at least one that gives an absolute and comprehensive answer.
The season end, when full turn-out numbers are available, may be the first set of findings we can hang our hat on.
Combining C1 and C2 races
When one looks at the small fields - fewer than 15 in some cases and often fewer than 30 - that have turned out for C1 races so far this year, it comes as no surprise Cycling Ireland has given promoting cycling clubs the green light to combine C1 and C2 races for the foreseeable.
Though some clubs have pressed ahead with C1-only races - and C2-only events - in recent weeks, including last weekend, it seems inevitable the categories will have to be combined in the months ahead, simply to make races viable.
Racing may be run by volunteers, but it has always had a user-pays business model underpinning it, keeping the show on the road, literally. If races are a product - and they definitely are - riders are the paying customers who enable that product to survive.
If not enough riders enter an event, the combined entry fee is too low to make the race viable. And while some clubs can still press ahead and take the hit, running a race at a loss, most cannot. And even those clubs who could run races at a loss one time simply couldn't continue to repeatedly absorb losses associated with running open events, not a chance.
However, while the need to run C1-C2 races is understandable, it risks cannabilising some of the progress made in the early months of the year, when C2s seem to have found a better quality of racing they are better able for, precisely because the C1s are missing.
Many of those who would be racing at A3 this year may soon find themselves racing against C1s, and doing so most weekends, especially when the summer kicks in and racing numbers fall back, necessitating the combining of C1s and C2s into the same race.
The one hope on the horizon is that, under the new changes, the C1 category will become bigger in time and reach a scale where it is a viable category for standalone racing. However, let's hope the number of C2s racing, and doing so frequently, does not fall off before the C1 category has time to grow.
