Irrespective of the size of the team Ireland qualifies for the elite men's race at the World Championships, Nicolas Roche (left) and Dan Martin (right) are assured a start (Photo: Toby Watson)
By Graham Healy
With just one week before the cut-off date for qualification for the World Road Race Championships in Ponferrada, Spain, next month, it’s likely that Ireland will qualify just three riders in the elite men’s road race.
With Dan Martin (Garmin Sharp), Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Philip Deignan (Team Sky) all riding at World Tour level and all noted climbers, it would appear they would be the automatic team for what is a very hilly course.
However, the chances of qualifying six men, while looking remote at the time of writing, are not entirely lost.
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And if that were to happen, riders like Sean Downey (An Post-Chainreaction), Sam Bennett (NetApp-Endura) and Matt Brammeier (Synergy Baku) would come into the frame.
Ireland qualified four riders last year for the race in Florence, with Martin, Roche, Brammeier and Bennett all forced out early when torrential rain caused crash havoc.
The qualification process is a complicated picture at the best of times, but recent rule changes have also moved the goal posts a little.
World Tour qualification route
Currently, Ireland sits in 21st place in the World Tour rankings, with the rules stating that the first ten countries in the rankings can enter nine riders.
However, the rules go on to state that if a rider is amongst the first 100 in the individual classification of the UCI World Tour on the cut-off date of August 15th, then his country can start three riders at the Worlds.
Currently, Dan Marin (Garmin-Sharp) sits in 59th place, so will therefore qualify Ireland three places.
In addition, if a country has three riders ranked in any position in the World Tour, a nation also qualifies three places.
Philip Deignan (Team Sky) sits in 120th place, with Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) in 152nd place; so the qualification of three riders is also guaranteed via that route.
Sam Bennett has had a great season, but he is not a WorldTour rider and so the ranking points he has scored are perhaps less significant for Worlds qualification than many would have realised.
Europe Tour qualification route
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It would also be open to Ireland to qualify places in the men’s elite road race via the UCI Europe Tour.
And while we are indeed eligible for places, our position in Europe qualifies us three slots; no higher than under the UCI World Tour routes outlined above.
The first 14 nations in the UCI Europe Tour on August 15th - excluding the nations already qualifying via the UCI WorldTour classification – are eligible for places.
The first six nations qualifying can start six riders; the nations ranked from 7th to 14th can start three riders.
Ireland is currently ranked 18th in the Europe Tour, with Sam Bennett in 6th place in the individual rankings; having collected 278 of Ireland’s 465.5 points.
However, seven of those nations ahead of us in the Europe Tour – Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Poland – are in the top 10 of the UCI World Tour rankings and so will qualify for the Worlds via that route.
When they are stripped out of the European rankings, it brings Ireland to 11th.
In that position, we would be entitled to start three riders in the elite men's race in Ponferrada; no change to the number already qualified via Dan Martin being in the top 100 riders in the World Tour. And also no change on the three we qualify by virtue of three Irish riders having scored points in the World Tour.
One point to remember; while Bennett has had a great season, he is not a a WorldTour rider. It means his points do not count towards Ireland qualifying via the World Tour.
Any other possibilities?
The only way we could have more than three starters in Spain is if more of those nations ahead of Ireland in the European rankings move up the World Tour rankings by August 15th and qualify via that route.
If that were to happen, those nations would be stripped out of qualifying through their European ranking by virtue of having already qualified via the World Tour, thus pushing Ireland higher in the Europe rankings for qualification purposes.
If we were in the top six nations in Europe after those countries already qualified via the World Tour were taken out, we would qualify six riders.
We’ll know for certain in a week from now but for now it looks very much like three places will go to Ireland in the elite men’s race.
It takes place on September 28th and Martin has stated it is one of his big targets for the season.
The lap being used is particularly difficult, which will suit him. Before that, he will take part in the Vuelta where he is also hopeful of a good ride.
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