Jamie Blanchfield, the former international road rider, has become the latest coach to be added to the Cycling Ireland high performance line-up. The appointment of Blanchfield, a member of Panduit Carrick Wheelers, was confirmed by the governing body this morning.
He comes into the role after running his own endurance sports coaching business since 2018, during which time he has also worked with Cycling Ireland on a number of high performance projects.
Blanchfield (26) takes up his new role immediately as national paracycling coach. That squad is already is preparing for Paris Paralympic qualification and, hopefully, another haul of medals for Ireland at the 2024 Games.
He will work alongside high performance director, Iain Dyer, and head coach Neill Delahaye in leading Ireland’s Paracycling programme towards the Games.
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“I’m honoured to be able to come into a programme that has had so much success over the last number of Paralympic cycles. It’s an exciting time to get involved with great things happening across the high-performance space within Cycling Ireland," Blanchfield said.
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“Having colleagues within the broader high performance set-up such as Neill Delahaye and track coach Dan Henchy, who have amassed vast experience in their respective Paracycling roles over the last number of years, offers us the chance to excel, develop and learn from one another. It’s an exciting prospect.”
Delahaye said that having already worked with Blanchfield in recent years, he was looking forward to having him on the Cycling Ireland coaching team going forward.
"Over the last few years, he has built a solid reputation and I was delighted to see him successfully appointed," Delahaye said. "He has demonstrated a very dynamic hard-working approach to his coaching practice and brings a high level of knowledge and expertise into the role. I am confident he will further progress and evolve the paracycling team in the coming years and the athletes will thrive under his leadership.”
Dyer said he was delighted to welcome Blanchfield into his new job. "We have a very successful paracycling programme and it’s a pleasure to see a young Irish coaching talent step into this role and I am confident the programme will continue to thrive under his leadership,” he said.
