Amelia Tyler is one of the riders on the UK Continental teams that have been granted a lifeline after flexibility around imposing a new UCI rule (Photo: Toby Watson)
After fears that Irish riders on UCI Continental teams would miss out on major pro races, due to a change in UC rules last year, they have received a boost ahead of the Tour of Britain.
The British Continental teams will be able to ride the race next month after all, rather than be pushed out by bigger pro teams.
As a result, Irish riders like Amelia Tyler, Aoife O’Brien and Aliyah Rafferty are now in contention for selection. Tyler rides for Handsling Alba Development, while O’Brien and Rafferty are both competing for DAS-Hutchinson this year.
And even if all three are not picked for the upcoming Tour of Britain, the fact their teams will be in the race is a major relief for younger Irish riders who will come up the ranks via Continental teams in the next few years.
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When the rule was changed last season, it looked like Continental level team would have be excluded – or certainly have more limited chances – of getting into bigger races.
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The UCI decided to that, for World Tour races, Continental teams would only be included if fewer than 15 World Tour and ProTeam squads had accepted an invitation to the event with 30 days to go.
And in the case of the Tour of Britain, only 13 teams have accepted, opening the door to invites for the Continental squads.
But rather than inviting just two teams, to bring the number of teams up to 15, all four British Continental teams have been invited.
The race organisers have also invited Hitec Products–Fluid Control, a Continental team from Norway, while a Great Britain selection will also be part of the race.
That flexibility in being able to issue the invites over and above the confines of the rule is further proof the rule change is not being applied very strictly.
That has banished the worst fears of many teams and riders when the detail of the rule change became clear last year.
