Bennett is more than capable of a big result in Holland
Conor Dunne remains on the sick list in the Ireland U23 Nations Cup camp and will not line out with his team mates for the ZLM Tour in Holland tomorrow, Saturday.
The Belgian-based rider was struck down with food poisoning earlier in the week and while he had been hoping to make a recovery in time for tomorrow, he has not been deemed fit to ride.
Tomorrow’s race is the latest round of the U23 Nations Cup, and being the second and final race the Irish team is scheduled to take part in in the series, it represents an important opportunity for the Irish riders to score qualification points for the World Championships in Valkenburg in September.
In the absence of Dunne, the six- man team is trimmed to five riders with those taking to the line including Sam Bennett, Sean Downey, Felix English, Aaron Buggle and Jack Wilson.
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Bennett, Downey and Buggle took in La Cote Picarde on Wednesday when an unfortunate crash took Bennett and Buggle out of the lead group while Downey’s arm, fractured in a fall in Holland two weeks ago, flared up and forced him out.
With the addition of the in-form English to the team and also Wilson, who is adjusting nicely to his first year at U23, tomorrow’s line-up is definitely one that can get a result.
Both English and Bennett are very good gallopers and are perhaps Ireland’s best bet for a strong ride. If Downey’s arm holds out he is also capable of a very strong ride on the basis of his consistency with An Post-Sean Kelly so far this year.
Buggle is also going strongly, enjoying some good form after his progress has perhaps been stalled a little in the past season or two by injury. Wilson has been a very strong junior and has done well to step straight into the Nations Cup set-up in his first months at this level.
The Irish team is not scheduled to take part in any further Nations Cup events for the rest of the season, according to information for all national squads released by Cycling Ireland earlier this week. It means tomorrow is the last opportunity for the team to score ranking points via the Nations Cup that would qualify Ireland for the U23 World Championships in Holland in September and also dictate how many riders we will be eligible to send to that race.
Qualification points for the Worlds can be scored in the general racing calendar but the Nations Cup events are perhaps the best opportunity to do so.
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