A six-rider Irish team has been selected for the UEC Junior & U23 European Track Championships in Portugal next month. The team - an all-U23 selection - has been named today by Cycling Ireland for the championships which take place from July 11th to 16th in Anadia.
Cycling Ireland launched an expression of interest process, with a total of 24 cyclists contacting the national governing body indicating they were interested in being selected.
And while the six-rider team is a relatively small one, a very encouraging development is the inclusion of an U23 women's pursuit team. In the elite category, the team pursuit line-up has excelled in recent years, breaking the national record and take medals at both the Europeans and UCI Nations Cups.
Furthermore, the careers of some of of the riders on that pursuit line-up have also really taken off on the road, with two of them - Mia Griffin and Alice Sharpe - riding at World Tour level and Lara Gillespie also well on her way to the top tier.
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For the upcoming Europeans, the team pursuit line-up is comprised of Gillespie, Erin Creighton and the O'Brien sisters; Caoimhe and Aoife. Gillespie and Caoimhe O'Brien yesterday won gold and silver respectively in the elite-U23 road race at the National Road Championships while Aoife O'Brien took U23 bronze.
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Creighton has already made her elite debut on the track this year for year after placing 4th in the elimination race at the junior Worlds last season. The four riders will obviously compete in the U23 team pursuit at the Europeans and were also expected to compete in other races.
The team is completed by two U23 men who have performed very strongly on both road and track in recent years; Aaron Wade and Stefan Caulfield Drier.
Cycling Ireland's Dyer said with 24 expressions of interest received for the event "it was our longest selection panel meeting this year" with "some hard decisions" to make.
"I am pleased to see some strength and depth building once again in the men’s U23 endurance category, and will be delighted to see a women’s U23 team pursuit team take to the start line as well," he said. "A key outcome for us is that we need to do more to support the development of our younger riders wanting to step up to championship level.
"Making a sudden jump from domestic and often outdoor competition into a European Championship indoors is a big step. Having seen that first hand myself over many years, I don’t think many appreciate how big that jump is. We’re now in the realm of junior female sprinters qualifying in 11.2 or an U23 male riders doing 4:13 for an individual pursuit – that’s quite some achievement.
"My hope is with the recent appointment of a full time high performance development coach, we can drive a lot more activity in the coming years to support our aspiring younger track riders so they will be well prepared in future to make the most of opportunities like this."
