Cycling Ireland has opted to split the national road team for the UCI World Cycling Championships in Rwanda and the European Road Championships in France this year.
The main emphasis for the Worlds will be on the elite men's team, rather than other categories, while a much bigger selection - across the categories - will be selected for the Europeans.
"The decision has been made to attend the road World Championships with the elite men’s team, whilst elite women along with both male and female U23 and male and female juniors will focus on the European Championships," Cycling Ireland has said.
"The elite men won’t race the European Championships if a team is selected for the World Championships," it added, explaining the decision was arrive at after consultations with 48 riders.
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The move by Cycling Ireland to set out the position in relation to the Worlds and Europeans comes as many national federations have already said they will not take teams - at least full selections - to the Worlds, where the course is very tough, and at altitude.
Accommodation is also hard to source in Rwanda and the cost of traveling there has already prompted many national federations to flag their scaled back plans many months before the title races.
The UCI World Road Championships will unfold in Kigali from September 20th to 28th. The Europeans take place almost immediately, from October 1st to 5th, in Drome-Ardeche.
More to come.
