The decision by Cycling Ireland not to send any national teams - juniors, U23s or elites - to the European Road Championships in Belgium later this month will come as a disappointment to many.
There is a school of thought in the Irish cycling community that such opportunities are invaluable learning experiences for up-and-coming Irish riders while providing chances for success for more established names. Those who subscribe to that view believe every national team opportunity should be availed of to the maximum to develop, and reward, the biggest number of riders possible.
On the flipside, Cycling Ireland is trying to hold the bar for national team selection as high as possible - to keep the pressure on riders to improve towards being able to perform internationally; the key to future funding. But there are also practical considerations, according to the national federation.
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Stickybottle asked Cycling Ireland about the decision not to send a team to the road Europeans. In reply, the national governing body's high performance head coach, Neill Delahaye, set out all of the factors dictating where Irish teams can, and cannot, be sent to compete, including some specific to this season.
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"Our elite events calendar is carefully planned and of course budget is a key factor in every event but so is staff, support availability, welfare and the standard of professional support we put around championship level and multi-stage events," said Delahaye.
"With Olympics, Paralympics, the associated preparatory camps, Junior Nations Cups (male and female), UCI Junior Track Worlds, Rás na mBan and a combined UCI Road Worlds all happening in close proximity, almost all our human, vehicle, equipment, financial & logistical resources are being absorbed intensively.
"We are not inclined to squeeze this beyond limits and offer a sub standard support environment for competing athletes in a major championship setting or on a very intense stage race. That will not provide an event experience developing rides will benefit from and gain a positive experience from and Elites deservedly need our best support around them.
"We have finite capacity and resources and hard strategically astute decisions have to be made annually as to what events we attend, or not, aligned to the obligations we have in meeting our long terms goals for the organisation.
"No decision is made randomly or ill informed and planning in a unique year like this is always difficult. We believe we have mapped out the season very strongly and will continue to review to see where we can improve to get the best results and the best experience for our riders as we strive to bring cycling Ireland to the next level in terms of performance. We are building capacity year on year and will continue to do that as we progress."
