Eoin Morton celebrates winning the Visit Nenagh Classic earlier this year. The race is one of the hardest one-day events on the calendar but the organisers have threatened to pull the race's 2017 edition and believe that development may spell the end (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
The organisers of the Visit Nenagh Classic have hit out at not being granted their chosen dates for their weekend of racing next year.
The road racing calendar is yet to be confirmed but it appears their preferred date of April 23rd has not been made available because another race in Munster has already been confirmed for that day.
Rene Van Dam, the man behind the race since its inception in 2012, is irate at the development and is threatening to pull the race from the calendar.
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“As part of the National Series we were asked to apply for April 23rd,” he said.
“We would host the TTT on the 22nd and that all looked good until I received notification from (Cycling Ireland) that the date in question was already taken by a race in Munster.
“This happened even though an email sent to all clubs on October 21st stated that the second round of the National Series should take place on the 23rd; in Munster and in Nenagh.”
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He believed Cycling Munster wants his event moved to another weekend later in the season.
“(Cycling Munster) have offered us dates that are not suitable for the organisation in Nenagh and the visiting teams from abroad,” he said.
“Nobody is also willing to move to keep the race where it belongs - in classic season. It has done a great service to the A1-A2 riders in preparation for the Rás.”
Van Dam said while he and his team were willing to change the date of their races, they still wanted to retain the weekend of events on the calendar for the same general period of the season.
It appears races in Fermoy and Currow are currently pencilled in for April 8th and 23rd, the two dates the Visit Nenagh Classic hoped for.
“We were offered a date the weekend after the Rás as well as July 29th but everyone knows no top rider in the country will be seen on a bike that weekend (after the Rás), making the National Series defunct.
“We have asked for the second weekend in April but that seems to be clashing with more festival races.
“After that it becomes slim pickings as we maintain the race should be held before the Rás to give national riders a fair chance of a proper preparation race.
“We have already made them aware that if no proper solution is found, the race would not take place in 2017.
“And it could be scrapped altogether as since the start of the event in 2012 it has been an annual issue for us.”
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