David Conroy is one of a small number of Irish riders competing in international cyclocross but those riders' hopes of competing in a UCI World Cup on home soil look to have been dealt a blow (All photos by Martine Verfaillie)

The UCI has confirmed its schedule for the Cyclocross World
Cup 2021-22, with the planned Dublin fixture not included on the list.

Of the 16 races that make up the UCI World Cup 2021-22,
the dates and locations have been confirmed for 14 of the events, leaving just
two outstanding.

The locations of those two rounds of the series, to be
held on December 5^th and 12^th, will be confirmed at a
later date and after the race venues have been inspected by the UCI. It was
unclear if Dublin was one of the venues under consideration.

This time last year the UCI announced an expanded series of World Cup racing, increasing to 16 races from nine previously.

And Irish cycling was set to be one of the big winners, with a round of the 2020-21 World Cup to be held in Dublin last October.

It was planned to have elite men's and women's races as well as events for juniors and U23s, male and female, meaning it would have been a great opportunity for Irish riders.

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However, last July the UCI announced a revised World Cup calendar
due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with all of the events retained in Continental
Europe.

That meant races planned for Dublin and Waterloo in the United State – which would have been the first two rounds of the series – were lost.

Michelle Geoghegan has been racing on the international scene in the colours of VeloRevolution. The loss of a home World Cup, if it is confirmed, is a blow to other and riders like David Conroy, Maria Larkin and Lara Gillespie

There was disappointment in Ireland at the time at losing such a big race, especially since it was the first cyclocross World Cup race ever awarded to Ireland and it was coming as the scene here was booming.

However, that blow was softened last summer when UCI
president David Lappartient promised both of the lost events in the US and
Ireland would happen in 2021.

“I regret the absence of rounds such as those in Waterloo
and Dublin, which fortunately we will see the following season,” he said at the
time.

But when the schedule of the 2021-22 World Cup was
announced today, while Waterloo was included as promised, Dublin has not been
confirmed.

As well as the USA securing the first three rounds of the World Cup, which includes a midweek round of racing, the Worlds next year will also be held in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the end of next January.