Dave Rayner died after an altercation at a nightclub, but his memory lives on. And now four very promising Irish riders are set to financially benefit from his legacy.
Four Irish riders will receive financial support from the Dave Rayner Fund in 2015 after its latest round of grant recipients was revealed today.
The fund was established in 1995 and provides much needed money to young riders from the UK and Ireland with the aim of helping them develop their racing talent abroad.
Eoin McCarthy (An Post-Chainreaction), Daniel Stewart (Hennebont Cyclisme), Matthew Teggart (AC Bisontine) and Jack Sadler (Team 3M) are among 31 young riders who will be helped throughout the coming season.
The bulk of the recipients of funding this year are UK riders.
On international duty last year; now Eoin McCarthy has been granted funding to help continue his dream during the coming season.
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Fermoy man McCarthy had been riding with Terra Footwear in Belgium in recent years and has become a regular on the U23 national team for the Nations Cup series of races in spring.
His progress was rewarded in the off season with a place on the An Post-Chainreaction team.
Stewart has tried his hand in France of late and last season took a win there with Hennebont Cyclisme.
From the Audi East Antrim club on the home scene, he will spend his 2015 in France and will look to score some more results and further establish himself in the international fold.
Teggart won a stage in the Junior Tour of Ireland this year and the points jersey despite having a difficult period as a junior because of illness and injury.
Riding in the colours of French team Hennebont, above; Daniel Stewart took his first foreign win last year and now goes back for the coming season (Photo: André Quémener)
He missed almost all of the 2013 season but after a short stint in France at the end of the 2014 campaign he goes back there for this year to AC Bisontine.
Having ridden for the Nicolas Roche Performance Team in recent seasons, he was originally a Banbridge CC man; the club having turned into something of a conveyor belt for developing young talent and nurturing it.
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Sadler is based in the UK but declared for Ireland as a junior and has raced here very frequently.
He is a former junior international and took some stages in the Junior Tour of Ireland both years he rode it with impressive kicks in bunch sprints.
He rode for the UK-based Continental team Rapha Condor JLT last year in his first season as an U23.
Jack Sadler departs Rapha Condor JLT for Team 3M in Belgium with some very useful Dave Rayner Fund backing (Photo – Larry Hickmott – VeloUk.net)
He has now transferred to Team 3M, another Continental outfit but based in Belgium. He will have Belfast man Connor McConvey as a team mate there.
The fund the Irish quartet has secured the backing of is named after Rayner, who was a huge talent from the UK.
He won the national junior road race title before going on to race with distinction in Belgium and Holland with the Buckler pro team.
Rayner was tragically killed in 1994 aged just 27 years following a nightclub altercation in Bradford.
In the last 20 years, the fund in his memory has helped support over 150 riders racing overseas with more than 300 season-long financial packages.
Winning stage 3 of the Junior Tour of Ireland into Ennistimon last year; Matthew Teggart is now bound for France with a helping financial hand (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
Those supported in the past include: David Millar, Charly Wegelius, Matt Brammeier, Ian Stannard, Dan Martin, Josh Edmondson, Adam Yates, Russ Downing, Yanto Barker, Tom Barras, David Clarke, Graham Briggs, Peter Williams, Tobyn Horton, Jonathan McEvoy, Nikki Harris, Dani King, Tom Southam and Daniel Lloyd.
Irish riders who have received financial assistance in the past include Jack Wilson, Conor Dunne, Ronan McLaughlin, Philip Bremner, Philip Lavery, Tim Cassidy, Paidi O’Brien, David O’Loughlin, David McQuaid and Shane Prendergast.
Riders receive funding after making an application. They must be in the U23 category, although allowances are very occasionally made.
They must also be willing and able to live and race abroad for a full season and "have enough ability to obtain results, and enough desire to continually improve".
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