Sean McKenna will make his debut as an elite rider for the Irish national team at the Beaumont Trophy in the UK (1.2) on Sunday June 19th. The Aquablue man has been a prolific winner on the domestic front this season and last and deservedly gets his chance in the six-man line-up (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
Following on from their participation in the Philadelphia International Classic at the weekend, the Irish national team have been confirmed starters for a big UCI race closer to home in two weeks.
A six-man squad of Damien Shaw, Eoin Morton, Sean McKenna, Ian Richardson, Daire Feeley and Conor Hennebry will travel to the UK to tackle the 1.2-ranked Beaumont Trophy on June 19th, a week before the national road and time-trial championships.
It’s a hugely positive development for the road scene and the team’s make-up is further evidence that emphasis is being placed on getting results as well as developing riders.
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The race will be based in Northumberlad in the north west of the country and the field will consist of UCI European Tour teams like ONE Pro Cycling, Continental-ranked squads like Madison-Genesis and Raleigh GAC, national selections and club teams.
In all, a field of 140 riders will do battle and given the performances of the Irish riders in recent months at home and abroad, a result is definitely within their compass.
Conor Hennebry is having a superb season and deservedly got the irish call-up for the upcoming Beaumont Trophy (1.2) in the UK (Photo courtesy of AmberGreen Energy Facebook page)
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Shaw is the elite national road race champion and usually comes out of the An Post Rás flying – or at least goes into the national championships in superb condition.
Richardson reclaimed the blue jersey as best county rider overall at the Rás while his UCD-Fitzcycles.ie teammate Eoin Morton won a stage and wore the king of the mountains jersey during the week.
Feeley is an aggressive young type who spent much of stage six up the road with former international teammate Eddie Dunbar, while Aquablue pair Sean McKenna and Conor Hennebry are both enjoying very good seasons as well.
McKenna has worn the national colours already this year at the U23 Nations Cup in Belgium while Hennebry helped him win the Kerry Group Rás Mumhan in 2015.
The latter is also the reigning AmberGreen Energy Tour of Ulster champion.
The race in the UK will be run over a combination of two circuits.
The larger one is 35-kilometre lap includes a punishing climb which will be tackled four times while the smaller circuit is a 21-kilometre lap and this will be tackled twice.
The race will start with one lap of the smaller circuit before going on to complete four laps of the larger circuit and then finish with a final lap of the small circuit.
The total distance is 187 kilometres. Click here for a full start-list.
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