Huge Irish team named for elite, junior, U23 Euro Champs

Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin lead the five-man elite men's Irish team in the Euros, with elite, U23 and junior men and women all picked for France (Photo: Sirotti)

By Brian Canty

Ireland is sending a 19-strong team to the European Road Championships in France later this month with medal chances aplenty across the board.

There’s a five-man elite road race team led by Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche but also included are Ryan Mullen, Conor Dunne and a rider yet to be confirmed.

Philip Deignan is unlikely to be considered as it clashes with his wedding to Lizzie Armitstead and one man who definitely won’t be going is the injured Connor McConvey.

Matt Brammeier is a possibility as is Damien Shaw.

The course for the road race is suited to men like Martin and Roche and after the Tour of Britain this week they should know a lot more about where they stand.

Ciara Doogan will ride the junior road race and TT at the European Road Championships (Photo: Sean Rowe)

Mullen and Dunne are also in action and are faring well having already appeared in breakaways.

Mullen and Roche will also race the time-trial.

There is no elite women’s team for the road race, but national TT champion Anna Turvey will ride the championship TT race.

However, while that may disappointment many, there are U23 and junior female riders selected.

Josie Knight, who has become a track rider of later, will compete in both the TT and the road race. She will be Ireland’s only representative in the U23 women’s races.

Medal Machine: Having won medals at the European Track Championships at junior and U23 level, Mark Downey looks like a leader for the future. He gets his chance on the road, deservedly so with another Banbridge man Matt Teggart. Both have had terrific seasons based in France.

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And for the women’s junior events the team is small - at just two riders – but impressive.

In Ciara Doogan and Emily Birchall two formidable riders have been selected and, like Knight, they are sure to be the names of the future for Ireland.

Doogan and Birchall ride both the road race and the TT.

The U23 men’s team is stacked with potential and will be led by Eddie Dunbar and reigning u23 national champion Michael O’Loughlin.

Both will do the time-trial two days before the road race. Also in the five-man team are Mark Downey, Daire Feeley and Matthew Teggart.

All five know each other extremely well and have raced a lot together on Irish teams since they were underage.

A stage winner at the Rás, Eddie Dunbar is named in the U23 team for both the road race and TT and will be looking for a big result to round out his season (Photo: Sean Rowe)

They can each win on their day and having already taken some big scalps throughout the season they can be confident of pulling off another one.

The course in Brittany is hard and hilly and should be a real war of attrition as opposed to a large group coming to the line to contest a sprint.

In that sort of situation, each of the five can be deadly and should they be on a good day a medal is within their reach.

There’s a five-man junior team that features national road and time trial champions Jake Gray and Ben Walsh, though only the latter will do the TT.

Xeno Young will do both TT and road race while Robert O’Leary and Conor Leech have been selected for the road team.