David McCann won the Rás while riding for in the green of Ireland but he believes there's no need to have a national team in the country's biggest stage race. Seen here on the Rás of 2009 on the far right with (left to right) Paul Healion, Stephen Barrett, Sean Downey and Martyn Irvine
By Brian Canty
David McCann believes there is no need to have an Irish team in the An Post Rás and that priority should be given to the U23 national team.
The former national road and time trial champion said with limited funding, the sport in Ireland needs to look at the bigger picture.
And he questioned what an Irish team, without the best Irish riders, brings to the Rás.
“My personal view is there’s no need (for an Irish team in the Rás); sometimes there’s no French team in the Tour," he said.
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“I understand people’s view in wanting an Irish team but with the Rás and the Junior Tour, the riders are going to do it anyway.
“I managed a team on the Junior Tour and it was great to have a chance to work and develop the young lads. But it’s a case of spending money on a race they’ll do anyway.
“If you only had money for one race, I would say add to the program; don’t spend it on races the riders already doing.
“Personally, I’d love to see all the best Irish riders on their own teams and clubs competing at a high level. I don’t know what the Irish team adds to it."
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Under UCI rules, the only Irish riders competing at Continental level eligible for selection onto the national team in the Rás are those whose teams are not riding the race.
And former Synergy Baku performance director and three-time Olympian McCann suggested that rule meant a lot of quality riders were ruled out of selection onto any Irish team on the Rás.
“It’s getting to the point where an Irish team in the Rás might not even be the strongest Irish team," he said.
“You have the An Post team and a few local teams that are getting stronger so to me, I don’t know if it’s the best for the national team to have them in the Rás. Why not get them into other races?
“With the limited funding Ireland has, we can’t afford to do anything just for the sake of doing it.
“It has to be quantified in terms of the actual benefits of going to these events.
"It needs to be very target-specific, like in the past when you had Ciarán Power getting up in races and going to the Olympics with a target of a result.
“The first thing we need to do is look after the U23 Nations cup. That has to be done properly, not as an afterthought, but as a proper setup in itself and that takes quite a lot of money.”
McCann carved out a very successful career for himself riding in Asia. Seen here at the Tour de Langkawi with Irish journalist Shane Stokes in 2011.
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