Iain Dyer, Cycling Ireland's high performance manager, has said it was important to consult with a large group of riders about national team plans for the road Worlds and Europeans because nobody knew better than the riders what they felt capable of.
This year the Worlds take place on a climbers' course and at altitude in Rwanda in late September. It is then followed very closely by the Europeans, also on a hard course, in France.
Many European federations are undecided about taking teams to Rwanda or have scaled back their plans. The cost of traveling there is an issue, as is safety, accommodation availability and the nature of the course.
Indeed, the UCI has been forced to state it has no plans to relocate the Worlds to Switzerland amid doubts about Rwanda will go. However, Ireland's approach is already set, and is one Dyer says was arrived at after engaging in what was the biggest ever consultation with high performance riders.
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The plan is to send an elite men's team to the Worlds and for the elite women, as well as U23s and juniors, to ride the Europeans.
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“We felt it important riders have their say. There’s nothing worse than feeling you’re on the end of a decision you haven’t been consulted on. Equally it gave us an opportunity to assess riders’ appetite for either competition," Dyer said.
“Riders know full well if they can climb in heat at altitude in a one-day championship environment or not, and we appreciated the honesty in the responses we received.
"It’s a fact of life that championships courses and environments vary massively season by season, and some years won’t be for everyone. Naturally we need to make cost effective decisions also.
"But it was clear that in some categories we didn’t have enough commitment for Kigali that we would have sufficient riders to fulfil our potential team size quotas.
"It is our hope now that this early decision gives our riders clarity over the championships on offer for selection and they can work towards that during their season.”
