Jack Wilson takes the U23 National Road Championships in June in Co Louth from Cormac Clarke and Conor Dunne. All three would have been in contention for a place at the World Road Race Championships in Italy next month, but Ireland has not qualified a team. However, Dunne may still ride the time trial at the Worlds, with Ireland expected to have two riders in that event, also to take place in Florence next month. (Photo: Toby Watson)
By Graham Healy
The latest UCI rankings for Under 23s have been released today, Thursday, and show Ireland sitting in 31st place in the Europe Tour. That means there will be no Irish team in the U23 road race at the World Championships in Florence next month.
The qualification system for the U23 Worlds stipulates that the first 27 nations in the UCI Europe Tour on the 15th of August, today, will qualify riders for the road race.
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Nations ranked 1st to 15th are entitled to start five riders while nations ranked 16th to 20th are entitled to start four and nations ranked from 21st to 27th are entitled to start three.
The other route for qualification was through the Nations Cup; a series of races held across Europe mainly in the early part of the season in which U23 national teams compete.
The U23 Worlds qualification system also states that if a nation is included in the final classification of the Under 23 Nations Cup but that nation has not yet qualified via the UCI rankings, it may register two riders for the Worlds, one of whom will be a starter.
However, Ireland has not scored any points in the Nations Cup this year, closing that qualification door.
Some of the Irish cyclists in contention for a place in the road race had we qualified a team, including Ryan Mullen, Conor Dunne and Jack Wilson, have had some good results this season so it must come as a great disappointment not to earn qualification.
However, the process of having riders in the time trial at the U23 Worlds is not the same as the road race and is not as dependent on results. It means when the teams for the Worlds are confirmed - which is expected to happen tomorrow, Friday - stickybottle understands that Ireland will not be represented in the road race but should have some riders in the TT, most likely two.
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While the lack of a team in the road race is a real blow, Cycling Ireland head coach Brian Nugent had predicted earlier in the season that it was going to be difficult for some of the cyclists in the U23 panel to make the transition from junior this year.
He said before the Nations Cup races earlier this year: “We’re not really expecting mass participation in the Worlds this year because it’s a new group. But this is one way, over a two-year period, that we can qualify for the Worlds in the future.”
In the running for the Worlds TT places, if indeed we do secure two slots, are Ryan Mullen, Conor Dunne and Marcus Christie. Mullen won a silver at the Junior European Championships last year, was 9th in the Junior World TT Championships just a few months later and last month won two bronze medals at the European U23 Track Championships.
The IG Sigma Sport first-year pro and first-year U23 won the U23 National TT Championships in June and given his standing as one of the best testers in the UK and Ireland, he is a certainty to ride the Worlds TT once Ireland does indeed secure two places.
After his inclusion in the team, it would appear the remaining place is between Dunne and Christie.
Dunne has represented Ireland at the U23 Worlds before and is now a seasoned campaigner on the Belgian circuit who is tipped by many to secure a place on the An Post-Chainreaction team next year.
Dunne beat Christie to the silver medal at the national championships this year by a single second. However, while Dunne has been riding on the road with his Belgian team in the past couple of months since those championships, Christie has had some exposure to the Belgian road scene of late, winning an U23 criterium.
He has also been in spectacular form against the watch on home roads.
He has broken the national 50 mile TT record this year by over five minutes and has joined a very exclusively club of Irish riders to break 19 minutes for a 10 mile TT, clocking 18:37.
We will keep you posted tomorrow, Friday, if indeed the UCI confirms the make up for the Worlds fields then.
