On a lumpy course in Florence with 3,000 metres of climbing, Dan Martin will be among the favourites for the World Road Race Championships (Photo: Gary McIlroy)
By Graham Healy
Earlier this week the organisers of this year’s World Championships announced the exact route that the riders will have to face in September in Florence and as expected, it’s going to be a difficult course with two climbs per lap totalling 3,000 metres of climbing on the day.
Having already taken victory in the Tour of Catalonia and Liège-Bastogne-Liège this season, Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) will be among the favourites to take the title, and it may offer the best opportunity in decades for an Irishman to take a medal.
However, one of the difficulties Irish medal prospects have faced down through the years has been the size of their team in the race. When Stephen Roche took the title in 1987, he had four others on the team - Seán Kelly, Martin Earley, Paul Kimmage and Alan McCormack - and they all played their part in ensuring his victory.
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Since then, the Irish teams that have lined up at the Worlds have been smaller with as few as one rider in some years.
The qualification system for the Worlds is complicated to say the least. But here’s is a summary of the various possibilities for Ireland to qualify as many riders as possible.
Currently, Martin lies in 5th place in the World Tour rankings, with Ireland in 14th place.
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The rules state that the first 10 countries in the World Tour rankings are entitled to nine starters. However, a nation with fewer than six riders classified in the World Tour rankings finishing in the top 10 nations will start just six riders.
Therefore, if Ireland can climb into the top 10 in the World Tour by the 15th of August, they will get six starters in the Worlds. With just Nicolas Roche and Martin racing at World Tour level, it’s a big ask but not impossible.
At this stage, it’s safe to say though that Martin will be in top 100 overall in the World Tour rankings by the cut-off date. Any country with a rider in the top 100 is entitled to have three starters. So, the worst case scenario is that Ireland will have three riders in the men’s elite race.
The other possibility of qualifying a larger team comes via the UCI Europe Tour. The first six nations on the European tour (excluding the nations qualifying via the UCI World Tour) are entitled to start six riders.
The countries ranked 7th to 14th are entitled to start three riders - but Ireland should get three starters through the World Tour qualification system anyway.
In the European tour rankings, Ireland sits in 21st position, as of the latest rankings from May 25th. However, this does not take into account the points gained by the various Irish cyclists during the Rás, so we will hopefully move up when the next rankings are released.
Philip Deignan (Unitedhealthcare) and Connor McConvey (Synergy Baku) are the Irish riders who account for most of these points along with David McCann’s points accrued at the end of last year.
Currently, eight European countries are in the top 10 in the World Tour rankings so these will be excluded from the European Tour rankings, but it will still be very difficult for Ireland to get into the next six ranked.
Therefore it seems that Ireland’s best possibility for getting six riders to the Worlds is for the country to climb into the top 10 in the World Tour. Some good performances from Roche and Martin at the forthcoming Tour of Switzerland and Tour de France would certainly help.
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