Jack Woods, the 16-year-old Irish rider who has been a youth national champion on the road, has signed for a Belgium team as he prepares for his first season as a junior.
Woods, from Carlow, won the U16 road race title at the National Road Championships this year in Kilmacthomas, repeating his victory in the same national title race a year earlier.
The Carlow RCC rider was also 2nd overall in the U16 Cycling Ireland National Road Series this year - won by Hugh Óg Mulhearne (Verge Sport PI Cycles). Woods will now ride for a team with a full schedule of events in Europe next season, including UCI-ranked racing.
A Presentation College student, Woods has already gone on some racing trips to Belgium and France to ride youth races and steps up to the junior ranks with the Crabbé-DSTNY team in 2025.
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The team rode UCI ranked races last year including: Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne Juniors (1.1), Danilith Nokere Koerse MJ (1.1), the TRIXXO Ster van Zuid-Limburg (2.1) stage race, E3 Saxo Classic (1.1) and Ronde van Vlaanderen (1.1) among others.
In a team statement, Woods said he had already spoken to some of the other riders who will be on the team. While many spoke English, he said he was preparing to learn Flemish. He was also very grateful to the team, Carlow RCC and his coach Kevin McCambridge for making the move possible.
"I'm really looking forward to being a part of this and starting with this team and hopefully proving myself in this new environment," Woods said.
"I'm hoping to get the chance in some big junior UCI races, but I know as a first year junior I'll have to prove and adapt. In Ireland the expectations are very high but the pelotons are very small."
