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Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche in the green of Ireland. They will once again be in the mix for Worlds selection this year.
Irish cycling set for six men at World Road Champs
Irish cycling is on course to have a large team eligible for the World Road Championships in Bergen, Norway.
The main event there will of course be the elite men’s contest. And the good news is that Ireland looks set to have a six-man team on the start line.
Qualification comes via the UCI World Ranking, rather than the WorldTour. At present Ireland is 15th in the UCI World Ranking.
And any nation placed 11th to 20th on the cut-off date of August 15th will secure six places in the men’s road race in Bergen in September.
Belgium tops the rankings, on 14,615.65 points. Colombia is next on 11,902.4 and Spain is in third place, on 11,779.75 points.
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Ireland has 4,099 points in 15th. And the good news is that there is a lot of slippage room before Irish cycling would drop out of the top 20 and lose the right to start a six-man team in the men’s race.
For example, Russia is currently placed 20th and has 2,571 points; some 1,500 fewer than Ireland.
And while Ireland looks on course to remain in that group of nations ranked 11th to 20th, if we slipped into the next 10 we would be eligible to start three riders.
With five WorldTour men to choose from, not to mention those riding at ProContinental level, the Irish team for Bergen should be a very good one if we have six starters.
The course is testing and would suit the likes of Dan Martin (QuickStep), Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) and Philip Deignan (Team Sky).
Of course Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) has been in great form this season and can get up many climbs.
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Ryan Mullen (Cannondale-Drapac) has continued his rapid progress this year, though the climbs won’t suit him as much as the others.
And at ProContinental level Ireland has the likes of Conor Dunne, Matt Brammeier and Stephen Clancy. Damien Shaw of An Post-Chainreaction also cannot be ruled out.
Like Dunne and Brammeier, Martyn Irvine also rides for Aqua Blue Sport.
But a crash earlier in the year has sidelined him. And the Worlds will probably prove beyond him this year.
The nations' rankings are calculated by adding all of the points scored by each nation’s eight top-ranked riders.
For Ireland they are, in order: Martin, Bennett, Roche, Mullen, Eddie Dunbar, Chris McGlinchey, Michael O’Loughlin and Dunne.
Points in all UCI races, including national championships, count towards each rider’s UCI World Ranking.
While six berths in the elite men’s road race for the Worlds now look very likely for Ireland, each nation will also have two TT places.
In the elite women’s ranking, Ireland is currently 47th. That puts us outside the top 20 nations eligible to start up to six riders each.
But, like all nations not in the top ranks, Ireland will be eligible to enter three women in the road race and two in the TT.
Apart from the elite men’s and women’s races in Bergen, the Irish U23 men are likely to qualify either four or five riders for the road race.
Ireland is ranked 15th in the EuropeTour U23 rankings.
The top 15 nations on the August 15th cut-off date can start five riders in the Worlds road race. And nations ranked 16th to 20th get to start four riders.
As with the elite men, the Irish U23s will also have two TT places at the Worlds.
Irish junior teams
In the junior men’s ranking, Ireland is currently 23rd. That puts us outside the 16th to 20th placed nations eligible to field a four-man team.
However, all nations outside the top 20 can started three juniors in the road race and two in the TT.
And in the junior female category Ireland is outside the top five-ranked countries in the Junior Nations Cup. Each of those is permitted a five-rider team in the road race.
All other nations are eligible to start three riders in the junior women’s road race and two in the TT.
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