Shay Donley has won some great races this year including at Rás Mhaigh Eo, above. And now he gets his shot at riding on the Ireland team at the Junior Tour (Photos Conor McKeown and Sean Rowe)
Irish team Junior Tour of Ireland 2018
The Irish team has been named for the Junior Tour of Ireland; five strong riders selected by Cycling Ireland.
The team is dominated by riders from Nicolas Roche Performance team-Chill Insurance.
It has no fewer than three places in the five-berth line-up. The other places are taken by Powerhouse Sport and Lucan CRC riders.
With the European Championships on in the Czech Republic next week, and so clashing with the Junior Tour; some very strong juniors will be missing from the domestic stage race.
But that hasn’t prevented an impressive national team being assembled, made up of:
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- Liam Curley (NRPT-Chill Insurance)
- Shay Donley(NRPT-Chill Insurance)
- Cathir Doyle (Powerhouse Sport)
- Conor Gallagher (NRPT-Chill Insurance)
- Cian May (Lucan CRC)
They will be targeting the general classification and also stage wins, as well as the other classification jerseys.
Conor Gallagher and Cathir Doyle.
All five have ridden very well this season; Gallagher in particular having performed strongly when pitted against elite riders earlier in the campaign.
He was the first junior in the country to be upgraded to A2 this year and put in a brilliant ride at the Tour of the North.
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On the final stage of that race, when a field of top riders from Ireland and Britain spilt to pieces, he was in the fight off the front and took 3rd in the end.
Liam Curley won the Boyne GP earlier in the year. More recently he was 2nd in the Eddie Tobin Memorial and 7th in the junior road race at the National Road Championships.
His team mate Shay Donley has won no fewer than five races this year, opening his account with a stage in Rás Mhaigh Eo.
He then went on to claim the Killinchy GP and Coombes Connor. He would then take a stage at the Kanturk Three Day and also won the Grouchos GP.
Cian May and Liam Curley.
Cathir Doyle has also been prolific this year, winning four races including the John Haldane and McCann Cup in the first weeks of the campaign.
He also claimed the Bann Valley Classic and East Tyrone GP and was 5th at the championships last Saturday.
Cian May is yet to claim a victory this year but given his consistency a big win can’t be too far away.
He has been to the fore in animating races he has placed in; 3rd overall in the Gorey Three Day his best result so far this seaon.
The race, which is based in Ennis, Co Clare, takes place next week.
It takes the rides, from Ireland and abroad, on a course of 530km over six stages.
The racing gets underway with the now traditional curtain-raising TT.
Last year Ben Walsh of the Irish won the test and held yellow all the way.
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