Cycling Ireland has named the Irish national team that will ride Rás Tailteann in two weeks time; the selectors again going with an U23 core group with an experienced elite road captain.
The U23 riders are Archie Ryan (Jumbo Visma Development), Dean Harvey (Spellman Dublin Port), Adam Ward (SmartDry Girona Cycling City) and Paul-Antoine Hagan (Banbridge CC) with Rory Townsend (WiV SunGod) named as the road captain.
This is the second Irish U23 road racing team selected this year, with a group of riders - and the experienced Daire Feeley (All human-VeloRevolution) as road captain - having taken on Flèche du Sud (2.2) in Luxembourg last week.
Harvey rode very well in Luxembourg, taking 6th on the final stage, while Matthew Devins - who is riding the Rás with Trinity Racing - was 9th on the queen stage.
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Irish U23 team manager, and former world track champion and Rás stage winner, Martyn Irvine said he was really looking forward to taking charge of the riders at the Rás, along with the very experienced Townsend.
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“Flèche du Sud was a huge confidence boost for the team who worked extremely well together and came away with two top-10 finishes against some quality riders,” Irvine said.
“The Rás provides another opportunity for our talented young riders to gain exposure to racing at a high level. We’re looking forward to racing on home roads and seeing what we can achieve together as a team.”
Hagan (20) and Harvey (19) have been riding on the home scene this year; Harvey taking victory in the Annaclone GP and the Shay Elliott Memorial and Hagan claiming a string of very strong results, including 5th at the recent Sean Nolan GP in Co Meath.
Ryan (20) is back racing in Europe again with Jumbo Visma Development after injury and has ridden very well in hilly races for the team this year, including 11th at Flèche Ardennaise (1.2), 7th at GP Palio del Recioto-Trofeo C (1.2U) and 7th overall at Istrian Spring Trophy (2.2).
Ward (21) is the former Irish junior road race champion and is now a very experienced campaigner having ridden the Worlds, Europeans and Tour de l'Avenir on Irish teams. In the build up to the Rás he has ridden a number one-day races in Spain and Denmark and should be in good form for the Irish showpiece event.
Meanwhile, Townsend has plenty of experience to impart to the younger riders and could also win stages, or the overall, in the five-day race. He recently placed 13th in Volta Limburg Classic (1.1) and was 6th in Arno Wallaard Memorial (1.2).
