Cycling Ireland has confirmed it will be sending a team to the European Track Championships and has set out the criteria for gaining selection.
At present the championships are planned for Minsk in Belarus, though the European Cycling Union is coming under some pressure to review the venue given the EU restrictions being place on the country. Belarus ordered a Ryanair plane to land in Minsk at the weekend so a journalist on board could be arrested.
However, if the venue is change it is highly likely the championships would go ahead at another city but on the same dates; June 23rd to 27th.
Cycling Ireland has said that due to the lock-down, and the fact only carded and professional cyclists are eligible to travel abroad for events, only those riders are eligible.
Advertisement
However, as the Covid-19 restrictions are being lifted
and the situation around sport and other sectors is changing, Cycling Ireland
is consulting with Sport Ireland about widening the group of riders who could
be eligible for selection.
And while Cycling Ireland has set out very specific
criteria for selection onto the national team for the Europeans, it acknowledges
more places may be available to Ireland than the number of riders who meet the
criteria
If that is the case for some events, the selectors may
make an exception and consider selecting riders who are “fractionally under”
the criteria as competing could be a “development opportunity” for those riders.
The successful riders must have achieved two results, over the past 18 months, set out in the criteria. These include a top 12 placing at the World Track Championships in the madison, omnium, scratch race or points race.
Riders can also meet the criteria if they have a top 10 in
a UCI World Cup or a top six rider in a UCI Class 1 meeting or a top three in a
Class 2 meeting in the madison, omnium, scratch race or points race.
Related News
For the men’s 4km individual pursuit, riders must have
achieved a time of 4:20:00 in officially timed conditions, which can include
racing or at a Cycling Ireland training camp.
And for the women’s 3km pursuit a time of 3:35:00 must be
achieved, in the same conditions as for the men. In the team pursuit, riders
must have done a 4:29:00 or lower.
For female sprinters, to be eligible riders must have
clocked 11:200 or lower for the 200m flying start or 39:900 for the 500m TT
standing starting.
And male sprinters must have done at 10:20 or lower for
the 200m TT flying start or a 1:02 or lower for the 1km TT standing start.
The criteria set out above and below represent just a sample from the full criteria set down by Cycling Ireland. For the full criteria and guidance on selection, see all the details at this link.
Just to stress – the criteria stickybottle is outlining does not represent the full criteria.
There is also a Cycling Ireland “tactical performance
analysis matrix” which rates riders on the basis of their ability to hold their
position on the track, score points, gain laps and perform in the first and
last quarters of races.
For other events,
the matrix includes the ability to sit tight on a wheel, deliver a team at
speed and perform a specific role. Peak power for a variety of short periods of
time is also scored in the selection process for some events.
Other factors
that will be considered are a rider’s technical ability, consistency over the
last 12 months, the potential to score Olympic qualification points and also
each rider’s ability to work within a national team selection and to be
reliable and promote cycling positively.
Topics
