The first Irish U23 team of the year has been selected to race on the roads of Europe, with experienced campaigners Martyn Irvine and Daire Feeley lined up to guide them.
The team selected for Flèche du Sud in Luxembourg is comprised of Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon), Matthew Devins (Trinity Racing), Odhran Doogan (Caldwell Cycles), Dean Harvey (Spellman Dublin Port) and Adam Kelly.
Olympian and former track world champion, Irvine, is leading the men’s U23 programme for Cycling Ireland this year while experienced campaigner Feeley (All human-VeloRevolution) is set to ride Flèche du Sud as a road captain guiding the young Irish riders.
It sounds like an excellent combination and one that the riders should learn a lot from, including guidance from Feeley alongside them in the bunch.
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This national team is a very strong one, even without Archie Ryan (Jumbo Visma Development), Liam Curley (EvoPro Racing), and Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing), among others, who are expected to feature later in the year.
“Flèche du Sud marks the start of our season and an important development opportunity for the riders,” Irvine said.
“Our primary goals are to use the event as a learning experience and show what we are capable of against some quality riders. After Flèche du Sud we will turn our attention to the Rás which we are pleased to see returning for 2022.”
The race gets underway on May 25th and runs until the 29th, with five road stages against quality elite and U23 teams from across Europe.
The last time the event was held, in 2019, Quinten Hermans and Toon Aerts – both riding for Telenet Fidea Lions at the time – were 1st and 2nd overall.
We’ll have more coverage in advance of this race a little closer to the time.
