A series of strong rides, including victory at Rás Naomh Finian in Clonard last month, sees Javan Nulty ride the U23 Tour of Flanders this weekend; promoted from reserve rider to the racing line-up following the withdrawal today of an in-form Felix English due to a fractured wrist (Photo: Sean Rowe)
By Brian Canty
The Irish U23 team for the upcoming Nations Cup events in Belgium, France and Holland has been changed following the news that Felix English will miss all three races, with Javan Nulty set to replace him.
The Rapha Condor-JLT sprinter saw a doctor today about the wrist he fractured on the final stage of the Tour of Normandie recently, and his worst fears were confirmed when it emerged he wouldn’t be able to partake in any of next week's events.
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English had been down to start all three events alongside An Post Chainreaction trio of Ryan Mullen, Conor Dunne and Jack Wilson as well as Eoin McCarthy and Conor McIlwaine.
The former national criterium champion was to be given protected rider status for at least one of the events and his withdrawal now forces team managers Kurt Bogaerts to re-shuffle the cards.
Cycling Ireland high performance coach, Brian Nugent said it was a blow to the team which enters the week’s races with high hopes of qualifying places for next September’s U23 World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain.
“It’s a fractured scaphoid that Felix has and he might need an operation so it’s wise not to race,” said Nugent.
“It’s not worth it with that injury; it’s a risky one. It’s actually not a major injury but if you don’t let it heal it will lose its range of motion and that’s not good.
“The sixth slot is a team support role and the guys know that, Cormac (Clarke) had a good experience of it last year and Javan (Nulty) is a very similar rider; you could hardly tell the difference between the two lads and he deservedly gets his chance.
“They’re both going well but I want to give Javan the experience. I’m honest with the lads, they know what I’m doing and why, and in the long term they’ll all have opportunities.
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“The role Javan will have is all about team support and they know they’re not going over there to win, they’re going over there to support the team and Javan got the nod. Cormac is still a reserve rider though.”
Nulty will most likely ride the first and second races; the Tour of Flanders this Saturday and the Cote de Picardie on Wednesday.
Nugent said he’s considering starting just five
riders in Saturday week’s final Nations Cup race for the Irish in the shape of the ZLM Tour in Holland.
“I’d prefer to have (Clarke and Nulty) here at Rás Mumhan,” he said of the duo selected to ride the home encounter in Kerry over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
“My plan is to bring back Javan for Rás Mumhan and I will if it’s still possible after Picardie, and put five guys in ZLM because I think it’s important for them to have a good Rás Mumhan.”
Felix English already has a number of very strong international results under his belt this season and having won a number of UK pro races during a breakthrough campaign last year, his withdrawal from the Nations Cup races over the coming week is a blow for himself and the Irish team. Seen here wearing the green jersey of sprints leader in the Mitchelton Bay Cycling Classic criterium series in Australia in January; a classification he would go on to win. He was second in the opening race and scored a string of top 10 placings, not to mention 4th in the prologue of the Herald Sun Tour in February (Photo: Darren Francis Casey)
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