Largest ever Irish team named for U23 & Junior European Championships

Lavery, English & Bennett all ride the U23 Euros in Holland next month (Photo: Gary McIlroy)

Cycling Ireland has unveiled a 17-strong Irish team for the upcoming European U23 & Junior Championships in Zeeland, Holland, from August 9^th to 12^th.

The team is the biggest Irish travelling party named for years and is the largest ever selected for a European Championships.

As well as naming full male U23 and Junior selections, the association has also picked riders for the female U23 and Junior races in a move that will be seen as a sign of progress by those trying to develop the women’s scene.

News that such a big team is being sent comes just months after Cycling Ireland decided not to enter a national team in the An Post Ras, saying at the time it believed it was now time to focus on development riders; from youths to U23 level.

The size of the team named for the championships in Holland suggests Cycling Ireland is determined to pursue that policy.

The U23 and Junior male teams will take in both the road race and the time trial at the Euros while the female teams will take in the road races only.

Cycling Ireland chief executive, Geoff Liffey said he believed the line-up was a strong one.

“With an entry of seventeen riders this is the biggest European Championship team that Ireland has entered; it is the strongest team with a mixture of medal contenders and strong upcoming development riders. The Europeans will remain a big objective over the next few years.”

The men’s U23 team includes a number of riders now in their final year at this level and who will be looking to end the development part of their careers on a high at these Euros, and possibly at the World Championships in September if Ireland qualifies an U23 team.

These riders include Sam Bennett, Sean Downey, Aaron Buggle and Philip Lavery. Also in the line-up are Conor Dunne, Felix English and Jack Wilson.

All seven will ride the road race at the Euros with Dunne, Downey and Buggle also taking in the time trial.

The junior male team is currently away on a racing and training trip in Europe to prepare for the Europeans. It will have six riders in the Europeans road race including Cormac Clarke, who was third overall in the Junior Tour of Ireland earlier this month.

Ryan Mullen, who won stages in the Junior Tour and has been breaking TT records in Britain and Ireland this year, will ride the road race and the TT at the Euros. He is perhaps Ireland’s best chance of a medal, with high hopes that he could make the podium in the TT.

The rest of the team is also comprised of riders who have emerged as very strong prospects in the last couple of seasons including Junior Tour stage winner Jack Sadler, Dylan Foley, Thomas Fallon and Sean Hahessy. All have performed very well this season.

Some of the names of the four females selected will perhaps not be as well known as the U23 and Junior male riders. Of those females picked, a number live abroad.

Based in the US, Mary Costello is predominantly a track rider and was a member of the elite women’s track team as a first year senior.

Costello is joined by Lauren Creamer and Fiona Guihen in the U23 Euros Road Race. Creamer is a UK-based rider and has been preparing in events globally, from Europe to South Africa.