Philip Lavery is dusting himself down after the collapse of the team he was due to ride for next year and has launched an appeal for funding to keep him racing.
Former U23 national road race champion Philip Lavery has become the latest rider to launch an online funding appeal in the hopes of raising money to assist with the cost of the 2016 season.
The Dubliner had been set to ride for new Continental team Dynamo Cover, but that project fell through 10 days ago.
News broke just a week before the deadline to lodge the paperwork to apply for a Continental licence, leaving around 30 riders and staff with their plans up in the air for next year.
Four other Irish riders were also set to ride for the squad including brothers Mark and Sean Downey, Mark Dowling and Ryan Reilly.
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The collapse of the team was a bitter blow for all concerned and now Lavery has dusted himself down and to his great credit seems intent on persisting with his plans to return to racing.
He had ridden for An Post-Sean Kelly in 2011 followed by the NODE 4-Giordana UK-based Continental team the following season.
In 2013 he went to race in France for AC Bisontine and a string of fantastic performances saw him land a stagiaire with the Cofidis pro outfit at the end of the season.
However, with several big teams folding and an unusually high number of established riders on the market at the end of the season, Lavery was not offered an expected contract.
A period with David McQuaid’s Continental team Synergy Baku followed in 2014 before Lavery decided to step away from racing, though making a couple of appearances on the home scene this year.
In October he signalled his intent to return to AC Bisontine for 2016, only to switch to Dynamo Cover when a good offer was made.
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But with that option now having been yanked away, he has launched a crowd funding appeal to gather some money to keep his return to the peloton alive until he settles his plans for next year.
Writing on his GoFundMe.com page, Lavery said he was amazed at the level of support and messages of goodwill he had received since news of Dynamo Cover’s demise broke.
“As it stands there are two team options for next year,” he said, adding he was hopeful of very quickly finalising his plans around what team he would race for and where he would be based.
The 25-year-old said the collapse of Dynamo Cover had left around 30 people “with the rug pulled" from under them; a development made all the more frustrating because it was out of the control of those affected.
“Luckily a race program from various friends and supporters still exists; it is now a question of funding this programme until a team picks up the tab,” he said.
“Any help will be greatly appreciated and make for some emotional riveting rides throughout this season and beyond.”
There have already been a steady stream of contributors to his fund, though further donations are required to meet the target of £6,000 (€8,300).
If you want to add to the fund and keep one of the most entertaining and talented young Irish riders in the peloton, you can do so by following this link.
Riding in the colours of Cofidis; Lavery hopes to keep his return to racing on track with funding appeal.
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