Trinity Racing, the UCI Continental team owned by Irish
cycling agent Andrew McQuaid, has not secured a place in the Baby Giro this
year despite its success in the race in recent seasons.
Two years ago Tom Pidcock won the race overall,
collecting three stage wins along the way. And last season Irish rider Ben
Healy won the final stage and his team mate Thomas Gloag was 4th overall.
The team had
intended to go back to the U23 stage race this year with Gloag as team leader.
The team also has some Irish riders this year – namely Matthew Devins and Kevin
McCambridge – who may have been on contention for selection this year.
While the absence
of the team from this year’s race is a big surprise, it has released a
statement saying it planned to work hard to get back into the event next year. It
said its riders, staff and sponsors were disappointed with the news today that
the team had been passed over this time around, adding it did not understand
the decision.
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“Today’s news
that we were not invited to the 2022 edition of the U23 Giro is very
disappointing,” Trinity Racing said. “It is a race we love, and have always
made the focus of our season.
“As a team, we
have made our name from it - we won it in 2020 with Tom Pidcock, and last year
we won a stage with Ben Healy, finished 4th GC with Thomas Gloag and wore pink
for a day with Ben Turner.
“This year we had
big plans. Thomas Gloag, one of the most promising U23 riders in the world, had
made it the top priority of his season. We have multiple U23 national champions
on our squad who were excited about the opportunity to show off their jerseys
at one of the best U23 races in the world, supporting Thomas and looking for
stage wins themselves.
“We do not
understand the U23 race organiser’s decision not to invite our team, however we
accept it, and will race as hard as we can elsewhere with the aim of earning an
U23 Giro spot in 2023,” it added, and wished all this year’s riders the best of
luck.
