Mooted new course for Euro Champs looks made for Irish U23s

The European U23 Championships (September 14-18) are back on and the mooted course Brittany looks like it will suit an Irish team set to be headed by Eddie Dunbar.

By Brian Canty

This year’s European Championships have been rescheduled to take place in the Brittany town of Plumelec between September 14^th and 18^th.

The event, scheduled for Nice, was cancelled last week because of security concerns following the terrorist attacks in the city last month that claimed the lives of 85 people.

The news was a blow to the Irish riders who had been preparing for it, particularly those in contention for the U23 road race team as it was felt the course played perfectly to their strengths.

Eddie Dunbar said he was particularly disappointed: “I don’t think, if it does go ahead somewhere else, the course will be as good for me as the one in Nice was. It really suited me but that’s the way it is.”

The course for the road race is yet to be confirmed but early reports suggest it is the same one used for the GP Plumelec-Morbihan (1.1).

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However, he and the rest of the team will be licking their licks at what’s in store next month; a hard and hilly course believed to be very similar to that used for the 1.1-ranked GP Plumelec-Morbihan.

That is a 182-kilometre event held in May with the finish at the summit of the Côte de Cadoudal.

That climb is 1.8 kilometres long with an average gradient of 7.8 per cent.

In the pro race the riders must climb it 13 times with the group thinning down as the laps tick by.

It has not been confirmed that the route for the Euros is the exact same course.

But early indications suggest that it will be similar, which would be great news for Dunbar and Michael O’Loughlin, two riders who are certain to make the selection.

For the first time in its history the event will be broadcast live in nearly 60 countries on Saturday 17 September and Sunday 18.