Hugh Og Mulhearne, one of the leading U16 riders in the country on the road this year, is set to jump straight from the U16 ranks into a junior French team for the 2025 road season.
The teenager's decision to join a French team, which will ensure a programme of bigger and harder racing from early in the campaign, continues a growing trend in Irish cycling in recent years.
Mulhearne (16) has ridden for Panduit Carrick Wheelers and Verge PI and has enjoyed significant success on the home scene as well as going to Belgium this year for a series of youth races there.
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Next season he will compete in the colours of AS Villemur Cyclisme, which fellow Irish rider, Sam Coleman, rode for this season. The team is based near Toulouse and will ride a mix of national level racing and UCI-ranked events.
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One of its early season fixtures will by the junior Liège-Bastogne-Liège, which would be a big step up in level, and an exciting one, for riders moving up from the U16 ranks.
Mulhearne has been a very active rider in both road and cyclocross during his youth racing days and has demonstrated ability both climbing and sprinting.
He took six wins at U16 level this year, winning two rounds of the National Road Series, as well as claiming the overall victory in the series. He also claimed silver in the U16 TT at the National Road Championships and took a stage win at Rás na nÓg.
