Ryan Mullen will be a strong medal contender at the European Championships in Tartu, Estonia next week. The An Post Chainreaction man takes part in both the road race and the time-trial.
By Brian Canty
Cycling Ireland has named strong teams for next week’s junior and U23 European Championships in Estonia, with eight riders set to compete across six events from August 6th to 9th.
Ryan Mullen, Eddie Dunbar, Daniel Stewart and Sean McKenna make up the four-man U23 team for the road race, with Mullen and Dunbar also taking in the time trial.
The junior team comprises Darragh O’Mahoney, Michael O’Loughlin and Simon Tuomey, though only the latter two will race the time-trial.
Ciara Doogan is the sole female representative and she will ride both the junior women’s road race and time trial.
Advertisement
The U23 team has the potential to medal in both disciplines, with Mullen an obvious candidate for the time-trial, having taken silver in the World Championships last year.
This year, he was eighth in the inaugural European Games with six of those who beat him established WorldTour riders.
The first Irish rider in action will be Doogan tomorrow week, August 6th, with her 18.4km time-trial starting at 10.30am Irish time.
After taking the U23 road title and silver in the elite and U23 time trials at the national championships last month, Eddie Dunbar rides both events in Estonia (Photo: Stephen McMahon - Sportsfile)
Mullen and Dunbar are up the following day and their 31.5 kilometre test gets underway at 9am Irish time.
That test is followed in the afternoon by the junior men's 18.4km time-trial where Tuomey and O’Loughlin are in action from 1pm Irish time.
On Saturday, Doogan competes in the women’s road race – six laps of a 12.4km circuit - from 7.30am Irish time.
On Sunday the junior men’s road race will be contested over 10 laps of the same course, followed by the U23 road race; 13 laps of the 12.4km.
Meanwhile, Ireland has six athletes competing in the UCI Paracycling World Championships in Switzerland which start tomorrow.
Colin Lynch (MC2), Eoghan Clifford (MC3) and the tandem pairings of Katie George Dunlevy and Eve McCrystal (WB), and Peter Ryan and Dermot Radford (MB) will be on the medal hunt in tomorrow’s time-trials and Saturday’s road races.
Eddie Dunbar, left, and Michael O'Loughlin in the junior road race at the World Championships in Spain last year. They are back in the Irish jersey in coming days; O'Loughlin still a junior and Dunbar now in the U23 ranks (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Lynch is the world’s highest ranked MC2 rider and he will definitely be looking to claim a medal in his 21km time-trial tomorrow, from 8am Irish time.
It is four years since he first won a gold medal at these championships and having already tasted success in various World Cups along the way he should be confident of going close to silverware again.
The new tandem pairing of Peter Ryan and Dermot Radford is an unknown quantity but Radford has class in abundance and Ryan has medaled twice before so hopes are high for another top performance.
Related News
They are in action from 1pm Irish time, also tomorrow.
The final tandem pairing is Katie George Dunleavy and Eve McCrystal, also in action tomorrow from 1pm Irish time.
They are an established pair at this stage and have medaled at both the World Championships road race and against watch at World Cup level.
Eoghan Clifford is the other Irishman in TT action tomorrow and he’ll start as another medal contender in the MC3 category.
All four will be back in action on Sunday for their respective road races.
U23 and Junior European Road Champs
August 6th to 9th, Tartu, Estonia
U23 Team
Ryan Mullen (TT & RR)
Eddie Dunbar (TT & RR)
Sean McKenna (RR)
Daniel Stewart (RR)
Junior Male
Michael O’Loughlin (TT & RR)
Simon Tuomey (TT & RR)
Daragh O’Mahoney (RR)
Junior Female
Ciara Doogan (TT & RR)
Support Team
Neil Martin (DS)
Kurt Bogaerts (DS)
Frank O’Leary (Coach)
Stacey Kelly (Soigneur)
Michel Bogaerts (Mechanic)
UCI Para-Cycling World Championships
Nottwil, Switzerland
Irish Team
Colin Lynch, MC2 Time Trial, MC2 Road Race.
Peter Ryan & Dermot Radford, MB Time Trial, MB Road Race.
Katie-George Dunlevy & Eve McCrystal, WB Time Trial, WB Road Race.
Eoghan Clifford, MC3 Time Trial, MC3 Road Race.
Support Team
Coach, Neill Delahaye
Manager, Tommy McGowan
Mechanic, Gerry Beggs
Physiotherapist, Johnny Loughrey
Topics
