The National Road Championships for elites, U23s and
juniors will now take place in October in Co Limerick.
The fixture had been thrown into doubt because of Covid19. Having been initially planned for late June, the championships were then reschedule for August 20th-23rd but those planned races were cancelled late last month.
However, Newcastle West Wheelers and well known track
rider and road race promoter, Liam Collins, have stepped in to take on
responsibility for holding the championships this year.
They will take place over the first four days of October –
Thursday to Sunday – in Knockaderry, Co Limerick.
While the routes have not yet been confirmed, stickybottle understands the road races will use the courses that road races in Knockaderry were held on last weekend.
President of Cycling Ireland, Ciaran McKenna, said he was
delighted the championships would go ahead this year and was thankful to Liam
Collins and Newcastle West Wheelers.
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“We are very fortunate to have seen the return of events
this year,” he said of the general resumption of road racing in recent weeks.
“This is very much down to the drive of event organisers
and clubs, along with the support of the local communities and Cycling Ireland,”
McKenna added.
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“However, staging bigger events like our National Road Championships
is a different matter, it is imperative that the safety of all involved is our
paramount concern.
“I would like to thank Liam Collins and all at Newcastle
West Wheelers for taking on the task of running the TT and road championships;
a difficult undertaking in any year but particularly so in the current
environment.”
Race organiser Collins said plans were already underway
and discussions with the local community, councils and gardai were ongoing.
He added Knockaderry and Limerick were looking forward to
hosting the 2020 Time Trial and Road National Championships on “a circuit well
known to the domestic riders”.
Details of the routes, distances and format will be
announced in the coming weeks.
The staging of the event will be subject to ongoing
public health guidelines to ensure the safety of participants and spectators.
It is unclear if Irish international and pro riders based
abroad will be able to return for the championships without requiring a
two-week quarantining period.
However, Cycling Ireland expects those details to become
clear in coming weeks and that detail will be dictated by Government policy
around Covid19 containment measures.
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