A second Continental-level team will be registered in Ireland next year with a strong Irish identity and five riders from the home country (Photo: Toby Watson)
By Shane Stokes
The prospect of Irish riders going on to top level pro contracts in future years has been considerably boosted with news that the country will have not one but two UCI Continental teams in 2016.
Dynamo Cover, which has confirmed a number of Irish riders in recent days, will be registered in Ireland.
And it will also have a junior academy based in Dublin that will act as a feeder system for the senior squad.
The team was originally set to be registered in Britain and have one or perhaps two Irish riders.
But that changed in recent days when British Cycling told the team that it would be required to have nine riders from there.
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As the team’s ethos is based around a Celtic identity, the team owners decided to switch registration to Ireland and to take on more competitors from there.
Cycling Ireland was set to announce the news at the federation’s annual general meeting.
Chief executive Geoff Liffey spoke to stickybottle this morning about the developments.
“Dynamo Cover are looking to register an Irish Continental team here and they will be taking on five riders,” he confirmed.
“Some of those names have already been released. More will be announced later today.
“It is positive news. For the past few years we have already had one Continental team with An Post, which has been a stepping stone for riders to get more international experience.
“And it helps them greatly with an improved race programme. So to have another option for more riders is great.
“We are looking at having about 25 professional riders next year, which is the highest number ever. It is all very encouraging.”
The team will submit documents to the UCI prior to the registration deadline in December. Once that is done and approved, the registration as an Irish Continental team will be formalised.
The setup will be backed by the UK-based cycling insurance company Dynamo Cover. It was founded two years ago by Alex Mills, a former candidate on the BBC show The Apprentice.
The team will be managed by the Breton Yann Dejan, a past manager of Team Geumsan Chrono in Asia.
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He will be assisted by former French pro Benoit Salmon, who was the best young rider in the 1999 Tour de France and who has been working with VC La Pomme Marseille, plus Sébastien Duclos.
The latter has been running the Attack Gusto Cycling Team in Asia.
Former pros Joel Pelier and Bruno Cornillet will also have an input, and Irish Tour de France winner Stephen Roche will be a mentor.
Jean Vantalon is the team’s press officer and played an important role in building a link between French and Irish cycling. Cycling Ireland board member John Horgan explained how that link between the two countries has grown.
“Myself and Jean first started working together back in 2012. Ever since then we have made stronger links between France and Ireland,” he said.
“We started off when we had a club team doing a race in France in May in 2012. Then we had an Irish team doing Kreiz Breizh in 2012 and there was an Irish team there this year.
“Ever since then, we have had riders going to Hennebont and AC Bisontine. All of those links came basically from myself and Jean working together and trying to help Irish riders going to clubs in France.”
He’s clear on what it means for Irish cycling.
“It is great. There is more opportunity. Some guys will go to Belgium, some will go to France. If you are more suited to climbing, you might go to the French team. It is another path, so it can only help.
“The team has got a very strong line-up in terms of directeur sportifs and their programme is quite strong. So it is a good addition.”
Liffey sees another benefit too. “For our under 23s, there will be more of them racing internationally.
“That means there will be a greater chance that they will get points and make the qualification for the worlds that little bit easier. So that is also beneficial.”
There’s also likely to be a positive effect for younger riders as well.
“In addition to the Continental team, it is going to have a link with a junior academy in Dublin. David McCann will be managing that here.
“It means that those junior riders can link in with the professional setup for overseas races abroad. That is quite significant too because we don’t have that setup already.”
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