Some of our best track riders are now looking to get to the next Olympics by riding for their own team as well as Ireland. Involved so far are Felix English, above, Fintan Ryan and Marc Potts.
By Brian Canty
Felix English will no longer pursue a career as a professional rider on the road, having opted instead to focus all his energy on the track.
The former national crit champion has ridden for Continental teams Rapha-Condor and Madison Genesis in recent years but has started a new project in the hope of securing funding for his track career.
English, along with fellow Irish internationals Marc Potts and Fintan Ryan, is seeking sponsors for their new TrakProject.ie team for the immediate future.
“The project was first discussed in August after realising I was going to have to find another contract racing in the UK,” said English.
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“I didn’t really fancy it and Marc, Fintan and myself all agreed we wanted to completely commit to the track.”
Their initiative aims to “allow us, and maybe more in the future, to be completely self-dependent” when it comes to expenses associate with racing and equipment.
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Felix English, Fintan Ryan and Marc Potts have set out an ambitious plan to attract sponsors to help fund their goal of going to UCI-ranked track events around Europe so they can progress their respective careers on the boards.
“Our overall goal is to qualify all of our riders for the 2020 Olympics and hopefully bring home Ireland’s first Olympic cycling medal,” English added.
“We’d been through quite a few ideas on how to fund the team and in the end we made the decision to look for small financial investors, rather than a large title sponsor.”
The team plan to do some road events in the spring and summer, with the An Post Rás a possibility.
But that will all depend on the track calendar which has yet to be confirmed.
They will race the various UCI World Cups, World and European Championships with Ireland but in other international track events they will ride as an independent team.
The team is seeking expressions of interest from riders looking to join.
And they are also looking for sponsors and investors. Anyone interested in becoming involved can contact the team through their Facebook page.
The team's new logo...
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