Chris Dawson, above, and his Dawson Racing team mate Greta Lawless were crowned elite men's and women's XCO champions yesterday and are now among four top riders confirmed for Team Ireland at the upcoming Europeans and Worlds
A day after winning their latest national titles, Chris Dawson, Greta Lawless and Ryan Daly have been selected for the Worlds and Europeans.
Furthermore, Caleb McGreevy, one of the strongest and most versatile juniors in the country, joins them on the same national team.
The strong quartet, who have considerable international experience, will don the green of Ireland at the UEC European Mountain Bike Championships in Monteceneri, Switzerland.
At the same time Cycling Ireland announced that team, it also confirmed the four riders would go on to represent Ireland at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Val di Sole, Italy.
At the National XCO Championships in Carey's Castle, Co Waterford, yesterday, Sunday, Dawson (Dawson Racing) ran out a convincing winner of the senior men's race.
Ryan Daly leads Caleb McGreevy on the junior men's race at the Nationals and now both are going to the Worlds and Europeans (Photo: Tom Scott)
In the Clonmel MTB promotion, he crossed the line to claim the gold medal by well over seven minutes from Daniel Brickenden (Team WORC), with David Montgomery (Spellman Dublin Port) in 3rd.
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Dawson is by far the best MTB rider Ireland has at present and once a team was going to the Worlds and Europeans, his would have been the first name on the team sheet.
Lawless (Dawson Racing) was also a very convincing winner of the senior women's race at yesterday’s Nationals. She stamped her authority on the title race at the first time of asking as the 19-year-old is in her first year out if the junior ranks.
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After just over an hour of racing, five laps, she was 2½ minutes up on last year's winner Caoimhe May (Team WORC), with Ciara MacManus (Unattached Ulster) in 3rd.
Lawless won the latest round of the XC National Points Series in Britain, with Dawson Racing. She has also raced strongly with new road team, Simpson Nouvelles, including 7th in the U23-senior road race at the National Road Championships last month.
This year she has also placed 18th in the Rapha Lincoln Grand Prix, while taking in some early season racing in Belgium with her road team, all while balancing her cycling with her college studies.
Greta Lawless is a busy woman, combining college with her road and MTB racing at home and abroad, but she won the Nationals at the first time of asking and is now off to the Europeans and Worlds (Photo: Ed Sykes-SWpix)
In the junior men's race at the Nationals yesterday, champion Daly (Scott Alpha Theta) and silver medal winner McGreevy (Région Sud Cycling Academy) were separated by just over two minutes.
While Daly's place on the national team for the upcoming glitzy assignments looked assured, given he has been racing strongly abroad this season, McGreevy has also been rightly included in this Irish team.
Daly represented Ireland at both the Europeans and the Worlds last year, and gets to go again before a Leaving Cert year coming up. In 2026 he has ridden strongly at the Junior World Series both sides of the Atlantic as a junior and gets t
For his part, McGreevy may have flown a light under the radar at the Junior Tour of Ireland on his way to 9th place overall, a top result, but he looked like one of the strongest in the race, so much so it easy to forget he is a first-year junior who has split his time between road and MTB.
At key moments, when the racing during the Junior Tour was at its most intense, on some of the toughest terrain, he was up the road in groups that pulled clear, only to be later caught.
While not on the team for these Europeans or Worlds, Conor Regan (Kilcullen CC Murphy Geospatial) was 3rd at the XCO Nationals. However, having competed for Ireland already at MTB, he was named this morning on the Irish national road team for an upcoming stage race in the Netherlands.
The Europeans in Switzerland take place from July 30th to August 2nd while Worlds will unfold in Italy from August 26th to 30th. Cycling Ireland said the downhill selections for the Worlds and Europeans will be announced shortly.
