Ryan Mullen will not be competing in the road race at the European Championships in France tomorrow as he has been enlisted for duty by Cannondale-Drapac at the Eneco Tour in the Netherlands.
Ryan Mullen will not be on the start-line for the Irish team at the European Championships elite road race in France tomorrow as he is racing the Eneco Tour which starts on Monday.
The Cannondale-Drapac rider has been named in the eight-team for that seven–day event which kicks off on Monday - and he has not been replaced in the Irish team, though he was initially named on it.
That leaves the Irish team reading Dan Martin, Nicolas Roche, Conor Dunne and Damien Shaw.
It is of course a big blow to the men in green not to have a man of Mullen’s talent in there as he’d be seen as an invaluable asset to a team with medal chances.
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But such is the nature of professional cycling – and especially for a first-year pro - that team orders supersede those of a home federation.
The Eneco Tour is a WorldTour stage race that will feature many of the world’s best men against the clock as there are both individual and team time-trial stages.
As Mullen is a noted tester he has been earmarked for the week-long race for some time.
And because Cannondale-Drapac are set to target the team time-trial at the world championships next month it’s also another chance to see where they’re at.
The time trials in the race are always significant in deciding the overall outcome so it’s reasonable to assume that should Mullen and Cannondale-Drapac go well, the Irishman could be up there in contention, though several of his teammates will also have the same idea.
Tim Wellens is the defending champion and the Lotto-Soudal man is aiming for his third straight title.
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