Action from this year’s Stevens Supercross Cup
Cycling Ireland has decided against sending an Irish team to the World Cyclocross Championships in Belgium next month, saying the outing was never in its plans and that the standard was not high enough in Ireland to merit a selection.
The association also told stickybottle that sending a team was simply not one of its priorities at this time.
The disappointing news comes after a resurgence in Irish cyclocross over the past few months.
All of the fixtures on the calendar both in the Republic and in the North have featured A and B senior races that have sold out every time.
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It was felt that while Irish teams have traditionally not gone to cyclocross World Championships, the health of the scene this year may have persuaded Cycling Ireland to send a team to this year’s race in Koksijde, Belgium, at the end of January
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National champion Robin Seymour told stickybottle in a recent interview that the large fields this year in Ireland should be rewarded with a team being sent to the Worlds.
He also believed selection for the 2012 Worlds, or the hope of selection in future years, would inspire younger riders.
Asked if he would like to ride the Worlds himself, he said:
“I would. It’s not up to me. You know, I can ask but it’s up to (Cycling Ireland) very much whether they are prepared to send a team or not. I think they probably should when the scene is that healthy.”
Seymour (Team WORC) won the Stevens Supercross Cup this season while Roger Aiken (Banbridge CC) won the Ulster Cyclocross Series. Both would have been the obvious candidates to send on a team to the Worlds.
However, Cycling Ireland has been moving to a selection policy based purely on international results. With no Irish riders regularly riding major cyclocross events abroad it has decided it would not be appropriate to send a team this year.
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