Sean Kelly has said cycling is in a superb place at the moment in Ireland with record numbers taking part. Above, riding the recent Tour de Munster.
By Brian Canty
Sean Kelly has expressed his optimism for the future of Irish cycling with record numbers in the leisure side of the sport in Ireland and the increase in quality racing cyclists coming through the ranks.
The Carrick-on-Suir legend was speaking in his capacity of ambassador for the Irish Heart Foundation's Tour of the Midlands which takes place in October.
“I think this is by far and away the healthiest the sport has ever been in the country,” he said.
“The number of people cycling and affiliated to Cycling Ireland is by far the biggest its’ ever been and that’s hugely positive.
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“The last count was well over 20,000 people so there’s a huge amount of people cycling.
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“There’s so many people cycling, more people are getting into it and the snowball effect is going on and on.”
While that may be so from a leisure point of view, the junior racing has struggled over the years.
Kelly himself expressed his concerns at the beginning of last year when he said there were just a couple of quality riders moving into the adult ranks.
But now, he has been sufficiently impressed by what he has seen in the interim to make a more upbeat forecast for the future.
“I was talking to people within cycling circles in Ireland and they were saying the Junior Tour had more Irish riders this year than they’ve had for a long number of years so that is a good thing.
“It’s important there are more juniors and there are good juniors there now, six or eight good ones.
"The last years we only had two or three so it’s looking good that way.
“And I think because there’s more people taking part in cycling at all levels that it filters down and that’s very encouraging,” he added.
- The Irish Heart Foundation Tour of the Midlands is in its fourth year and registration for the event is now open. The event takes place on Sunday October 2nd and there are three routes; the 12k Kelly Family Spin, the 80k Kelly Cut and the 120k Kelly Slieve Bloom Challenge.
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