Sam Bennett really announced himself on the world stage in 2015 with five pro wins and the sporting public are right to get excited about what he can in the coming 12 months.
But there are also plenty of other riders who can do the business in the year ahead.
Stickybottle has put together a list of things we'd love to see happen in 2016, in no particular order.
1. Elite Irish road race teams from home scene
In recent years Cycling Ireland has become one big high performance unit despite the fact the vast majority of its membership is not riding at that level.
Quite rightly, most high performance investment has been made in those riders challenging for medals at major championships or who are in contention for Olympic qualification.
However, while home-based elite road riders always had national selection to aim for, that has not been the case for a long time.
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Because they are never going to ride the Worlds or Olympics and because they aren't aspiring pros, they have been ignored.
Picking Irish elite teams from the home scene and sending them to represent their country in the UK should be seen as an end in itself.
Unless current practices are changed, a whole generation of talented Irish amateurs will go through their entire careers without having even chased national selection at some point.
Sending such teams abroad would be very inexpensive and would not compromise anything else that Cycling Ireland does with high performance squads.
If the federation is reluctant to offer international caps to amateurs, as it has indicated in the past, the teams could simply be called 'Cycling Ireland'.
It would really put some extra fizz into domestic cycling and create a fantastic career goal for our home based riders.
2. New names emerging at home
On stickybottle our bread and butter from February to September is the domestic road racing scene.
Every year we've seen brilliant team and individual performances in the bigger stage races and the traditional one-day events.
We look forward to the same again in 2016 and undoubtedly it will throw up some great rides.
But we'd love to see some of the very young riders coming through and challenging the dominance of the established names like Bryan McCrystal, Mark Dowling and others.
And in the female peloton, the likes of Emily Birchall and Ciara Doogan (above) have been making relentless and extremely impressive progress in the last few years.
This can be their year to begin to shine really brightly.
3. Dan Martin to get back to his best
Dan Martin showed flashes of brilliance in 2015 but it was the first year since 2009 that he didn’t win a race.
Granted, runner-up twice on Tour de France stages and once on the Vuelta - as well as challenging in the general classification at Catalunya and the Dauphiné - is nothing to crib about.
But such is his standing in world cycling that he’ll look back on last year with regret.
He crashed out of the Vuelta and Fléche, was injured for Liegé and Romandie, and perhaps could have won some major races had he avoided crashing.
A clean run, a new team and a new environment is just the kick-start he needs now to see him prove why he's rightfully regarded as one of the sport's outstanding racers.
He has developed a worrying habit of falling off; one that he needs to address immediately.
4. A clear plan from Cycling Ireland for the track
It’s possible Ireland will have no riders - or just one - on the track at the Olympics this year, despite millions of Euro being spent on training camps and major events abroad.
Progress has been made over the last number of years; with medals having been won at World Championships, European Championships and UCI World Cups.
There have also been countless new national records set. But many feel the investment in track racing has been at the expense of other disciplines.
And with two powerhouses in the shape of Martyn Irvine and Ryan Mullen having departed the boards, the future for track racing suddenly looks less certain after a great run in recent years.
Ciarán McKenna was recently elected as new president of the federation and he’s already stressed he wants to bring a focus back on road racing - but that’s not to say the track should be shunned.
However, a huge amount of money has been spent on a relatively small number of riders and spreading the resources around - specifically to bring more juniors and youth riders into the fold - would be a very positive development for the long term.
Having said that, there are plenty of more established names who need continued backing; sprinter Eoin Mullen and the women's team pursuiters are the stand-out candidates in that regard.
5. Progress on the construction of a velodrome
The Department of Sport confirmed in October that no money had been set aside from the Budget for the construction of a velodrome in 2016.
“However, a velodrome is one of the Minister’s priorities for future developments at the National Sports Campus,” read a statement.
It will be next winter by the time the next Budget comes around, in which the allocation of funds for 2017 will be outlined.
It is absolutely imperative that a velodrome is indeed given priority and momentum continues to build or else we’ll be in the exact same situation in 12 months, and indeed, in 4 years.
The project has nudged forward to the planning stages but while some have presented this development as the track having already been secured for Ireland, nothing could be further from the truth.
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Ireland needs a track and Cycling Ireland need to keep the pressure on and lobby smartly to ensure this project doesn't slide into obscurity as so often happens with mooted sports facilities in Ireland.
6. Sam Bennett to nail more big ones
Okay we’re getting very greedy now but aren’t we allowed to when we’ve a man of Bennett’s ability.
Last season was the best of his life with five professional wins and a stack of other top placings. But might we suggest a WorldTour win is the next step in his career?
We won’t be fussy but Gent-Wevelgem, the Vattenfall Classics or perhaps even a Tour stage are within his reach.
His performance at the World Championships in September and Milan San Remo back in March also indicate that with a little bit of additional strength and stamina, Bennett may get to flash his sprint in the final or some very big races indeed.
7. Irish riders in the World Cyclocross Championships
With the growth of the cyclocross scene in Ireland in recent years, the continued absence of a national team in the World Championships has become a talking point.
Cycling Ireland has previously suggest the standard was not high enough to warrant a squad being entered into the event.
However, David Montgomery has based himself in Europe to race in recent months and a number of other riders are interested in going including junior David Conroy among others.
The Worlds are but a matter of weeks away, but sending a couple of riders would really spur on those riders in the mix.
8. Paralympic medals
Having won no fewer than five medals in 2012 at the London Paralympics, the Irish team goes into the events in Rio with perhaps more pressure on their shoulders than last time out.
The team has already been out to Rio to check out the courses; a massive vote of confidence in them.
Four years ago Mark Rohan with road race and TT gold. James Brown took a TT bronze and Catherine Walsh took two medals; TT bronze and individual pursuit silver.
Rohan and Walsh have since departed the stage, but there a number of others who can light up the Games and chief amongst these is Eoghan Clifford.
The Galway man has only emerged in this Paralympic cycle - launching himself with an incredible World Championships in 2014 when he won gold in both the road race and TT.
He will be looked to to deliver in Rio though many riders are in contention for medals including Katie George Dunlevy and Colin Lynch, among others.
9. Philip Deignan to ride the Tour de France
A year that promised so much but delivered so little, 2015 is one the Donegal man won’t look back on with too many fond memories.
His first major setback was breaking his collar bone early in the year and later missing out on Tour selection having made it down to the 12-man shortlist vying for nine places.
Then came another broken bone at the nationals and subsequent poor form that saw him miss the Vuelta.
He’ll climb with the best on his day and how we’d love to see him doing his thing in the Tour.
Deignan recently broken his elbow in a crash during a training camp but hopefully he can brush that off and bounce back very quickly.
10. Eddie Dunbar to make an impact in America
The Corkman is into the big, bad world of professional cycling and his team’s race programme will give him plenty opportunities to race for big wins on big climbs.
The tours of California, Gila and Utah as well as the US Pro Challenge and Tour de Beauce should tell us a lot more about him.
There has been plenty of interest in Dunbar at World Tour level and a few big performances and even a win or two might see him step up to that level as early as 2017.
However, there is an army of young talented riders with the same idea.
And with Dunbar having started the 2015 season so strongly in the UK with NFTO Pro Cycling, a similarly powerful start to this year would really settle him in his new surroundings across the Atlantic, his first big move away from home.
11. The Irish U23 team to be given big support
With the calibre and quantity of rider in Ireland now, there are far worse ways to spend cash than sending national squads to as many races as possible with a view to developing them further.
The top U23 nations –Great Britain, Australia, Italy and France - have national road squad training camps in advance of major events and maybe it’s time Ireland did the same?
Why not take a team to train at altitude in the Sierra Nevada or Livigno in Italy prior to a major event with the aim of going there to contend?
Sending a team to three Nations Cup races in a week has not worked, with results over the years proving few and far between.
The riders are there, the structure for them isn’t. We'd love to see the U23s sent to more races than the Nations Cup and for more home-based riders to be given a shot in some of the selections.
12. An Irish rider to win a stage of the Rás
Damien Shaw came close on a few occasions last year while his teammate Bryan McCrystal had his heart broken when his solo bid for victory was reeled in late on.
Both can definitely do it - as can a host of others in the right circumstances.
Sean McKenna (Aquablue) will have learnt a lot from his debut last year while Roger Aiken and Adam Armstrong (both Team ASEA) have class to burn.
Might Philip Lavery come back to Ireland with his new team in France and have a crack off it?
Or what about some of the others in the above photo? McConvey, Morton or Richardson; anyone?
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