Strong youth line-ups announced by Cycling Ireland for ‘Tour of Scotland’ this weekend

Dion McCarthy has already won races abroad and will be looking for more success in Scotland in coming days

Cycling Ireland has announced two strong line-ups from its Talent Team youth squads for the Youth Tour of Scotland taking place this coming weekend.

Riders from the Talent Team took part in the race for the first time last year, when Michael O’Loughlin and Mark Downey performed very strongly against the best of British; the latter take the climbers’ classification in the boys’ race which featured 100 riders.

In the girls’ event, Emily Birchall (then Fermoy CC) was seventh on the final stage.

This year O’Loughlin (Iverk Produce Carrick) is once again eligible to be picked and he has made the team. Also back again this year is Aaron Swan (TCR Racing), who will have the benefit this time around of knowing what to expect, not to mention being a year older and stronger.

They will be joined on the team by Jake Gray (East Tyrone) and Dion McCarthy (Unattached).

In the girls team this year, Birchall returns and is joined by Laura Cooke (Limerick CC), Ciara Doogan (Errigal CC) and Naoise Sheridan (Orwell CC).

The boys Talent Team 2020 squad is sponsored by FBD while the girls outfit is backed by Neenan Travel.

Related News

Lara Gillespie attacks Dolomite stage as Giro hits high mountains

Video - Italy's hero Balsamo mobbed mid-stage during Giro TT

The racing this weekend is based in Perth and takes the form of road racing and time trials over three days. The fields in both races this year are once again very strong, with numerous regional and strong club line-ups from across Britain.

In the boys’ event, O’Loughlin will be hoping to emulate his strong performance in 2012 on stage 1, when he came second in the KOM classification, while Gray will target the criterium on Sunday morning. Swan and McCarthy are strong riders capable of infiltrating any breakaway and indeed McCarthy has already won a number of races in the UK.

Of the girls, Birchall has been demonstrating good form domestically in recent months. Doogan and Cooke, in their first year of competition, have shown great potential, with Sheridan adding a wealth of experience to complete the team.

Orla Hendron, coach of the girl’s team, said: “Last year was a big leap into the unknown, where we learnt a lot. Over the past year we have taken what we have learnt and are fielding a strong team this year.”

Competition starts on Saturday with a road race. Sunday is a full day with a city centre criterium in the morning, followed by a time trial. On Monday the final race is a kermesse.