Team Sky man Elia Viviani heads the Italian line-up and he’s part of a four-strong national squad that also features Simone Consonni, Francesco Ceci and Mattia Geroli.
By Brian Canty
The start list for the Dublin Track Cycling International GP meet this weekend at Sundrive Road's Éamonn Ceannt velodrome in Dublin is arguably the strongest ever.
It being an Olympic year, and with riders keen to hone form, it’s hardly surprising to see such a galaxy of stars coming to Ireland.
There are UCI points up for grabs which will go towards securing entry for nations for next winter’s World Cups and World Championships.
Italian sprinter Elia Viviani heads the line-up and he’s part of a four-strong national squad that also features Simone Consonni, Francesco Ceci and Mattia Geroli.
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Belgium is also well represented with Moreno de Pauw and Kenny de Ketele part of their team.
Viviani needs no introduction and as well as being an accomplished road pro he’s a fearsome track sprinter as well.
His track palmarés includes gold medals from the European Championships in 2015 for the omnium as well as a host of others in various World Cup campaigns.
The Team Sky rider has completed five Grand Tours but, somewhat surprisingly, has only won a stage in one of them; stage 2 of last year's Giro.
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Irish sprinter Eoin Mullen will be out to further his growing reputation as an international rider of note (Photo by [email protected])
Germany is sending Max Beyer and 2015 World Championships gold medallist in the scratch race Lucas Liss
He’s also a former gold medal winner from the European Championships in the omnium while Beyer is no less of a talent and also competed in the 2015 World Championships.
Sam Harrison will travel from the UK and the Team WIGGINS man is a superb tester.
He has won medals at both the 2011 and 2013 World Championships.
Ireland boasts a healthy representation for the two-day event with established track rider Caroline Ryan leading the quest for medals.
At last year’s event, she came home with gold in the individual pursuit, beating scratch race world champion Kirsten Wild (NED).
Eimear Moran (Sundrive Track Team), Eoin Morton (UCD-Fitzcycles.ie), the returning Davy O’Loughlin (Cunga CC), Marc Potts (Neon Velo), Josie Knight, Eileen Burns, Lydia Gurley and Eoin Mullen are just some of the others on the start-list.
It’s still possible to enter and those with an interest should check out this link to find out more.
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