Very strong Irish team named for Olympic Games road race in Tokyo

*Eddie Dunbar has said it's a great honour to be picked for the Olympic Games for Ireland (Photo: Seb Daly-Sportsfile)*

A three-man Irish team has been named for the Olympic Games, featuring our best climbers in the shape of Nicolas Roche, Dan Martin and Eddie Dunbar.

It will be Roche’s fourth Olympic Games and Martin’s third, while Dunbar makes a well-earned Olympic debut.

It’s very much a family affair, again, for Roche (36) and Martin (34) as this will be the third Olympics the cousins have ridden on the same team for Ireland. Both their fathers, Stephen Roche and Neil Martin, are also Olympians.

Roche competed in 1980 in Moscow and Martin represented Great Britain twice, in Moscow and four years later in Los Angeles. Dan Martin’s wife, Jess, is also an Olympian, having represented Great Britain in Rio 2016 in the 10,000 metres.

*Dan Martin and Nicolas Roche at the last Olympic Games in Rio 2016. They're on the Irish team again, adding to the family's incredible involvement in the Games*

Dunbar (24), who rode so well at the recent Tour de Suisse for Ineos Grenadiers, said he was delighted to gain selection onto the team.

“It’s a real
honour for me to be competing in Tokyo, it’s something that I have dreamed
about,” he said after the team was named.

“In Banteer,
where I’m from, there’s a strong Olympic heritage. Ireland’s first gold medalist,
Pat O’Callaghan, was from near where I live. This makes competing all the more
special.”

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Former international road rider, and Olympic triathlon coach, Tommy Evans will be the road cycling team leader in Tokyo. He said the three riders selected made for a very strong line-up.

*Tommy Evans wore the green of Ireland on the bike many times and now he's manager for the road team at Tokyo 2020 (Photo: Phil O'Connor)*

“We have one of our strongest teams ever assembled with a
real opportunity to perform on terrain that we know suits our team,” said
Evans, who coached triathlete Bryan Keane to the Games.

“Nicholas, Dan and Eddie have all produced fantastic
results this season, showing we can compete with the best in the world.”

Sam Bennett is a notable absentee from the Irish team for
the Games, though the hilly course in Tokyo was never going to suit him and the
fact he is not riding is no surprise.

Ryan Mullen, who is also among Ireland’s small group of WorldTour riders, would always be in contention for international selection. However, like Bennett, the course in Japan is not one for the big engines like Mullen.

Martin, Roche and Dunbar will ride the road race at the Fuji
International Speedway on Saturday, July 24th. Ireland has one slot in the TT
the following Wednesday, July 28th, which will be taken by Roche.

The road race is 244km and takes in the lower slopes of Mount
Fuji, with a total of 4,865m of climbing. The TT is two laps of a 22.1km
course.