Cycling Ireland's off-road commission has invited top cyclocross riders to express their interest in gaining selection for the World Cyclocross Championships in the US next month.
Those riders who want to be selected onto the Irish time have been asked to draw up a CV and submit it to the off-road commission (details below).
The commission has also set out the selection criteria and says riders may be asked to contribute €200 towards the cost of the trip; to Fayetteville, Arkansas, for the championships from January 28th to 30th.
Whether the selected riders will have to pay the fee will depend on the budget available at the time and the number of riders selected to travel to the Worlds.
While any mention of riders being asked to contribute towards the cost of international selection is always unpopular, it was a standard arrangement in place within Irish cycling for decades, before lapsing in more recent times.
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As cyclocross is not an Olympic sport, the funding available for it from Cycling Ireland and Sport Ireland is very limited. It means the cost of sending teams abroad, especially to a high cost destination such as the US, could limit he number of riders that can be picked.
Therefore, in a practical move to prevent budget considerations limiting the team size, the off-road commission has sensibly flagged in advance the possibility the selected riders may have to contribute €200 towards the trip.
Those wishing to gain selection for the Worlds must have raced cyclocross outside of the island of Ireland between September 17th last and January 2nd next.
The off-road commission has set out which riders may be selected for the men's and women's elite, U23 and junior races at next month's Worlds, including:
- Any athlete finishing on the same lap of the winner in a World Cup CX or C1 event in season 2021/2022.
- Any athlete who gains UCI points between 17 September 2021 and 2 January 2022.
- National and international race performances in the period 17 September 2021 and 2 January 2022 which demonstrate evidence of a rider’s progression and development. The selection panel will take into account the age and experience of riders as well as the quality of fields in competition and the percentage of time behind the winner.
Riders wishing to be considered for selection for the Worlds must submit their cycling CV by close of play Monday January 3rd. A sample CV is available here. CVs should be sent in PDF format to [email protected].
