If the Irish riding the Tour the France don’t come to the National Championships, should we move the date to accommodate them? (Photo: George Doyle)
This Sunday Donegal’s Philip Deignan starts the Criterium du Dauphine in France as part of the Team Sky line-up.
His inclusion on the team for the traditional Tour de France tune-up suggests he is very much in the reckoning to ride the Tour next month.
Three other Irish men are set to ride; Nicolas Roche, also of Team Sky, Dan Martin of Cannondale-Garmin and Sam Bennett of Bora-Argon 18.
In recent years, when Irish riders have been preparing for the Tour de France, they haven’t travelled to Ireland for the National Road Championships.
It hasn’t just happened once or twice; it’s now an established trend.
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The championship men’s road race is always held on the last Sunday in June, with the Tour starting six days later.
Bennett has already confirmed he will not ride the championships, precisely because he wants to focus on his last minute preparations for his first Tour de France.
And stickybottle understands Roche and Martin plan to do the same.
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If Deignan makes Team Sky’s Tour line-up, it is unlikely he will ride the championships, meaning four massive names will not be on the start list.
Ireland has plenty of other riders, and good ones at that.
And when Matt Brammeier rode against all the big names in the championships he has beaten all of them to the title.
But as teams demand more from their riding staff, it seems likely that Tour participation will rule out Irish riders from the championships in the years to come.
This may undermine the race and over years it may devalue the title and champion’s jersey.
There is nothing preventing the championships being moved, though UCI points will only be awarded if the last Sunday in June date is adhered to, according to secretary of the College of Commissaires at Cycling Ireland Gary McIlroy.
So is it time to move the race forward by even one week in future years to ensure it doesn’t clash with that final last week before the Tour?
Or should we simply carry on without the riders who can’t, or simply don’t want to, ride the title race?
Let us know in the comments section just below.
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