Opinion: Young Irish stars are rising, but they need time

The NRPT-Magnet.ie junior team is racing in France in coming days during what will be a big week for many of our rising young stars at junior and U23 level.

This week could be a good barometer of the future of emerging Irish cyclists. There should be some signs of who can go on to be professional or top international level riders over the next five years.

There may also be surprises about riders performing above or below their perceived ability.

The Trophée Centre Morbihan UCI World Cup race in France is for junior riders, with the Nicolas Roche performance Team from Ireland taking part.

There are 18 national teams involved in this event. That should make for tough fast difficult competition.

Michael O'Loughlin is riding in the Ronde de l’Isard four-day race in the Pyrenees with Team Wiggins. The race was won in 2004 by Philip Deignan, now one of our strongest professional riders.

Then last but certainly not least is the young Irish team in the Rás. These riders will be in the goldfish bowl for the week.

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Expectations need to be handled well for these riders. Fans and followers especially need to be realistic in regard to results.

The team are still young riders in regards to performing at their best for an eight day stage race like An Post Rás.

It will be very interesting to see how they all perform in the various races.

These events are where the cyclists and managers find out whether they can step it up to international and professional competition level.

The high speed, smart tactics and ruthless approach will challenge everyone. But this is where the great riders thrive and future great riders will rise to the challenge.

It’s great to see that there is now a good group of young riders coming through. How many of them can make the steps to the next level is the big question. This week will answer some of that question.

The situation is much better now than when I began as head coach of the Cycling Ireland high performance development programme in 2011.