Having impressed last year in the international pro peloton, especially at the Maryland Cycling Classic (1.1) in the US in September, Caoimhe O'Brien has now landed a World Tour contract with EF Education-Oatley.
It is a team with a large Irish contingent as one of its men's team’s star riders is Ben Healy, while Darren Rafferty and Archie Ryan have been making their way in the WorldTour with the US-registered team over the past two seasons.
O'Brien is the former Irish U23 road race champion and competed for Ireland this year at the European Road Championships in France, followed by making the national team again for the UCI World Track Championships in Chile. And now with a dream move to the top tier in the bag, it's clear she can't wait to get going.
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“The belief the team has in me, to progress and achieve as an individual while helping the team to progress and achieve, is very exciting,” she said of stepping into the WorldTour after her contract was confirmed today.
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“The team’s ethos and their belief that a happy athlete is a successful athlete is something that speaks to me. Just going out and riding our bikes and getting the most out of everything and having a sense of balance is the right way to do things.
“I'm more of a sprinty, punchy rider. I’ve raced a lot in Belgium and after so much time there, I thrive in those races. They’re hectic with short, punchy hills.
"And I like a good, hard race, where you really need to mentally push yourself. Those are the kinds of races I like the most."
O'Brien has to date ridden for three UCI Continental teams to date; Torelli-Cayman Islands-Scimitar, DAS-Hutchinson-Brother-UK and Cynisca Cycling. But EF Education-Oatley is a very different prospect and O'Brien's place with the team in 2026 was announced after she had initially signed with DAS-Hutchinson.
She had signed for that British team alongside her sister Aoife O’Brien (21) and up and comer Aliyah Rafferty (18), who will be in her first season as an U23 rider in 2026. However, today's news means Caoimhe O'Brien has now jumped two tiers in the sport to the top level of women's road racing.
