Cycling Ireland has outlined several changes to the grading system for junior and senior riders that could really benefit road racers of all standards and categories. On paper, the changes mean riders - especially juniors - will be promoted much more quickly, which can have a positive impact on everyone in the junior ranks, not to mention senior A3s and A4s. Furthermore, it is proposed clubs promoting road races desist from always putting A1s and A2s into the same events..
If this proposal is embraced - and we'll have to wait and see - it looks like A2s could be the big winners. It would mean more events for A2s that more of them could realistically win, or place in, because the A1s would be absent. The only downside is that, in order for the proposal to work, A1s may not be catered for at some races. They would, at times, have to travel further from home on a Sunday to find an event for their category.
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Let's unpack some of the changes and consider what their impact may be; including how they may really help our juniors. Some foreign riders - of U16 category age - have ridden the Junior Tour of Ireland in recent years, competing in the race a year earlier than Irish riders are allowed to. Furthermore, riders are going to race abroad, and even turn pro, at a much younger age than before. Some of the new changes now being put in place for juniors on the Irish scene amount of Cycling Ireland tweaking our rules to speed up the development of our best juniors and keep pace with a changing sport.
Changes for juniors
At times our top juniors are as good as some of our top tier A1s. However, juniors have very regularly raced against A3 seniors. This has resulted in a significant mismatch between the abilities of our best juniors and most of the A3s. Inevitably, the juniors go on to mop up a huge number of wins, and placings in A3-Junior races. The knock-on impact is the scope for A3s to score enough points to be upgraded has been limited; stifling the flow of A3s moving up to A2. At the same time, it is clear our best juniors need - and are ready for - exposure to harder races against better quality riders if they are to be tested and improve.
Cycling Ireland's reforms seek to change that scenario by making it much easier for juniors to be promoted from the A3 grade to A2. Now when youth riders age into the junior ranks they will be graded as A3 juniors. When a first-year junior scores 45 points, or a second-year junior amasses 30 points, they will be upgraded to A2. Until now, first-year juniors had to score 90 points, and second-year juniors 60 points, before they moved up. With those points tallies now halved, far more juniors will be promoted to A2 and those promotions will kick in much earlier in the season. This will mean more junior riders competing against A2s and A1s. And in the A3-Junior races they leave behind, the A3s and the more slowly developing juniors should come to the fore more often.
However, there is also flexibility for juniors:
- Juniors upgraded to A2 in their first year as a junior can opt to start their second season in the junior ranks as either an A2 or an A3 on zero points.
- For juniors doing exams; they can simply choose to remain at the A3 category for the remainder of a season even if they secure enough points for an A2 upgrade.
- Juniors who upgrade to A2 will still be limited to riding races up to a maximum of 140km. If an A1-A2 race is more than 140km, then A2 juniors can ride the A3 race that day. Leaving the 140km limit in place is important as juniors will no longer ride restricted gears this year. If the 140km distance limit was removed, it would mean juniors on unrestricted gears being free to ride all of the longest and hardest senior races in the country. That may be a lot to contend it, all at the same time, especially in the first year of these changes being bedded in.
- Juniors who end their second season in the junior category as an A2 can start the following season - their first at U23 level - as an A2. However, if they have scored 50 points or more in their second season as a junior, they can apply to be upgraded to A1.
The 'Road Grading Working Group' said is was halving the number of points A3 juniors needed to upgrade to A2 because the previous level of points required was "too high and it held some of our juniors back over the last few years". Anyone who saw how the juniors did at Kerry Group Rás Mumhan last year, for example, knows that the best juniors can not only step up into hard A1 racing, they can even win some of those events.
Changes for seniors
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The grading amnesty for A4s who want to move up to A3 should help some riders to progress - including those not suited to scoring points in sprints in A4 races. The A4 category was only ever intended as a starting point for road racers. It seems unhealthy, and unnecessary, for riders to get stuck in the category. If more riders move from A4 to A3, that can boost numbers in the A3 category. That movement will be important, especially if more A3 seniors are upgraded to A2 when the junior-related changes take more juniors out of A3 races. Furthermore, any A4 who scores 13 points cumulative across years will be upgraded to A3; another tweak to ensure the A4 category becomes less stagnant, with more and more movement out of it up to A3.
However, while A4s are being offered an amnesty to become A3s, and the number of points needed to be upgraded based on results is being reduced, not all of the new moves are aimed at ensuring upgrading is easier.
For example, the number of points on offer for midweek races is being reduced. There will be points for the first six across the line - from six points to one point - for those midweek events. The 'road grading working group' says this change was taking place because it wanted to avoid midweek races that were effectively club races - involving the same riders each week - from becoming the basis for fast upgrades.
All races over 50km for A1s, A2s, A3s and juniors (excluding midweek races) will see points awarded for the top ten; from 10 points to 1 point. All A4 races over 50km (excluding midweek races) will involve points for the top eight; 8 points for victory through to 1 point for eighth. And any race or criterium below 50km, for all categories but excluding midweek races, will involve points for the top six - 6 points to 1 point.
The move to reduce the impact that midweek races can have on upgrades will at least force cyclists to ride more midweek local races - or combine their midweek local events with bigger weekend races - before they are upgraded. This will help ensure riders will gain a bit more racing experience before moving up a grade.
Conclusion
The changes for juniors will help to keep pace with the way cycling is changing internationally, with younger riders developing to a higher level much more quickly that in previous eras. It will mean the better juniors being exposed to A1 racing from early in the season, which many of them are clearly well able for and which will better prepare them for racing abroad.
In the senior ranks, the ability of A4 and A3 riders to move up a grade more quickly should give more riders a solid personal goal to aim for. The reforms may also result in a bigger A2 category, with those riders getting their chance more often because they will at times race without A1 opposition.
