Cycling Ireland has selected five riders to compete in the third round of the UCI Tissot Nations Cup in Milton, Canada, which gets underway tomorrow. The meeting is the latest phase in the team's efforts to secure Olympic qualification points towards the Paris Games next year.
Unfortunately, one rider who will not be competing in the green of Ireland in Canada is teenager Erin Creighton. Having broken into the senior team this year, her first out of the junior ranks, her progress has been hampered by a crash last weekend.
The McConvey Cycles rider came down in the C2 class Belgian International Track Meeting in Gent and broke her wrist, which will sideline her for a period.
The nucleus of the Irish team for Canada is comprised of the team pursuit line-up; Emily Kay, Alice Sharpe, Kelly Murphy and Lara Gillespie, with Kay making a welcome return to Nations Cup racing after injury.
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Having broken the Irish record repeatedly in recent months - and shaved very significant time of the marker during some rides - the pursuiters will go to Canada looking for more of the same.
As well as competing in the team pursuit, Sharpe and Kay will ride the madison while Gillespie competes in the omnium and Kay also takes on the elimination race.
Orla Walsh is also back in the team as the national set-up's only sprinter. She will compete in both the sprint and keirin events in Canada.
Some members of the team raced in Gent last weekend where Gillespie was 4th in the omnium and Sharpe took 4th and 7th in the scratch race and points race respectively. While Kay and Creighton took on the omnium in Gent, it was during that event that Creighton crashed, in qualifying.
