A young Irish team made of up of U23 and junior riders showed its potential today at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Benidorm, with two top 20 finishes against the best riders in the world.
While some of their number encountered issues in the shape of crashes and punctures, the team came away with the kind of results that strongly suggest they are ready to be exposed to racing at this level more often.
In the junior women's race, Aine Doherty of VC Glendale - riding her first event abroad as a junior athlete - put in a strong shift to place 19th while Dean Harvey (Trinity Racing) also impressed with 19th in the U23 men's race against a top tier field including some World Tour riders.
On a sandy and technical course, the racing was run off in dry conditions, cranking up the speeds across all categories. All of the Irish riders in action today had competed at this level just once before this season; the Dublin round of the World Cup last month.
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In the U23 men's race, with perhaps the best field possible assembled, Harvey - who won the elite men's race at the National Cyclocross Championships in Co Louth last weekend - was the sole Irish entrant.
The World Cup leader in the U23 category, Thibau Nys (20), claimed victory today. The Trek-Segafredo rider who won the U23 European road race title in 2021, came off best in a two-up sprint with Tibor del Grosso (The Netherlands) even though Nys suffered two crashes and a puncture. Some five seconds after the winner and runner-up crossed the line, Belgian national team riders Emiel Verstrynge and Jente Michels finished 3rd and 4th.
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Harvey was 2:28 down in 19th place, in the 41-rider race. Given his rate of progress, both on the road and in cyclocross over the last 12 months, that performance is a very solid one to build on and suggests he could go much closer to a top 10 with more international racing under his belt.
The women's junior race was won by Lauren Molengraaf (Netherlands), also the World Cup leader. She claimed victory by five seconds from Canadian twin sisters Isabelle and Ava Holmgren, with Célia Gery (France) 4th on the same time.
Ireland's Doherty (16), who has been a stand-out rider on the elite scene at home this season despite being a first-year junior, was 19th at 5:03. McClorey, the 17-year-old who finished 2nd in the elite women's race at the National Cyclocross Championships last weekend, was 23rd in the 27-rider race, at 6:29.
Both McClorey and Doherty are already among the very strongest elite riders in Ireland. They will hope their performances today can help securing more international racing in the Irish jersey to aid their development.
The men's junior race saw a 1-2-3 for the Belgian national team with Yordi Corsus winning by one second from Seppe van der Boer, and Viktor Vandenberghe 3rd at four seconds. In 4th place was the US junior rider Andrew August, four seconds down on the winner and who won the Junior Tour of Ireland last year.
Joseph Mullen of Navan Road Club and Travis Harkness were Ireland's representatives in the 41-rider race, finishing in 30th and 37th places at 2:48 and 4:29 respectively. Their efforts today were hampered by racing incidents, with Mullen crashing and Harkness puncturing, though they both pressed on.
