After a making incredible progress this season, Jamie Meehan (Cofidis) has ended the 2025 campaign as the topped ranked Irish U23 rider.
That is quite an achievement considering the success Irish riders have enjoyed, especially in some of the hardest U23 stage races on the international calendar and at the Europeans.
Meehan, who has just turned 22-years-old, began the season with French Continental-level team AVC Aix Provence Dole, before being offer a stagiaire with Cofidis.
The team who offered him a full contract within a couple of weeks after seeing him race, and it was those results, as he immediately impressed as a professional, that helped him accrue his UCI points tally through the year.
The U23 UCI rankings were topped by first-year U23 Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies), who won the junior road race at the Worlds last year and the U23 title this year in Rwanda, which secured 200 points for him.
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The Italian collected 558 points through the season, topping the rankings from Belgian phenom Jarno Widar (Lotto Development), who collected 515 points after winning the U23 road race at the Europeans, the overall at Giro della Valle d'Aosta (2.2U) and placing 2nd at Tour de l'Avenir (2.2U).
Meehan was best placed of the Irish, in 68th place on 97 points, while Seth Dunwoody (Bahrain Victorious Devo) was next, in 98th on 79 points, followed by Adam Rafferty (Hagens Berman Jayco) in 109th on 71 points.
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Patrick Casey (Israel Premier Tech Devo) was 150th on 60 points, followed by Odhran Doogan (Caldwell Cycles), in 659th on 10 points.
Meehan scored 75 points for finishing 2nd in the senior men's road race at the National Road Championships in Co Meath in June, taking the U23 gold medal on the day.
He also scored eight points at Tour de l'Ain (2.1) - including 3rd on a stage while riding for Cofidis - and five points at Utsunomiya Japan Cup Road Race (1.Pro), where he was 29th, also competing for Cofidis.
For Dunwoody and Rafferty, they points tallies were improved after both won stages at Giro Next Gen, though a stage win there was surprisingly only worth five points.
Dunwoody took 55 points at the Nationals - 40 for 5th in the road race and 15 for 2nd in the U23 - while Rafferty claimed 25 points for winning the U23 TT and 30 points for bronze in the U23 TT at the Europeans.
UCI Rankings 2025 | U23 Top 20
- FINN Lorenzo Mark ITA Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe Rookies 558
- WIDAR Jarno BEL Lotto Development Team 515
- SÖDERQVIST Jakob SWE Lidl–Trek Future Racing 489.86
- ARVANITOU Nikiforos GRE Team United Shipping 410
- DECOMBLE Maxime FRA Groupama – FDJ 370
- OMRZEL Jakob SLO Bahrain Victorious Development Team 365
- SCHRETTL Marco AUT Tirol KTM Cycling Team 325
- TSVETKOV Nikita UZB OU7 Cycling Team 293.33
- ALVAREZ MARTINEZ Hector ESP Lidl–Trek Future Racing 261.33
- MARTI SORIANO Pau ESP Israel Premier Tech Academy 250
- GAJDULEWICZ Mateusz POL Mazowsze Serce Polski 250
- GUALDI Simone ITA Wanty – Nippo – Re Uz 247
- SCHWARZBACHER Matthias SVK UAE Team Emirates Gen-Z 237
- SPARFEL Aubin FRA Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Development Team 217
- THORNLEY Callum GBR Red Bull – BORA – Hansgrohe Rookies 206
- VERVENNE Jonathan BEL Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team 204.33
- MAEKELE Milkiyas ERI Bike Aid 204
- HUBER Jan SUI — 201
- RAMIREZ TORRES Mateo Pablo ECU UAE Team Emirates Gen-Z 195
- PERICAS CAPDEVILA Adria ESP UAE Team Emirates Gen-Z 195
Irish Riders – End of Season UCI Rankings 2025
- 68 Jamie Meehan Cofidis 97
- 98 Seth Dunwoody Bahrain Victorious Development Team 79
- 109 Adam Rafferty Hagens Berman Jayco 71
- 142 Liam O’Brien Lidl–Trek Future Racing 61
- 150 Patrick Casey Israel Premier Tech Academy 60
- 659 Odhran Doogan Caldwell Cycles 10
- 725 Conor Prendergast Velo Performance 5
- 814 Dean Harvey Martigues Sport Cyclisme Payden-Rygel 4
- 837 Conal Scully Dan Morrissey Pissei 3
- 1008 Ronan O’Connor Team Skyline 1
