The National Road Championships 2023 will be promoted by Dungannon-based Island Wheelers and will see the road and TT tiles decided on the roads of counties Tyrone and Armagh.
The structure of championship week remains the same; with the senior, U23 and junior TTs to be decided on Thursday and the road races for all categories down for decision that weekend. This year there will the welcome addition of a new U23 title.
While the U23 men have had a road race title of their own for years, this year's championships will be the first to crown a women's U23 road race champion. As is the case with men's racing, the U23 women will ride the senior road race and the first three U23s over the line will take the medals.
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Jim Kelly, Island Wheelers chairperson, said the club was "delighted and excited" to the run the road championships this year.
"As a club on the forefront of the local and national road racing and TT scene, we have had club members with previous success at these National Championships," he said. "Plans are well advanced for the championships and thanks to Cycling Ireland, Cycling Ulster, Mid Ulster Council and PSNI for all their continued help and support.
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"Also, a massive thanks in advance to all our club members and the cycling community in the Tyrone, Armagh and Monaghan area, who we will be calling on to assist over the three days.
"Finally, with the courses we have selected we hope that these will lead to a very competitive and safe championships for all involved. We have selected two routes for the TT both of which we hope will be perfect tests for all the competitors. We're excited for a full announcement of the road race and time trial courses on May 1st."
The championships will take place from June 22nd to 25th, based out of Dungannon but with the courses taking in parts of both Tyrone and Armagh, a region with plenty of challenging roads.
The senior women's road race and junior men's road race will both take place on Saturday, June 24th, and the following day will see the senior men and junior women battle it out in their events.
As the senior men's race takes place just six days before the start of the Tour de France, it is unlikely any Irish riders set to start the Tour will travel to Ireland for the road championships. However, the women's Tour de France does not get underway until July 23rd, meaning selection for the Tour will not in any way clash with the Irish championships.
Last year the Irish road championships were held in Kanturk, Co Cork. The senior road race titles were won by Rory Townsend and Alice Sharpe while the junior crowns went to Oisin Ferrity and Erin Grace Creighton. Ben Healy and Kelly Murphy won the senior TT titles, with Conal Scully and Shauna Finn claiming the junior titles. The U23 road race title was won by Dean Harvey and the TT title went to Darren Rafferty.
How to enter...
- Time Trial | Thursday, June 22nd (6.30pm) Enter here
- Junior Men’s Road Race | Saturday, June 24th (9am) Enter here
- Senior Women’s Road Race | Saturday, June 24th (1pm) Enter here
- Junior Women’s Road Race | Sunday, June 25th (8am) Enter here
- Senior Men’s Road Race | Sunday, June 25th (10am) Enter here
