Ireland will have new men's TT and road race champions in coming days with news that the holder of both elite titles, Ryan Mullen, is not traveling to Ireland to compete in the races.
News that Mullen is not coming is no surprise as he is preparing for a debut ride at the Tour de France, which gets underway in a weeks time. Covid-19 is now on the rise again in Europe and is currently taking riders and teams out of races at the highest rate the sport has seen since the pandemic began.
Against that backdrop, it is no surprise that Mullen - who won the titles in Co Wicklow last year - will not risk traveling from his Girona base to Ireland to ride the races.
That trip would mean he would need to then travel back again before moving again to join Bora-hansgrohe ahead of the Tour, with every journey increasing the risk of exposure to the virus.
Advertisement
Related News
Mullen is also due to become a father for the first time in the coming weeks and the fact his wife is heavily pregnant is another important factor that meant he has decided to give the championships a miss for this year.
Mullen will be part of the lead-out train for Sam Bennett on the Tour. While Bennett was down to ride the National Road Race Championships in Kanturk on Sunday, he was never expected to take to the start line. News that he will not ride is simply a confirmation of his likely position all along.
Bennett won the road race title in Derry in 2019 and then went on to the Tour de France the following year, wearing the Irish champion's jersey, to win two stages and the green jersey.
Mullen has, by far, the best record in the history of the road race championships. He has won the elite TT title five times and has claimed the elite road race title three times.
The TT title races take place this evening in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, ahead of the road race titles being decided in Kanturk on Saturday and Sunday.
