The three-man Irish team to face the best in the world this weekend; Gareth McKee, James Curry and David Conroy with manager Simon Curry and mechanic Gareth Boyd.
Having emerged among the best of their generation off road in recent seasons, James Curry, David Conroy and Gareth McKee have been selected to ride for Ireland at the MTB XC World Championships.
The trio will line out in the green of Ireland in the Czech Republic this weekend.
And while their selection is only being officially unveiled today they arrived in Nové Mesto na Morave a couple of days ago.
McKee rides the elite race, Curry the U23 and Conroy the junior event.
Conroy gets the Irish campaign underway tomorrow, Friday, while Curry races on Saturday and McKee on Sunday
Team manager Simon Curry said the riders had made good use of their time to check out the course since arriving on Tuesday.
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“The course is amazing; there are several very tricky rock garden features which could catch you out, and a lot of it will be about line choice,” he said.
“But the boys have been practising since Tuesday, going back over the selected sections and getting the correct lines through the technical rocky parts.
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“They could catch you out if you don’t get it right, but they are all in really good form and excited.
“The course here is compact; it’s up and down through lovely terrain, with the roots slightly more exposed as the week goes on, but the conditions are fantastic! The ground is powder dry.”
All with MTB and/or cyclocross national titles to their name, the riders will face much stronger nations and top pro or word class emerging riders though they will all look to make an impact.
The circuit they’ll race is just over four kilometres long with a number of climbs. As well as the elevation there are obstacles, fast descents and sharp turns to negotiate.
The number of laps for each race will be decided by the UCI Commissioner before the race according to the conditions on the track.
For McKee, it will be a proud moment to be on the start-line with such luminaries of the sport.
Switzerland’s Nino Schurter is one of the hot favourites and is the reigning world champion. He currently sits top of the UCI rankings with two world cup wins in 2016.
And 2014 world champion and two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon will also be in action, keen to regain his 2014 title.
The Frenchman, currently ranked second, is joined by compatriot Maxime Marotte, third in the rankings.
Conroy will be in action at 6pm Irish time on Friday 1st July, Curry’s event takes place at 12.00 on Saturday 2nd July and McKee will be competing at 4pm on Sunday. The event can be watched live on the Red Bull TV channel.
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