Ireland has had a very strong junior group over the last two years and the final results of the UCI Junior Nations Cup underline that strength in depth; a very different scenario to other years when one or two stars dominated.
Though not all of the quality Irish junior riders got to compete in Nations Cup races this year, those who did scored more points than previous generations. And they were also supported by very strong riders, some of whom will be juniors again next season.
The exciting thing for Irish cycling in the years ahead is that the talent is in both the male and female group - at U23 and junior level going forward - which is not something we have always been able to say.
The UCI Junior Nations Cup is a series of UCI-ranked races through the season, which also includes the World Road Championships and Continental championships, or European Championships in the case of Ireland.
Advertisement
In the men's Nations Cup this year, the Irish juniors finished 13th overall, just ahead of Great Britain and Australia. Our tally of 59 points perhaps would have been a little higher had Ireland sent a team to the Europeans this year.
That finish was the highest ever by an Irish junior team, and one place better than Ireland's 14th place in the series in both 2014 and 2015, when Eddie Dunbar and Michael O'Loughlin - with O'Leary Stone Kanturk and Carrick Wheelers at the time - took wins in the Nations Cup.
The Irish junior women have made history this season and last, registering the first points in the UCI Nations Cup. Ireland finished 9th last year and 14th this year, when not appearing in the Europeans perhaps held them back a little.
Related News
However, the fact a junior women's national team was sent to a UCI Nations Cup stage race this year was progress in itself as it was the first time for such a selection; Aliyah Rafferty, Aine Doherty, Katie Murphy and Lucy Bénézet Minns breaking the mold.
The Irish junior women scored 28 points this year in the rankings, with Great Britain best on 221 points, Netherlands 2nd on 146 and France 3rd on 144 points.
Bénézet Minns scored all of Ireland's points, though was supported by her Team Ireland mates in doing so. She took 14 points for 7th overall at Watersley Ladies Challenge, the Nations Cup stage race in the Netherlands, and five points for 2nd on the opening stage.
She also claimed a total of nine points for 10th and 13th in the TT and road race at the UCI World Road Championships in Zurich.
Ireland's male juniors scored a total of 59 points, with France best on 218 points, Spain 2nd on 183 and Belgium 3rd on 150 points.
Seth Dunwoody scored 55 of Ireland's points with Patrick Casey taking four points; both scoring in the Nation's Cup Hungary and Peace Race Juniors, in Czechia.
Dunwoody was 2nd overall in Hungary, as well as winning a stage and taking 2nd and 5th on the other two stages. He also won a stage in Czechia and was 5th in the TT at the Worlds, which was part of the Nations Cup and netted 11 points. Casey took four points for 17th overall in Czechia.
