Cross Country MTB Development Initiative Launched
Ten of Ireland’s most promising youth cross country mountain bike riders converged on the GAP in South Dublin last Sunday as part of Cycling Ireland’s Off-Road Commission (ORC) new MTB XCO development initiative. This collaboration between the ORC and CI’s High Performance Unit aims to prepare young riders for the rigours of International competition with the expert coaching of Robin Seymour, and Kevin Moran steering activities as Manager.
The group vary in age from U16 to U23 and feature well-known names in domestic XC racing as well as some still looking to make their mark, namely U23 Greta Lawless, Juniors Conor Regan, Ryan Daly, Caleb McGreevy, Fionn Crinion, and Darragh O’Keefe U16s Oscar Moran, James Cunningham, James Geary, Darragh Murphy & Ava Baker. Nearly all were in attendance for this 1st session.
Kevin & Robin will mentor and support the riders towards competing in two high level XCO races abroad in the coming months. This session in the Dublin mountains challenged the riders with various race specific elements incorporated into a structured training day. Olympian Robin Seymour included a timed trail descent and a timed hill climb, alongside focused technical elements designed to provide valuable learning.
Moran said afterwards: “We’re grateful that some additional HP Pathway funding via the HPU has enabled us to assemble a promising group of young riders that would benefit from this extra coaching and attention on their development. The first training day has got us off to a great start and we’re really looking forward to working with this squad over the coming months towards achieving their ambitions on the international stage.”
More sessions for this group are in the pipeline for February and March as they build readiness to race abroad. Future sessions will include educational elements, testing and continued technical race specific coaching.