Expressions of Interest Open to represent Ireland at the 2026 UEC European Track Championships

Expressions of interest are now open to represent Ireland for the 2026 UEC European Track Championships

The event marks a return to the recently built velodrome in Konya, Turkey which hosted the only round of the UCI Track Nations Cup in March this year.

The 2025 European Championships, which took place in Zolder, Belgium this year will be remembered for a breakthrough European Championship title for Lara Gillespie in the Elimination Race.

The selection process is in the published ‘Selection Policy’ available here: CyclingIrelandNationalTeamSelectionPolicy2025V3-updatedlink.pdf in the ‘High Performance’ section.

The expression of interest is now via an online form which can be accessed here: Expression of Interest - 2026 UEC European Track Championships – Fill in form and is accompanied by the

Guidance Notes to help candidate athletes complete the form correctly, available here.

Candidate athletes have until midnight on Monday 15th December to submit their expressions of interest, and selection will take place in the days that follow. 

High Performance Director Iain Dyer said:

 “Our sights are now firmly set on qualification for LA 2028 but with the UCI still to confirm our Olympic qualification pathway there’s a very real possibility that a longer process this time will see results from the 2026 World Championships included in our Olympic ranking. This makes the European Championships in Konya pivotal as the regulations stipulate that in order to participate in a specific event at the World Championships we must race it in the Continental Championships of that season. So, without doing an event at the Euro’s, we would be ineligible to do that event at the Worlds, and any hope of Olympic qualification would be over before it begins. We need to be prepared in case this situation occurs. 
2025 saw a number of development riders break through into the National Team for their first senior Championships, which lead to a solid year of building race experience and performances through to the World Championships in Chile for those riders. And let’s not forget winning the European Championships in the elimination race proved to be a great springboard for Lara’s season on both road and track culminating in a World title, so we are looking forward to kick-starting our 2026 campaign in Konya next year.”